Published on Sept. 22, 2008

Bailouts won't fix the real problem with Wall Street

My father was a proud Merchant Marine in World War II. I remember he once told me, "A bailout is a bailout as long as it keeps you afloat … But a bailout ain't a bailout if you don't first fix the hole." I only thought of this recently.

I don't know why. Reflection.

Steve Dockins

Philomath

'Fresh Air' broadcast explained financial mess

I'm writing in response to Rex Bennett's letter on Sep. 18 regarding the bailout of AIG:

On the NPR radio show "Fresh Air," I recently heard Michael Greenberger quite clearly explain the shadow system at play in the current financial meltdown. I urge anyone concerned to listen online.

The meltdown began when a group of investment bank lawyers wrote a 260-page rider called "The Commodities Futures Modernization Act" to a very large omnibus bill that Phil Gramm was presenting to the Republican-led Congress in December 2000. The bill passed, and it has enabled a host of unregulated 'insurance-like' products called Credit Default Swaps.

AIG and many others purchased these securities to cover the risky, inflated mortgages being sold. The key here is that they are not insurance, so they do not need to have capital reserves to back them.

According to Greenberger, who served on the Commodities and Futures Trading Board for two decades, they are nothing more than a bet that loans will not default.

The gamblers have lost, and in comes the Federal Reserve who says, "We can't let the incompetence of AIG ruin us all; we'll bail the corporation out with a loan paid for by the taxpayer."

This is a great example of the Bush Free- Market Plan: Let's privatize profits and socialize the losses!

David Paul Bayles

Philomath

Smith's ads a distortion of Merkley's record on crime

As a former deputy district attorney, lifelong advocate against sexual and domestic abuse and a mother, I am appalled at the new deceitful, manipulative attack ads put forth by Gordon Smith, distorting Jeff Merkley's tough record on crime.

The truth is, Jeff Merkley repeatedly voted to double the statute of limitations for sex offenses and supported mandatory life imprisonment for repeat sex offenders. (HB 2663, 2001; HB 2015, 2005; HB 2605, 1999).

Under Merkley's leadership, the Oregon Legislature passed the nation's strictest anti-meth law, increased funding to our backlogged DNA registry, put additional troopers on the roads, and passed a measure to protect our kids from Internet predators.

Smith has been in the U.S. Senate for almost 12 years. Why isn't he campaigning on his record?

Maybe because he voted against $30 million in funding to law enforcement and other first responders, cut funding to Community Oriented Police programs, and opposed funding for Byrne Grants, which help communities combat drugs and gangs. Worst of all, Smith opposed funding to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Office of Violence Against Women.

I want a senator who really works to stop crime and help victims, not someone who exploits them for political gain. I'm voting for Merkley.

Joan Demarest

Corvallis

'Homeless snapshot' column was a community disservice

I am saddened by Pat Wray's Sept. 5 column, "Homeless in Corvallis: A Snapshot." This column perpetuates the myths that pervade our society about homelessness and does a great disservice to the people and organizations working hard to treat the homeless with dignity while providing for their basic needs.

Mr. Wray does not take into account that the gentlemen he interviewed represents a minority of our homeless population. The faces that represent the homeless of Corvallis consist of hardworking men and women, some with children, who are struggling to meet their basic needs for one reason or another - unable to call any place home. There are the faces of those who are mentally ill who are unable to gain control of their illness. Mr. Wray has chosen to give us a portrait of drunkenness and laziness that is not true for all of the homeless.

The gentlemen he interviewed very obviously could use more services than our community is able to provide. Mr. Wray should applaud those who have provided these gentlemen decent clothing and nourishing meals. If there are people who have learned to use the system to their advantage, perhaps the organizations that continue to serve them would rather err on the side of compassion than in being judgmental.

I invite Mr. Wray to spend one morning with the Corvallis Daytime Drop In Center or with the numerous organizations that serve those in need. I would like to see what kind of picture he portrays after doing so.

Michi Gonzalez

Social Justice Coordinator

St. Mary's Church Corvallis

Oil man, environmentalist agree? Then pay attention

I have recently been blessed with the opportunity to express my concerns about our nation's energy crisis. This opportunity came by way of Carl Pope, executive director of The Sierra Club, who recently sat down with billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens. I wish to present the short version of their meeting in the Sierra Club's own words and I pray all your readers will take notice:

"When an oilman and environmentalists agree, you know the momentum for real change is building. Yet that is just what is happening. In Denver this week, Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens and Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope talked about the Pickens Plan, which calls for huge increases in investment and production of wind power and using American natural gas as a transition.

"Americans should take notice: While more drilling for oil might enrich big oil companies trying to wring every drop out of oil profits before the inevitable, the real economic opportunity lies not with the failed ideas of the past but with real investment in the transition to a clean energy economy.

"T. Boone Pickens and Carl Pope realize this, now it's time we all follow that path."

Anthony King

Corvallis

Bailouts are socialism for Wall Street's greed, mistakes

Rex Bennett's letter of Sept. 18 about the buyouts equates socializing medicine with communism. We all hate that word! Profits can be justified only when there is the possibility of loss. Our system is supposed to reward risk taking with profits; the greater the risk, the larger the profits.

However, currently, while profits are privatized, losses are socialized.

Whenever our taxes are used to buy out a corporation, we taxpayers ought to receive our share of future profits in proportion to the size of the buyout.

The Internal Revenue Service's source of funds is our taxes. I would like to see 80 percent of AIG's future profits paid to support Medicare.

Robert L. Stebbins

Corvallis

Jeff Merkley won't own up to his campaign attack ads

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has noticed that while Senators John McCain, Barack Obama and Gordon Smith approve their TV messages, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley usually does not.

In his most negative ads, he hides behind the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In the only ad he personally approves, he berates Congress for allowing companies to ship jobs offshore.

Well, what about all the logs that are exported overseas from Oregon and Washington? That is the same thing as shipping sawmill jobs overseas.

What has Jeff Merkley done about that? Nothing, which is exactly what he will do if he gets elected to the Senate. Talk is cheap. It's action that counts.

Jay Burreson

Corvallis