Sample letter to the editor

To the editor:

Every week, it seems, we hear about another company where a few top executives cooked the books to make a fortune, cheating their employees and shareholders out of their retirement savings.

This cannot stand. We need to get tough on corporate crime. Corporate executives who engage in fraud should be forced to pay back their ill-gotten gains and serve hard time in jail. Even President Bush and SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt say they want executives who commit the crime to do the time. I'll believe it when I see it.

But putting corporate criminals in jail is only part of the solution.

Employees who blow the whistle on corporate crime need stronger protections. Shareholders and pensioners who have lost their life savings should have the right to sue the lawyers and accountants and directors who helped make that possible. Professional licenses should be revoked. And the government should refuse to contract with companies that engage in fraud. We also need to put more cops on the corporate crime beat.

Most importantly, though, we need to recognize that the recent corporate scandals offer a widening glimpse into an unfair system that is not working for a vast majority of Americans. Until we see fundamental changes that restrain corporate power and provide those who are hurt with additional tools to go after corporate criminals, corporations will continue to wreak havoc on workers, communities, small investors, taxpayers, and the environment.

Sincerely,

Microsoft Word version