Here's a quote from a founding father you don't see very often. I think we can all agree on his sentiments towards banks: "...the evils flowing from the duperies of the people, are less injurious than those from the egoism of their agents, I am a friend to that composition of government which has in it the most of this ingredient. And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." [0] - Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, May 28, 1816 The full letter is also at [1]. [0] http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28tj110172%29%29 [1] gopher://sdf.org/1/users/slugmax/docs/misc/jefferson_taylor_1816.txt