Letters

The Great Retirement Ripoff Our investigative report on how Congress has allowed corporations to legally revoke employees' retirement benefits prompted expressions of outrage from workers whose pensions are at risk. But other readers decried Americans' lack of self-sufficiency and inability to save for their golden years

"Your report served to underscore the foolishness of relying only on one's employer or the government for financial security." LAWRENCE U. MCGEE Lewisville, N.C.

Thank you, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, for the superbly written and informative story "The Broken Promise" [Oct. 31] on how businesses are canceling employees' retirement plans. Never have I read such forthright material, stripping away all the spin and directly addressing an economic situation that will devastate all too many middle-class Americans. I appreciate the honest manner in which the report exposed both the coercion of corporations and the complicity of Congress. WILLIAM OVERLY Lancaster, Pa.

Our traditional retirement system, built on Social Security and defined-benefit pension plans, is an expensive relic of the 20th century welfare state. It discourages the creation of new jobs and encourages overseas outsourcing of existing jobs. And it also puts retirees in the vulnerable position of being dependent on inadequate government benefits and unreliable company pension plans. A system based on privatized Social Security and defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s would be less expensive, allowing businesses to better compete in the global economy. Granted, that shifts more of the retirement burden to the individual worker, but that's what we used to call being self reliant. DOUG HART Spokane, Wash.

Have our politicians become too gutless to represent retirees? "Round 'em up and hang 'em!" may not be the most practical solution to the retirement ripoff, but someone needs to let Congress know the hurt and anger of dedicated people who have worked a lifetime and then got the shaft. MICHAEL J. PRESTON Boulder, Colo.

As an 18-year airline employee who has taken two rounds of deep pay and benefit cuts, followed by the loss of my pension, I needed an airsick bag to get through your article. It is the trend for CEOs to take a company into bankruptcy and then bully workers to accept even more cuts or else suffer liquidation, contract nullification or outsourcing. These executives cite huge losses and global competition as their rationale, yet they somehow find millions upon millions of dollars to secure their own salaries, bonuses, pensions and perks. The obscene thing is that bankruptcy judges and Congress allow it. When will we all stand together and say, Enough? CAROLINE VIOLA Kailua, Hawaii

U.S. corporations did not provide defined-benefit pensions out of the goodness of their hearts. They did it because their workers were united in unions powerful enough to demand these benefits. With unions weak and shrinking, corporations feel free to discard what they regard as an onerous burden. A good legal reform would be to treat a pension obligation as a preferred creditor in any corporate bankruptcy proceeding or give pension trusts the first claim to all corporate assets. CHARLIE ROSENBERG Milwaukee, Wis.

Your story showed how the malfeasance of our congressional leaders and the greed of business executives have turned the American Dream into the American Nightmare. Shame on them! DEBORAH RUSS Aurora, Colo.

The Future of Energy

Your report on the search for new sources of energy lifted my spirits [Oct. 31]. With all the bad news that has inundated us--the war in Iraq, hurricanes, earthquakes and massive federal indebtedness--it has been difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But reading about the efforts to reduce our dependence on oil gives me new hope that my grandchildren are not doomed to third-class status in the future. ERNESTINE DONNELL Austin, Texas

In his Viewpoint "Oil Is Here To Stay," Peter Huber argues that sufficient supplies of oil exist to quench our thirst indefinitely and that we merely need the political will to extract them. His assessment implies that we should continue our addiction to using fossil fuels without fear of consequence. In fact, we are probably paying for that addiction right now in the form of global climate change. Evidence abounds that the earth is warming--melting ice caps, rising sea levels and perhaps even more intense hurricanes devastating our coasts. Most climate scientists believe the warming is directly related to rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide that have resulted from burning fossil fuels like petroleum. Instead of increasing our addiction to damaging fossil fuels, we should develop the political will to reduce our use. ALAN F. ARBOGAST DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY East Lansing, Mich.

We lack the political will to rid ourselves of reliance on a substance that damages our environment, our economy, our society and our security and that befouls all that it touches. LOUIS PRADT Wausau, Wis.

The Comeback Iraqi

Joe Klein's column "Look Who's Back!" [Oct. 31], on the political fall and rise of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, referred to "the greasy residue on his resume." Chalabi was responsible for erroneous information about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction as well as the notion that invading U.S. troops would be greeted as saviors by the Iraqis. Those missteps do not make him an ideal candidate to be the next Prime Minister of Iraq. But Chalabi's renewed friendliness with the Bush Administration shows he can be counted on to jump-start Iraqi oil sales and trade deals with the U.S. CHARLES ORLOSKI Taylor, Pa.