Bank auditors missed the problem

Before Washington sends any more bailout money to banks or Wall Street, I think someone should do an investigation of how the financial institutions of this country became so bad so quickly. No one has asked the questions of these institutions about auditing practices. Who was doing the auditing?

We know who did the auditing at Enron and they are now defunct. But what about banks, they are supposed to be audited at least once a year. Did the auditors notice all the bad debts on the books, if not, why not? If there were discrepancies noticed, were they or were they not brought to someone's attention. If not, they should be charged with a cover-up. What about the Securities and Exchange Commission watching over Wall Street? Did someone fall asleep at the switch?

The majority of blame should be put on the banks for making loans for people who had no right to be getting a loan in the first place.

This all started with Bill Clinton wanting everyone to own their own home. There will always be people who rent, some cannot afford to own, with all the expenses involved, i.e., mortgage, taxes, maintenance, utilities. I think someone in Washington should do a lot of investigating before any more money is handed out.

Also, AIG should give back all the money it received in the bailout, if they can afford to hire imbeciles to run their company into the ground and then pay them bonuses on top of that, they afford to look for other means to get themselves out of trouble. Quit looking to the American taxpayers for a handout, most of us are out of work because of your greed. While growing up, my father had a saying: "If you get yourself in trouble, you can figure a way to get yourself out of it." That should apply to everyone in this country.

Judith Richter

Arlington Heights