Partners in Fiscal Irresponsibility

I have been having a problem understanding the Enron hearings. It was just a few months ago that the politicians where standing in line at the Enron money trough willing and able to perform whatever services this corporate giant wanted for a few bucks. These are the same people now investigating Enron.

I am having a hard time distinguishing the bad guys from the good guys. The politicians accuse Enron management of making bad financial deals that forced the company into bankruptcy. Is this not similar to deficit spending? If our country were a corporation and unable to print money, would it not be bankrupt?

The politicians accuse Enron executives of depleting the retirement benefits of their employees. For years the politicians have been stealing money from the Medicare and Social Security funds to the point of bankrupting them.

The politicians accuse Enron executives of shredding documents and destroying evidence. Isn’t Vice President Cheney’s position on disclosing the participants and the content of the energy meetings the same thing? Is this not the old proverbial pot calling the kettle black?

Al Bergamo

Corona del Mar

*

The sad state of affairs regarding the unraveling corruption scandal at Enron will now lead to new laws and regulations on how to avoid a proliferation of these types of operations in the future. With the system now in place and all politicians still feeding at the same trough, I bet that nothing much changes. It takes people of integrity to make the proper and right decisions. There appears to be a distinct lack of that personal characteristic in corporate and political America today.

Harry Truman, we need you.

F.J. Milas

Long Beach