Making Up for Years of Neglect

To the holy ones who cast their stones- perhaps you will not listen because you have sinned in your favorite financial activities, where sinning continues lauded and rewarded with impunity. True that Gov. Spitzer was brought down by his own errors, but his demise was secured by the massive threatened elite who do not wish to be outed or prosecuted themselves. Perhaps you are they.

Like Wall Street, the lack of transparency in the use of real verifiable names of commenters here following Mr. Spitzer's article, leads me to doubt that all the positive posts displayed are free of tampering by him (eg sock puppets). After all, a man who breaks the law and pays for sex as a sitting governor, and an attorney general going after "johns" is not beyond taking such risks. Maybe he is paying for positive comments now instead of sex acts--most people don't pay for either? Has Newsweek tracked down or fact checked the source of these commenters? I doubt it. It is not in their financial interest. It is truly shocking that Wash Post, Slate and Newsweek would coordinate the rehabilitation of an unpunished criminal --yes, Johns are criminals just like the girls. Let's get real here. Kennedy and others mentioned by commenters had girlfriends-- not hookers.

I would add this to Mr. Spitzers argument. Both Business and the GOP refuse to admit that America was at it's most prosperous when regulation was tough and Unions were strong. Regulation kept reckless behavior by corporations in check and unions gave a fair shake to the Middle Class. Corporations have dipped for so long and so deeply into the well of middle class prosperity that the well is now nearly dry.

The American economy has been perverted into a consumption-base and when you take the resources away from consumers that enable them to consume such an economy cannot survive. Government needs to redirect our economy more toward a savings base. Banks that have actual cash reserves in the form of savings accounts are much stronger. The need for leverage is diminished and the citizenry has a cushion against hard times. I can remember when plain old passbook savings accounts paid as much as 6% interest. Now the only way you can get that return is with a high-dollar, long-term CD and then only in a credit union. A current TV ad touts a 1.04% return on a CD. What incentive is there in 1.04%? Are they kidding? Especially after what the banks have done to us? My credit union pays over 4% on a checking account with no minimum balance. Why would I go to a bank?

Obama needs to put credible, responsible peole into Treasury. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of bank executives in regional and local banks who acted ethically and responsibly. Their banks are healthy, still making loans and not begging the taxpayers for bailouts. Why didn't Obama turn to people like them instead of the crooks from Goldman Sachs and others who have taken billions of taxpayer dollars, paid no real penalties and are more likely than not to seek favorable treatment for themaselves and their cronies on Wall St.? The rot continues in the Wall St./Congress/1600 bubble.

Here are my ideas for a sensible set of principles to enable the Middle Class to rise from the mire Wall St. has created. Increase FDIC protection to $750K. Make the first $200K of passbook savings/interest exempt from income taxes. Incentivize banks to pay at least 3% on savings and loosen the restrictions on IRA's to allow people to change their type or institution to increase returns without penalties.

Obama claims to want a bottom-up recovery and governance. I am waiting to see how serious he actually is.

Dear whoremonger,

You have a lot of brass to show your face. Whatever it is you're selling, I'm not interested. And under no circumstances should you be allowed anywhere near public money.

"What we need to restore to the debate is...principles..." Seriously, Newsweek...Eliot Spitzer? Can't wait until Michael Vick pens his first article of redemption on the importance of PETA in a future "My Turn" column. Do we, loyal readers of your venerable periodical, really need to be supplied commentary on the importance of principles from Eliot Spitzer? Surely you could have chosen someone better. What are you planning for next week's edition...401K strategies from Bernie Madoff? Can't wait.

............................Lots of neglect with what happened during the Bush years, the changes that are coming now are like a zephyr of fresh air for us to breathe. First Reagan took America off course with his Trickle Down Philosophy which the Bush Administration followed until it proved to be irresponsible and the bubble burst with the economy colapsing. The Right Wing followers of Reagan and Bush need to be told that they are Ideologues Of Failure and they need to just take a chair and watch.

There is something wrong with the posting program that Newsweek is using. When you take copy that you prepare in MS Word and post it - as I just did and you have a hyphen or quotes in the body copy it turns them into question marks - as you see in my comment. They were not in my original copy. Please know that.

Very well put crmac50 - see discussion board. Really and truly, as Jesus said: Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone. It truly amazing that JFK was chasing basically anything that moved with a skirt on, probably crocked on pain killers a lot of the time and yet people still speak of Camelot in regard to his presidency.

Elliot Spitzer messed up and has paid an enormous price; so who among us is perfect and hasn???t looked back and wished we had done something very differently?

WHO better to be able to recognize the very failings that lead a man to downfall than one who has fallen down; picked himself up; recognized his mistakes and then gone on - despite the self-righteous indignation of the pea brained, single note moralists out there who, if they had been in his place and faced similar temptations, probably would have erred a hundred times worse?

Around a century ago, Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate, had an executive who made a rather severe error in judgment that cost Carnegie a million dollars (or more). When he didn???t fire the man, people asked him why not? He replied, ???I???ve just spend a million dollars training him, why would I fire him???? Or words very close to that. You get the idea.

I for one am glad the editors of Newsweek have the courage and brainpower to recognize that just because someone has made an error in judgment in one area neither negates their past intelligence and achievements nor eliminates their ability to make even more astute and powerful judgments in the present and future.

Thomas Edison, when asked: Mr. Edison, how did it feel to fail a thousand times to invent the light bulb ??? crustily replied - I DID NOT FAIL a thousand times to invent the light bulb, I merely discovered a thousand ways not to invent the light bulb. Sometime the light bulb of moral clarity only goes on for us when we have fallen down and lost sight of what really matters to us. Learning in all realms of life is about making mistakes, recognizing them and moving on.

And finally, there???s another quote the self-righteous, I- see-only-in-black-and-white moralists apparently are unaware of:
There but for the grace of God go I.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/there+but+for+the+grace+of+God+go+I

The man this quote is attributed to, John Bradford, see dictionary.com link, was executed himself as a heretic circa 1553. He made the comment after seeing a group of men being led to their executions.

I wish Mr. Spitzer nothing but the best for the future and have a feeling he is going to be able to look back and say in the same vein as Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) said when someone apparently printed his obituary: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Elliot Spitzer was a dedicated public servant and he "gets it" when it comes to lots of things - the excesses of Wall Street, but also - he knows a lot about the excesses of the Health Insurance companies, the "next big thing."

His unfortunate flaw should be forgiven because we need his expertise to help carry us through this difficult time. In Europe when this sort of thing happens people overlook it. When JFK was carrying on in the '60s the press never stooped so low as to carry it in the papers or on the radio. Obama nees him on his team of economic acvisers and on his panel for the reform of Health care, too.

Mr. Spitzer is entitled to an opinion, but why does Newsweek give him a platform given his recent history of arrogance and betrayal of the public trust?

In search of sounding important? Wow, that was one heck of a mouthful of words to describe what every literate person in the US knows. As it relates to you personally I particularly love bullet 4. As a convicted John I would have thought it would be awkward to write the words "Core principles central to our sense of community" without writing haha in parenthesis.

In search of sounding important? Wow, that was one heck of a mouthful of words. ES you do a bang-up job restating what everyone in this country is all too aware. Congrats!

Love the 4th bullet - what would you (can I call you John) know about core principles central to our sense of community? It must be embarrassing to be you.

If there was ever a doubt that an 'in crowd' that can do no wrong exists and Newsweek is a party to such bias as to be laughable as well as tragic, this man's byline removes that doubt forever.

Spitzer needs to sit down and shut up and stop acting like he's relevant any more. Please. Anyone with his background should revoke his rights to use words like "integrity", "logic", and "principles" revoked .

Eliot Spitzer speaks out against libertarianism but I betcha there is one industry that he doesn't think should be regulated! Right, former governor?

Absolutely correct.
Very eloquently stated.
Enforcing, executing these multiple points demands a capacity for both courage and talent, which Mr. Spitzer ably demonstrated, while he was in office.