To the editor:

I am proud to be liberal on most issues but agree with some conservatives that the market should be allowed to operate, in most cases, under proper regulations to protect the public. The present administration has failed to enforce those regulations for seven and a half years. The investment banks have taken full advantage of this lack of oversight and have taken in many billions from their risky trades. Now that they have soiled their own nests, they want the government to open the treasury to save them from their greed and folly.

Mr. Bush even has the temerity to lecture the Democrats in Congress not to “load up” any rescue bill with any benefits for ordinary taxpayers. I hope that Congress will not be stampeded by the same incompetents who caused this mess in the first place.

Gordon Penny,
Lawrence