I am a sailor.

After a turbulent passage at sea, it is well to heave to and take stock.

The US has been through financial turbulence which will affect every man, woman and child in the country.

This is a chance to reflect, consider and with the pending Presidential Elections, ask pertinent questions of the candidates.

With the current Presidential Election set to cost $1,000,000,000 is America a democracy or is it a fund raising contest with the winner taking all?

Do we have capitalism, a mixed economy or a managed economy in the US?

What is the role of government in Western Society in the 21st Century?

The current administration have the delusion that they can control the financial markets. $700 billion has already been committed to bailing out the financial institutions. The market response was to have one of the biggest one day drops in history.

Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister announced a £500 billion rescue package for the British banks and watched as the FTSE dropped like a stone.

Legend has it that the 11th Century King Canute set his throne on the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet. He is quoted as saying:- "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings".

Or of Presidents or Prime Ministers to control the natural forces of the markets.

It is not the role of government to control market movement.

There is never any call to halt a rising market. Why is a falling market different?

It is different because ordinary people see their pensions and life savings shrinking instead of growing and there is a clamour for politicians to do something about it.

The political solution is to spend future tax revenue and bail out the banks. A double whammy for the people on the street who now have insult heaped on injury. Their pensions and life savings stay shrunk but now their tax bill will go up to pay for the bail out.

George W Bush's rescue package for his rich friends will cost me $2,333.

With every tax payer hit with a large tax bill, the economy isn't going to turn around anytime soon.

The next administration will be tempted to let inflation rise to pay the bill for the misjudgement of the Bush Administration. More misery for those on fixed incomes.

How did we get into this mess?

Congress failed to oversee and regulate the financial institutions. It failed to regulate the introduction of derivatives as financial instruments.

And it failed because of political lobbying by the big Financial Institutions of Wall Street. The same financial institutions that are being bailed out today with tax payers money.

This is a failure of democracy.

Democracy has failed because the political clout of the financial houses is greater than that of the man on the street. Politicians from the day they are elected are obsessed with raising money for their next election campaign.

The need to raise cash corrupts the political system. The laws that should be passed for the public good aren't.

The "toxic debt" was produced, packaged and sold on Wall Street by all of the Financial Institutions. Nobody knows the value of an item of "toxic debt" since it is far removed from any physical thing of established worth.

When bank holdings of "toxic debt" reach a certain level, the value of the bank becomes impossible to calculate. The share price becomes vulnerable to short selling. The share price falls. The bank collapses or is bailed out.

This process was aided and abetted by a failure of public accountancy.

Accounting firms have been signing off on bank audits after accepting Alice in Wonderland estimates of the future earnings of "toxic debt" rather than the real world method of "mark to market" where the value of the debt on the today's market is used.

When any given bank can collapse today or tomorrow, trust goes out the window. Banks aren't willing to lend to one another and we have a credit crunch.

So a failure in democracy has resulted in a failure of the financial markets. A failure of capitalism.

The solution is for Congress to ban derivatives and fulfill their democratic and rightful role in regulating the financial markets.

Congress should not bail out struggling financial institutions or buy stakes in banks. This only serves to distort the natural forces of the markets.

The power of Kings, Presidents and Prime Ministers is limited. Ask King Canute if he got his feet wet!

The power of special interests shapes American foreign policy as well as domestic.

The Jewish lobby has perpetuated the conflict in the Middle East. Tacit support of illegal settlements by the US is a continual goad in the lives of the Palestinian people.

The world needs a secure and defended Israel. But this does not have to be at the expense of Palestinian rights.

America wants to see democracy flourish around the world but it has to be a politically correct democracy. Democratic elections held in Gaza in 2005 elected Hamas as the ruling political force. The US and Britain responded by cutting off aid to Gaza.

Surely, the appropriate response was to see how the government elected by the people of Gaza acted. Any questionable actions should draw a measured reaction.

Concern is expressed that America and Americans are not viewed well by those who we feel should love us. If America wants to be seen as a moral Nation, the country has to support moral acts abroad.

The 2006 conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah was a proxy war between the US, its ally Britain and Iran.

For their support of the continued bombing of Lebanese civilians, George Bush and Tony Blair should be charged as War Criminals.

Why was Tony Blair made Middle East Peace Envoy when he stepped down as British Prime Minister?

Should we be surprised that there has been little progress in the peace process?

Get rid of Tony Blair. Find someone who can be an honest broker.

The Cuban exile voters in Florida have dictated US policy towards Cuba since the revolution in 1959.

The first of January next year will be the 50th anniversary of the day Fidel Castro came to power. After 50 years, can't we accept that there has been a revolution in Cuba? Isn't it time to grow up and recognise Cuba?

Have John McCain or Barack Obama addressed any of these issues?

No!

Why not?