The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Palestinian Problems

3.21.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 4 of 4)

And up and down every suburban street across America from now on will rise the piteous cries of untold 16-year-old girls, "Oh, puleeeeze, Daddy!"
-- Lee Hoffman
Honolulu, Hawaii

HELPING HANDOUT
Re: Lawrence A. Hunter's Bye, Bye Birdie Bear:

Mr. Hunter isn't entirely off the mark when he raises the question of whether the Fed acted in collusion with "the Monetary-Financial Complex" to assist in a shady Wall Street deal. The exact arrangements between Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase, and the Fed are fuzzy at best, and, as commentators have pointed out, due diligence could not possibly have been done in one weekend. Certainly this is not an example of market forces at work.

That said, Mr. Hunter's assertion that Bear Stearns's assets should have been sold off at market prices begs the question of identifying the underlying problem. The fact is that no one knows the value of many of the SIV's and CDO's floating about in the investment universe, and that the Fed sensibly does not want the market to decide that they have zero value. If that were to happen, there is no reason not to think that other investment banks and hedge funds would be forced into yet another round writedowns, with the strong possibility that there would then be a cascade of bankruptcies in the financial industry. The doomsday scenario that Mr. Hunter thinks was scripted by Wall Street could actually happen.

It is also worth noting that Bear Stearns was not an arbitrary sacrificial lamb chosen by greedy capitalist conspirators. Bear Stearns was one of the most highly leveraged investment banks and would have been the first to go in any crisis of this magnitude.
-- Paul Dorell
Evanston, Illinois

Lawrence Hunter leaves one element out of his argument: the American public is a willing accomplice to the idea that their "lifestyles" should never be diminished, even temporarily. If that means abandoning market forces and capitalism itself? So be it.
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

AND ANOTHER THING
Re: Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.'s Less is More:

Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. forgot one thing in his article about the U.S. economy: The need for a balanced budget. In 27 out of the last 28 GOP White House years the budget has been balanced once. In 4 out of 12 Democratic years the budget has been balanced. This means since 1968, 40 years, the Federal government has balanced just 1 in 8 fiscal years. The U.S. economy is struggling because of one reason, the Federal Government is spending more than it earns. I just wish there was one brave American who could call it how it is, and some more Ron Paul's and John McCain's who would stand in the way of waste, pork and bloat. If American families have to get it right, why can't Congress and the President.
-- Nathan Maskiell
Melbourne, Australia

RATS
Re: Gilbert Ross's Jumping Ship From the Rats:

Thank you for your article regarding the animal testing issues. It's so good to know that it is decreasing and that people are realizing the unnecessary-ness of this practice.

Om shantih!
-- Aubrey Hackman
Executive Director
Telluride Yoga Festival

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Foreign Policy, Trade, John McCain, Business, Islam, Books, Law, Iran, Israel, NATO, Socialism, Fascism, Energy, Oil