What about me and you?

A federal judge wants to protect the elite millionaire investors who were duped by Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme. See the story here.

U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton is ordering bilked investors to apply for relief through a government reserve fund set up to help investors at failed brokerage firms. The judge signed the order upon request of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

According to the article, "Congress created the SIPC in 1970 to protect investors when a brokerage firm fails and cash and securities are missing from accounts. Funds can be used to satisfy the remaining claims of each customer up to a maximum of $500,000. The figure includes a maximum of up to $100,000 on claims for cash."

As much as $50 billion in richie's trust funds may be at stake, according to reports. One part of me says I shouldn't be so harshly stereotypical, because apparently plenty of pension funds and university endowments were compromised.

But in the end it came down to money managers who didn't practice due diligence, who thought they deserved a 10+% return on their investment, without a sound answer as to how that return was coming back to them. That's greed.

Meanwhile, over the course of several months, ordinary Americans' 401Ks and other investments have tanked to the tune of 40-50% or more. I wonder if any judge will stand up and say that you and I deserve protection for our lost investments? If this whole mess causes my life investments to fall to zero, or practically zero, is there a SIPC for me? The simple answer: not in this USA.