Justice Roberts' Supreme Court, in its disastrous 5-4 ruling, has taken the "money is free speech" theory a giant step too far in its extension to corporations.
Even now, campaign contributions count for more than votes but this will allow giant corporations to control both elections and elected officials.
It's time for our politicians and candidates to emulate race car drivers and wear logos on their suits so all will know who their sponsors are.
BILL FALCONER
Chapel Hill
Backing banks
President Obama's recent attacks on the banks are clearly intended to distract attention from his administration's failure to create jobs. The first salvo, a proposal to tax banks that received TARP funds to "get our money back," is clearly disingenuous, since the banks have paid back their TARP funds. If he really wished to fairly "get our money back" he should tax the black hole into which he put it, namely, the salaries and pensions of the United Auto Workers, to whom he deeded the auto companies that he bought with "our money."
His most recent proposal, supposedly to prevent a future economic debacle by reinstating the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, is a meaningless gesture. This action, which would require the separation of commercial and investment banking, has nothing to do with the events that led to the recent economic collapse.
The collapse of pure investment bank Lehman Brothers led the last fiasco, and the commercial banks that got into trouble did so, not because of their non-commercial banking operations, but because of their poor loan operations.
Indeed, some of the large banks might not have been salvageable had they not had profitable non-banking subsidiaries to pull them through.
Dumping on the banks may be a politically attractive smoke screen at a time when Americans are growing weary of vast non-job creating transfers to government employees and an absence of private sector help.
But helping banks to loan to small businesses -- real job stimulus -- would be a better choice.
HAROLD L. "MAC" MCFARLAND
Chapel Hill
