HUD Scandals Uncovered

In his condemnation of the “Grand Old Parasites” who bilked the coffers of HUD during the Reagan years, Martin Schram (Op-Ed Page, June 28) overlooks an important motivation for such blatant influence peddling. What better way to destroy the already teetering institutional structure of Great Society warhorses like HUD than to unleash large-scale corruption upon its very foundations. For those who participated in the scam, this was nearly a can’t-lose operation. Even if James Watt and a few of his cronies serve time in one of those country club white-collar prisons (unlikely), the scandal serves its ultimate ideological function of further weakening public confidence in federal programs designed to redistribute the nation’s capital to minority-owned businesses.

The voracious predatory appetite of these Reagan-era con artists should surprise no one. Consider for a moment the carte blanche that James Watt as secretary of the interior gave energy corporations in order to rape vast areas of pristine American hinterland for a mere song (a sweetheart deal if there ever was one). Influence peddling is no stranger to the American political scene. But the brashness with which Reagan Administration cronies bought and sold access to power and wealth would make even cynical Watergate veterans blush. The Reagan calculus of governing is simple: slash and burn.

STEVEN C. WILLIAMS

Venice