Skeptics Respond to Column About Perot

James Flanigan’s column, “Perot Knows What Needs to Be Done, but Is He the One to Do It?” (June 7), gives interesting figures about his wealth.

I calculated that four-fifths of his money, or about $2.5 billion, “ . . . is invested mostly in T-bills and corporate and high-rated municipal bonds.” This gives him an assured annual income of more than $100 million, ample to buy the election this year.

This is what makes reducing capital gains taxes so nonsensical. The rich are not likely to reinvest their money from capital gains into productive but perhaps risky ventures when they can buy good-as-gold T-bills instead.

My point is that the wealthy love the national debt and the $4-trillion deficit, and they have sold us on the “no new taxes” line that brought it about. The T-bills give the domestic and foreign wealthy an almost perfectly secure investment.

Without a complete restructuring of our economy and a progressive tax system, we are doomed to stay on our present suicidal economic path. I seriously doubt that Perot would be likely to help matters.

FRANK V. WILBY

Los Angeles