EDITORIAL
Keating’s required
fine not enough
So, justice has boon served. Or lias it?
Charles Keating, the latest symbol of the ultimate
American failure story, was sentenced last Friday to 10
years in prison and fined S250,()()()
You remember Keating, don't you'1 As the ItlHOs
poster boy for arrogance and deceit, he headed the
fraud scheme of the century, bilking thousands of
small investors out of nearly $285 million
As chairman of Lincoln Savings and Loan's parent
company, American Continental Corp.. he directed a
fraud strategy aimed at swindling money from lines
tors In selling unrated American Continental bonds
through Lincoln branches Buyers assumed the bonds
were insured; when the company fell apart, investors
soon found different.
The majority of investors were elderly Lincoln de
positors with no investing experience Mans invested
tneir Inc savings and have
sint c had to rejoin the
work force to make up
their losses
Ten years imprison
ment is the maximum sen
tence possible in tins i axe.
Superior Court Judge
Lim e Ito should be com
mended for bestowing this
punishment on Keating.
Not only does it somewhat
resemble a life sentence
The majority of
those investing in
Lincoln entrusted
their life savings,
believing in a
system that
ultimately did
them wrong.
lor Keating. at (>H years
old. but it may bo long enough to teach the old dog a
lesson. Maybe
However. Keating's fine isn't enough
The fine is a minise ule pen outage of the I in am lal
havoc he created Again, those losing their money
weren't seasoned, well informed investors We're talk
iug retirement Age Trust Innocence The majority of
those investing in Lincoln entrusted their life savings,
believing in a system that ultimately did them wrong
And now. because there has been no real reimburse
ment, these same folks are working to make ends meet.
Keating’s fine should be significantly uppe-d be
cause the man can no doubt afford to pay off a sizable
portion of individuals' losses And for that which he
can't levy, let him. not the-bamboo/led investors, ysork
to make up I he lost funds
.Should Keating have mis nnanciai punisnment in
addition to his prison time to serve, there's the
slightest possibilit\ that he. along with other potential
Keatings, may think twice before taking advantage of
an uninformed public.
Sure, there are those con artists who will never
learn, but even so, it would make tfie rest of us feel
much better to see this one get the maximum slap of
justice, limning from every possible direction.
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UP' —
OPINION
Brown is dead weight in primary
THE FINE
PRINT
BY DON PETERS
Sung In the tunf nf 'Mew
York, Now York with
apologies tn I rank Stnutru
/ hi -gun In n .ikr up.
ill thr i ill'll doesn't sleep
hi hiul I'm util nl m\ league,
hare no support.
Inst in./ man
vv/in '.s mil nl thr r,n r
\fy r.irlirr voles
Inni* mrlti’tl ul* .1 v
I i nuliln 'I make .i start i >1 It,
in old Sew York
!Ir , cti , i’U
Oh. Jerry \\ r held mil ->111 (i
high hopes fur you Hut alas,
the 1 ham es ol you ys inning the
1 Junior rain Horn inal lun are
now slighlly lurver than ihe San
Jose Sharks taking lie- Stanley
(up
I11 other yyoriis Jerry old
buddy, get mil leave Conway
Hast a la ylsla. Iiahy lulling
that, slop making the real ( an
didale Hill Clinton look
Hint's pretty 111 ul h ys hat the
leaders of the Denim ratir party
are asking lerry Brown to do
Hut Jerry. the ic onm last to tfie
Iasi ain't I istening
l'liis past weekend. Brown
said he would support his par
ty s nominee Motulav. lie t lari
tied 'll.d statement, adding In'
would only endorse the < amii
dalit il lit' would limit cam
paign contributions to S10D
and support term limitations
two planks in Brown's own
platform
Oh. one other tiling Brow n
doesn't think Clinton will get
the nomination Who does
Brown think will get the party
nod' He hasn't yet said
laid Slick Willie is on his
way to the second Tuesday in
November He has more than
half the delegates he needs to
win on a first ballot, a firm
Brown changes his
political skin fast
enough to make a
chameleon
blanche.
i nmmitmenl from parts Mi
per clf 1 1(the politic ,ll
cipm .1 Units of one eyed jacks
oml suicide kings) and 'in un
spoken endorsement from most
of the Doinoi i.ilir regulars
Meanwhile jerry holds out
Ills endorsement like some sort
of c lull To the rest of the Item
oc rats. it isn't worth the price
Should t 1 inton tie cra/y
enough to uc c ept the terms of
Brown's support, he will in nil
likelihood hand die elec lion to
(ieorge Hush or H Koss Perot
There is little t ham o Brown
supporters will defec t to (din
toll who they see ,is tile nn
hodiment of warped and in
Irene lied politic al power
Vou c an bet Republicans are
giggling at the prospects of
Clinton limiting himself to
5100 donations N ou c an he .is
sureif Bush isn't going to follow
that plan
It s been a week simr Brown
look his lumps m Ni'W York, a
stale he desperately wanted
(and needed) lo win By fin
ishing third behind Clinton and
the suspended Candidate Paul
Tsongas, Brown received a
clear message Voters are tiring
ol his harhs. inane tax proposal
and spoiler's attitude
When Brown was the only
serious remaining threat to
Clinton, speculation of his
background began in earnest
Until that point, he was left
pretty much alone Attacking
Brown was to give him a credi
bility the other contenders
didn't think he had
But that all changed when
Tsongas dropped out Every
body started scrutinizing him.
What they found wasn't favor
able
Brown is, above all and in
c vervth ilig. a politician Hi’
plaved the game he now so
rradilv blasts I wo terms in the
California governor s mansion
l' ,s Senate candid,ile Head o!
tns stale's !)emoc ratu I’artv
Not e\ac ll\ ttie stull politic al
outsiders are made ot Brown
changes his political skin fast
enough to make a c hameleon
blanc lie
Tfie Brown campaign strati
g\ a politic alls sav\ \ i ancii
date appearing as an outsider
fighting dug-in political foes
is not new It lias been used
sue t ess I u lly several times in
the past, most notabh by Hues
Long m the 1‘Jil-J and JH Loui
siana gulmrnatorial rac es
|usi 11k• - Brown, Long tapped
voter auj^irr Brown's political
target is Washington. 1>( . and
tin' perpetually iruunibent ('.on
gress Long aimed at the New
Orleans political machine that
dominated Louisiana pohtii s
Outside ol that, then- is little
( omparison between the two
The former tCalifornia governor
actually seems to believe his
platform while Long said what
ever was politically expedient
However, a similarity in tactics
is there
Jerrv knew exactly what he
was doing when fie set out to
appropriate the disheartened
voters The voting blocs stag
geringly huge ones are them
for any candidate who can ap
pear as a savior from traditional
presidential politics But
Brown's past, his history of
playing a conventional game,
has prevented him from ex
ploiting the hordes of citizens
grown apathetic to politics
Everybody knows the saying
about those forgetting history
being doomed to repeat it
Brown will not even get that
chance
Don I’eters is an editorial ed
itor for the Emerald