Sen. Daniel Akaka is correct ("Weathering the economy," Focus, Oct. 5) that mortgages are hard to get, businesses are suffering and Hawai'i tourism is down. In fact, it's far worse than that — foreclosures are still occurring. Unemployment is the highest since 9/11; 159,000 jobs were reported to be lost in September. And as more workers lose jobs and health insurance, bankruptcies are on the rise.

Unfortunately, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which our congressional delegation voted for despite an overwhelming popular outcry against it, solves none of our problems.

There's a very good chance it will make things worse because of what Congress failed to do.

While reading a 400-plus-page document is daunting, there are several things that seem quite clear and are very troubling. Let's dig into the bill that was passed in such a hurry, and see why the average voter in Hawai'i has been betrayed by our representatives in Congress.

Although Sen. Akaka said that the bill will help working families get mortgages and student loans, there is nothing to prevent banks that will receive the bailout money from investing it instead overseas or in speculative areas more likely to deliver profit than in homeowners struggling in a deepening recession to pay their mortgages. Why extend credit to individuals or businesses at home, in a shrinking economy, at low interest rates, when overseas economies such as China are expanding rapidly? Sen. Akaka did not mention that the bill will pay out U.S. tax dollars to overseas institutions, weakening the dollar and making foreign investments more attractive than domestic.

The worst-performing banks and financial institutions are being bailed out and rewarded. There is no requirement that foreclosures be stopped. There is no mechanism to keep families in their houses or to return homes to those who have lost them. The bill does not reward banks that take action to stop foreclosures and to extend credit domestically.

To shore up the economy, stopping foreclosures — regardless of who is at fault — would be a good step. Keeping people in their homes and making arrangements for them to keep paying their mortgages is the bailout we needed.

It could have been paid for by reining in out-of-control military spending, or even by part of the bailout money that Congress found so easily. Providing universal health insurance reduces bankruptcies and is a more valuable gift to struggling families.

As the House and Senate caved in to lobbying and administration pressure, alternative proposals were ignored.

Funding wooden arrows, motorsport race tracks and tax breaks for rum amount to cheap bribes that bought some Senate votes, but that's a heckuva way to make decisions in a crisis. No wonder the cry now is to throw these folks out on Election Day.

And maybe that's exactly what we should do.

Larry Geller is a Nu'uanu resident. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.