Politicians to blame for fiscal troubles

Regarding "Point two fingers of recessionary blame" [Opinion, April 18]: Once again "equal-handedness" rears its ugly head. Daniel Akst blames public employee unions and bankers for the plight of wage workers. On the matter of health benefits and pensions, I have never been able to see, nor does his column explain, why the fact that large corporations have been able to screw their employees out of benefits and pensions means that public employers should do the same.

On a higher level, the reasons for falling wages and high unemployment in this country are the export of jobs to low-wage regions and, to use blunt but justified language, the redistribution of wealth from the workers to the bosses. No worker has lost his or her job because teachers have decent health insurance paid for by the school district; millions have lost jobs because the companies they work for decided to increase their profits by exploiting Mexican, Chinese or Thai workers.

Even taking the most negative view of police salaries, they are an insignificant contributor to general poverty put next to the tax breaks for millionaires that the Republicans were willing to go to the mattresses to preserve.

Frank Anshen, East Setauket
 

This column points fingers at banks and public employee unions for the state fiscal troubles but leaves out the largest offenders.

Both the banks and unions acted in their own best interests. The unions can only propose contracts. Politicians and school boards have to agree to them. You propose a contract with salary, benefits and raises that are unsustainable and beyond other industries. Your employer gives it to you. Do you turn it down? Probably not.

The banks made mortgages according to the rules set down by the politicians who ran Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mortgages were guaranteed. The instruments the banks created were backed by these guaranteed mortgages. Banks made money on both. They didn't turn down the money either.

There is a pattern here that shows there's a third finger to point. In both cases, bank and union actions were determined by what politicians did. When the reason for what happened is properly defined, there will be hope of getting on the right track.

William A. Lau, Kings Park