Letters to the Editor 5/30

Faulty research found in latest column diatribe

Dr. Eugene Paslov is guilty of faulty research in his latest diatribe on behalf of the Democrat party.

The most sweeping banking deregulation bill, which repealed the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, was passed in 1999 during the Clinton administration.

In addition, the Clinton administration rewrite in 1994, of the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act, was the genesis of the 2008 global financial meltdown. This enabled government agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to drive the explosion of the subprime housing market by buying up hundreds of billions of substandard loans. Loans that would not have been made based on time-honored notions of putting money down, having sufficient income and maintaining a record of credit worthiness.

Fannie and Freddie literally gobbled up the market using extraordinary leverage and an "implicit" government guarantee of debt. Efforts to rein them in by the Bush administration were stymied in Congress by Democrats, namely Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.

In fairness, some key Republicans and President Bush deserve blame for not trying harder, but it was a concentrated Democratic effort that made reform of Fannie and Freddie impossible.

Yes, there was greed involved, but it extends far beyond Wall Street to our local communities and main street.

MARGERY L. SCOTT

Carson City

Now's not the time to hinder free enterprise

AB 378 is sitting on the governor's desk. This bill does a great deal for alcohol wholesalers but would punish consumers. It eliminates competition and adds costs to an industry already hurting. This is going to impact jobs and revenues.

The Federal Trade Commission has said these types of proposals harm consumers who will likely have to pay higher prices. Laws protecting Nevada wholesalers are already in place and this bill would just add another layer of state intervention into private commercial contracts dictating business terms that only benefit wholesalers.

When the Nevada hospitality industry is struggling, it's certainly not the time to trade in free enterprise. As a former Nevada attorney general, I think this measure handicaps the hospitality industry and is generally a bad idea.

FRANKIE SUE DEL PAPA

Reno