Unregulated greed is destroying our nation Re: “Protesters take to Washington streets,” Oct. 6
This is an excellent article on the protests.
Our problem isn’t “greed,” which is as American as apple pie and makes the economy go. As Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, pointed out in 1787, the problem is restraining unregulated greed so capitalism itself can survive.
Unrestrained greed that prompts almost every elected representative to “look out for number one” — and to hell with the needs of the people.
Unrestrained greed that employs thousands of corporate lobbyists in Washington who stuff the pockets of members of Congress with so-called “campaign contributions.”
Unrestrained greed so intense it has made a mockery of anything that could be called ethics rules in Congress.
Unrestrained greed that has so weakened our laws and regulatory system that the biggest financial fraud in world history has gone entirely unpunished. Instead, demonstrators are the focus of the justice system these days in our new “corporate state” of America.
President Obama admitted that no one has been prosecuted because there are no laws against the massive financial fraud that has wrecked our economy and created Depression II. He should have added that there’s a reason there are no such laws. Those campaign contributions work.
Richard Kreutzberg
Bethesda
Planned Parenthood does not push abortion
Re: “Reaping the seeds sown by Planned Parenthood,” From Readers, Oct. 6
Carolyn Naughton is wrong to blame Planned Parenthood for the social problems more properly attributed to poverty and its concomitants.
Planned Parenthood did not cause these problems, but is working to solve them by providing health care services and family planning aid to those who can least afford it on their own.
Only 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s budget is devoted to abortions, and these are provided only to patients who voluntarily wish to end a problem pregnancy. PP does not “push” abortion or any other service on anyone. It is one of our society’s most valuable organizations.
Edd Doerr
Silver Spring
Military spending must be cut
Re: “MontCo lawmakers urge military cuts,” Oct. 3
This one-sided Examiner story trivialized the need to shift money from the bloated military budget to major areas of domestic need such as health, education, community service programs, compensation for public employees, sustainable sources of energy, and rebuilding deteriorating infrastructure, to name a few. The reporter named none of these.
Instead, she chose to quote spokespersons for Lockheed Martin and the Aerospace Industries Association, entities that profit from military spending, and to emphasize the number of defense-related employees in Maryland and the Washington area — both in charts and repeatedly in nearly every paragraph of the story.
In documented fact, however, taxpayer money poured into the military budget generates fewer jobs than the same amount of taxpayer dollars allocated to any other major sphere of government expenditure, such as health and education.
Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin and her resolution co-sponsors are among a burgeoning number of local elected officials trying to make ends meet who are urging Congress to rethink our country’s spending priorities. Such voices cannot long be ignored.
Fran Pollner
Takoma Park
