Dear Lincoln, David, Zach, Marsha and John

I am just a lowly Councilmember in little old Nashville - you know the capitol of Tennessee? We don't really know each other. Not that I blame you. There are 40 of us on Council and we change every 4 years, so it is hard to keep up. I see Jim Cooper from time to time and Bob Corker is a part-time constituent. But look, we need to talk about this vote on the Financial Re-Stabilization Act of 2008 or whatever it is you call it.

I saw Nancy's speech before the vote. Even someone from San Francisco ought to know that when bringing bi-partisan legislation to a vote, you really need to at least feign bi-partisanship. That usually means calling on your colleagues to serve the interests of the country above their own political interests. She didn't do that and I guess that made you mad. Honestly, I can't say I blame you. But, returning her partisan behavior with some of your own really isn't helping us here.

Meanwhile, I am guessing some of your constituents are sending faxes, emails and phone calls asking you to vote against those fat cats on Wall Street because no one has explained to them that it is really a vote against the banker on Main Street. Most of them weren't alive in 1931 when we last had a run on banks like we have had these last few weeks.

I am just a lowly City Councilmember and in the grand scheme of things you probably don't really care what I think. There is a good chance that this proposal has a number of flaws and it may not be the magic bullet for what ails us. But please, consider these few facts, if you could:

1. The State of Tennessee has had to pay 6 1/4 % for short term loans to finance school building projects - double what it normally pays.

2. The muncipal bond market has siezed up with little credit available to even high quality issuers. Major issuers like Hawaii and Maine have had to cancel borrowing.

3. Metro Nashville has delayed its capital spending plan because of upheaval in the markets. That means we won't be considering spending for schools, parks, roads and libraries.

4. Pretty much every major financial crisis this country has faced has involved a credit crisis like we have today. Some of those crisis, the Panic of 1837 and the Great Depression, have long lasting and significant impacts.

I could go on but I am really trying to appeal to your self interest or at least those of your constituents. Perhaps the bill before you was not the right one. I get that. I get to vote on the lesser of several evils all the time. But if you voted against it, I have to assume you have a better idea, right? You have some notion of how we can return liquidity to the credit markets and get things functioning normally. You must, right?

While you are waiting for the news cycles to align so you can spring your legislative innovation on us, let me suggest that aiming low is ok. We aren't looking for perfect GDP growth or a major decline in unemployment. All we really need right now is liquidity. We need banks to start lending to each other, We want investment banks to start lending to municipalities. We want the wheels to start turning again. Slowly, deliberately and with purpose.

Is that too much to ask?

With all due respect,

Emily Evans
Metro Council District 23
Nashville

cc: Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander, Bart Gordon, Jim Cooper, John Tanner, Steve Cohen