Fiscal blame

AS A former director of a federal savings and loan, I believe that Jeff Jacoby mainly got it right in his Sept. 28 op-ed "Frank's fingerprints are all over the financial fiasco." However, he didn't tell the whole story. In the 1980s, federal regulators ordered those institutions to stop making commercial loans, and to stop investing in high-yield bonds. S&Ls that survived could only make house loans at rates that did not yield enough to support the cost of running the bank. The only way to stay in business and continue the financing of homes was to make money by selling the loans they wrote. That's where the government stepped in and the unholy alliance between government and mortgage bankers was born, with the results we now see.

It may be satisfying to contemplate criminal actions against the mortgage brokers, bankers, and others, but it's unlikely that those prosecutions will succeed. What makes more sense would be civil actions for unjust enrichment against those CEOs and bank officers for the violation of their fiduciary obligations to their companies, and the recovery of the undeserved salaries, bonuses, and golden parachutes to defray the cost of the bailout.

HARRIS I. BASEMAN
Chestnut Hill

JEFF JACOBY'S op-ed on Barney Frank's role in the current fiscal crisis was right on the money. Both parties bear responsibility, and Jacoby nailed the Democrats' role. Republicans want less governmental regulation, and Democrats believe that easy mortgage credit is more important than fiscal responsibility. As a result, no one was looking out for the greater good of us all.

JACK REED
Rockport