Letters to the Editor – Weekly Issue of June 21, 2010

Readers write in about debt, self-regulation, and illegal immigrants.

Be fair, reduce debt

Regarding the May 31 cover story "A world awash in red ink."

The article was remiss in excluding perhaps the most important reason why anyone should care about mounting debt: fairness. There is inequity between generations incurring the debt and those that will have responsibility for paying it.

America has taken steps over several decades to better ensure fairness between genders and among races and ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, however, Americans seem to have lost their awareness that the generations in power should not take advantage of generations yet to attain political power by deferring payment of public debt.

Since the 21st century, the government, the media, and the public seem to have forgotten that we jointly owe such fairness to posterity. It seems especially strange that we should forget this, considering the graying of our workforce.

It is not enough to reduce the deficit. The deficit must be eliminated altogether. This cannot be done without massive reduction of federal costs.

The efforts made in the 1990s to reduce the size of the government were modest because the debt was then "only" around $5 trillion. In less than a decade, the national debt grew to about $12.9 trillion, and we will zip past the $13 trillion mark in no time.

We now need drastic reduction of government and its attendant costs of operation.

Donald J. Fritz

Tacoma, Wash.


Individuals must also align the law with self-regulation

The June 7 Opinion "New model for responsible business: ultimate Frisbee," by Christine Bader, describes a framework where "the spirit of the game" would dominate the ethos of corporate business conduct.

She portrays a spectrum of accountability between law on the one hand and self-regulation on the other that can align business and societal interests for the common good.

Why not expect ourselves, as well as businesses, to follow the rules in the spirit intended?

David K. McClurkin

Beachwood, Ohio


Punish employers who hire illegals

Regarding the May 24 cover story "A state of extremes" and other articles on the Arizona immigration issue: These do not address the existence of unscrupulous employers who continue to avail themselves of cheap and illegal labor.

Despite my misgivings about the new Arizona immigration law, I would support it if it prioritized the punishment of these businesses who place their bottom line before the public interest, and the law.

Alvin Charter

Bedford, N.H.

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