Opinion: In Thursday’s Letters to the editor
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Now that the dust is finally settling after the presidential election, writers to the letters page of the Los Angeles Times are turning their attention to the country’s economic crisis. And by and large, they’re mad. ‘I am nearly speechless with anger,’ writes Pierre G. Basmaji, of San Diego.
The recent Times article on Goldman Sachs’ blatant conflict of interest when it was the agent for California’s bonds -- telling clients to bet against those same bonds -- has riled me more than anything else that Wall Street has done.... How can anybody ever trust Goldman Sachs with their money ever again?
Andrew Hindes, of Los Angeles, vents his concerns about the effect that bailout-related tax breaks will have on California’s already-beleaguered budget:
I suppose it should come as no surprise that in the waning days of the Bush administration, the Treasury Department has pushed through an estimated $140-billion tax break for big banks without the consent of Congress.... Now California legislators have to decide whether to eliminate a corresponding $2-billion state tax break for banks, foisted on the state by Treasury’s ruling.... As they ponder this decision, Republicans in the Legislature would do well to consider the results of the recent election, in which polls showed that voters overwhelmingly trusted Democrats to handle the current economic crisis in a way that put their interests first. A Republican decision to side with the Bush administration and big business will only confirm those beliefs.
California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass takes issue with a Times editorial about green power, doctors and patients aren’t impressed with new findings about statins, and Aidan Butler, of Los Angeles, sees some irony in a recent Times story about ever-shrinking consumer products:
Absent from your article was any mention of a certain newspaper that, to save costs, recently laid off another 75 staff -- including reporters and editors -- without reducing its price.... Let’s see if, in your own words, ‘consumers who notice they are getting less for their money will stop buying the product.’