Spread the blame, but pass the bill

Re “Senate OKs sweetened bailout bill,” Oct. 2

House Democrats and Republicans should approve the Wall Street rescue plan. There is no better place to invest our tax dollars. It’s not a handout, it’s a hand up. America will come back, like it always does. And when it does, every American can be proud to have been part of its success story.

We can spread the blame for this economic mess to everyone -- from our political leaders who dropped the ball, to the fattest cats at powerful institutions, to the most humble first-time home buyer who bought the big house instead of the affordable one.

Some say we all got greedy. Most people were just reaching too far for their piece of the American dream. Now it’s time to pull together, put our money back into our country and do whatever it takes never to revisit this disastrous time in our history.

Anthony Finizza

Dana Point

The writer is a lecturer in economics at UC Irvine.

Sadly, I wasn’t shocked or even surprised to see the Senate adding all kinds of extraneous measures to the bailout bill. This is standard operating procedure in both houses of the present-day Congress.

Shame on both, and on both parties for their dereliction of duty in recent years as far as oversight and regulation of our economy. My guess is that the public’s negative reaction to the bailout bill has as much to do with a lack of confidence in Congress as with anger about the “Wall Street fat cats.”

Mike Mathews

Palm Desert

Re “Deal suffered from a lack of sales savvy, experts say,” Oct. 1

Excuse me, but was it not “sales savvy” that got us into this mess in the first place?

Bob Ginn

Arcadia