Cranston and Lincoln S&L; Debacle
Two news items, separated by a week in time and by 3,000 miles in distance, really belong together in the minds of readers and observers.
From Washington, it was announced that Sen. Alan Cranston holds nearly $565,000 in his campaign coffers, and that while he has not decided what to do with the money, he may use it for his legal defense on ethics charges.
A week later, another news story from Burbank reported that an 89-year-old man, despondent over losing $200,000 in savings when American Continental Corp. (Lincoln Savings & Loan) went bankrupt, committed suicide with a straight razor (Metro, Nov. 29). The man in Burbank was reportedly extremely distraught over his loss.
Without jeopardizing Cranston’s legal defense case, the senator should seriously consider placing his leftover campaign funds in a special account to be used to help redeem the losses of investors who trusted the company that the senator apparently helped over the years. Such an action, symbolic in dimension and scope, would help to restore some of the senator’s lost integrity.
SIDNEY BALDWIN
Cypress
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