Note to President and his Value in Crisis - 2/24/2009

Dear Mr. President,

I voted for you, I voted for Change. I was witness to the leveraging of the US economy in funding the war against terror. I was witness to the reliance on Wall Street to fuel the Economy through the reduction of margin requirements. I was witness to the end of Glass Steagall and commercial bankers thinking they should be the same risk takers as investment bankers. I was witness to the greatest stimulus package and economic disaster likely in world history, the reduced fed funds rate that resulted in extreme leverage in the stock market, bond market, mortgage market, all of which led to the ultimate leverage gambit, the derivatives market. One voice rang out as the word of "Economic God", it was Greenspan's. The perfect non-committal, wishy washy, economic spin doctor and front man needed to legitimize the concept that leverage and speculation leads to permanent value creation.

The Change we need is straight talk. The Change we need is an end to political rhetoric in times of crisis. What we need is a change in how the world perceives us. Straight talk, accepting blame, taking responsibility. Then and only then will we know if you stand for the current and future value of America or if you are simply looking to leverage America's value for the benefit of the politicians and political gain for the next 4 years.

Don't be Clinton, Don't be Bush. Don't be Greenspan. Do not leverage your office to "punt" yet again. Real leaders understand value. They understand what their value is in crisis. We are in systemic crisis. We need to be told, not reminded, of our value and your value. And your value is straight talk, the acceptance of responsibility, and action.

Stop the daily no value speeches. You either bring value to the people, to America, or you don't. We voted for change. Now it is time to change.

(Now Entrepreneurs and CEO's read this again as if written by a key employee to you as President of your Company).

Build value every day.

Brad van Siclen