Time to Get Tough on Guilty Execs
The photo lineup of troubled corporate executives [“What Went Wrong?” June 27] belonged not on the front page of the Business section but in the post office under “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”
John Nachreiner
Redondo Beach
*
There should be retroactive laws against any of the top brass--including directors, CEOs and chief financial advisors--keeping any money from a company that he or she manipulated illegally for personal gain. All the money that we would take away from these scoundrels could be put to good use to help pay the parties they damaged and, if any is left, to pay down the national debt.
And they should not only have their ill-gotten money confiscated, but they should go to jail too.
Anita Rivero
Downey
*
Congress does not need to enact new laws over the business scandals. Those business leaders doctoring the books are doing it to enhance their pay through bonuses, etc. Since they obtain those bonuses through fraud, their taking of them constitutes grand theft.
It is similar to bank robbery without a gun. All that is needed is a change in mind-set and enforcement of laws that already exist.
Larry Severson
Fountain Valley
*
Penalize Firms That Play Hide-and-Seek With IRS
It seems to me that if the IRS is free to estimate tax on waiters’ tips [“IRS Can Estimate Tip Income, Justices Rule,” June 18], it should be able to estimate and assess a tax for U.S. businesses that use Bermuda and other places to avoid paying any federal income tax.
But give them a choice: Pay the estimated tax as assessed by the IRS or move their headquarters back into the U.S.
Also, if they stay in their offshore location, even if they pay the tax, they should not be able to receive any subsidies or contracts from the federal government.
Lyman Ennis
Pasadena
*
Music Artists Entitled
to Health Benefits
I have no idea what business letter writer Stephen Scott King is in, but his letter is so full of misinformation he must not be in the music business [“Entertainers Can Take Care of Themselves,” June 23].
First of all, it is not only artists of color who are complaining about the lack of health insurance coverage but artists, producers, songwriters and others--black, white and brown.
Second, until Bill Clinton’s presidency, there were preexisting-condition exemptions in nearly all American health-care plans that were not obtained through union membership.
Third, why is it “paternalism,” to use Mr. King’s word, for Sony Music Entertainment Inc. or Warner Bros. Records to cover those who allow them to have something to sell (i.e. music) but not paternalism for an auto maker to provide its employees with insurance?
Additional benefits? These are not additional benefits. Such coverage is mandated by the agreements the major labels have with the unions. The labels have simply ignored paying and the unions have been too timid to demand.
Finally, it’s not OK to pay agreed-to health benefits but it is OK to advance Michael Jackson upward of $30 million to record one album? Mr. King, are you complaining about that cost to the consumer?
Saul Davis
Studio City
*
Time for Ford to Fix Safety Problems
Re: “Recall Pressure Rises Against Ford” [June 22]:
Ford Motor Co. states concerns, regarding the Crown Victoria police cruiser, that “the [corrective] measures might create safety problems, such as a shield that might puncture the tank in a crash.”
One must remember that this is the same firm whose internal memos indicate that, a generation ago, they conducted a study to determine whether it would be cheaper to pay off lawsuits than correct the fuel-tank deficiencies of the Pinto, defects that were causing numerous horrific, burned-alive deaths in those cars.
Any mechanical engineer would laugh at Ford’s suggestion that even a well-engineered and tested shield could create more safety issues than it would solve. More important, perhaps Ford underestimates our collective memory as well as our intelligence.
For their “fix” for the Pinto years ago--which they undertook only after an extended pummeling by both regulators and the media--was to install a flat plastic shield between the tank and rear axle, as was done on my car.
So is Ford now saying their fix for the Pinto was in error? If not, then what exactly are they saying?
Perhaps it’s time for Ford to extricate its corporate foot from its mouth and simply fix the problem, preventing a few more officers from being cremated.
Tracy Culp
Valencia
*
Restrictions on Radio
Consolidation Needed
A Times story says Clear Channel Communications Inc. President Mark P. Mays believes that consolidation in the radio industry--in which the top 10 station owners generate 44% of the industry’s revenue, is somehow just and proper [“Bill Seeks Limits on Radio Giants,” June 28].
He resists Sen. Russell Feingold’s proposed restrictions on broadcasting. Mays says this percentage is appropriate because it still is less than in other industries, such as movies and cable TV.
Methinks Mr. Mays doth protest too much and perhaps quite unwisely, as he fails to take into consideration the limited number of available frequencies on the public airwaves.
Perry Allen
Carlsbad, Calif.
*
Business welcomes your letters. Write to: Letters to the Business Editor, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Submit e-mail letters to bizletters@latimes.com. Please keep letters brief. Letters must contain your address and phone number.
