Rebuke of Bush Son

The Times (front page, April 19) reported that President Bush’s son Neil received a “stinging rebuke” from T. Timothy Ryan Jr., director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, for his conflict of interest role while serving as a director of the Silverado Banking, Savings & Loan Assn. in Denver.

I suggest that you advise your reporter that a mild rebuke was more apt. Neil Bush was simply given a slap on the wrist for his sleazy dealings in cahoots with two shady real estate characters who helped Silverado on the way to bankruptcy, while leaving us taxpayers with a debt of $1.6 billion to pay their depositors.

In addition to Neil Bush’s flagrant conflict of interest culpability, he pocketed a $100,000 loan made to him with the proviso that he didn’t have to repay it if his investment in one of his real estate buddy’s ventures didn’t pay off. In actuality that was nothing more than a blatant payoff that Bush himself at a committee hearing said did sound like a “fishy deal.” And what was Neil’s punishment for his transgressions? A rebuke that was nothing more than “be a nice boy and don’t do those naughty things again.”

It’s that same old story--steal a loaf of bread and end up in jail, but steal millions and get away with it. When are we going to make punishments that fit the white-collar criminals, even if they have political connections?

LAWRENCE KANE

Los Angeles