The Bush administration's proposal to deal with the financial crisis is reminiscent of the resolution Congress passed after the 9/11 attacks, which in effect authorized the administration to respond as it felt best against those responsible for the attacks. And today, as in the immediate post-9/11 context, the administration hopes a national sense of anxiety will force Congress to go along with its plans ("What does it mean?" Sept. 21).

But even if there were reason to trust that this administration had the interest of working taxpayers (and those aspiring to work) at heart and reason to believe it was competent, such a blanket grant of power to the executive branch would be dangerous - even un-American.

American taxpayers are being asked to assume a tremendous burden. But the Bush administration has already saddled our children and grandchildren with a massive deficit. Will we allow it to simply transfer debt from the privileged few to working Americans with no standards of accountability and fairness?

I say "no" and look to the congressional leadership to formulate a responsible response to the financial crisis.

Dave Hollander, Baltimore

These corporate bailouts are a rip-off.

We need corporations to answer for their misconduct: e.g., shaking down homebuyers with loan gimmicks, lying to investors and the IRS with misleading public statements and balance sheets, and misappropriating funds to pay for huge pay packages for management.

The corporations should not be getting a free ride at the expense of taxpayers.

For government to saddle taxpayers with all this bad debt is corruption at its worst.

C.A. Schutz, Baltimore

Any financial bailout must include the homeowners of America who have been subjected to predatory lending by greedy corporate institutions.

The CEOs need to give back all of the money earned on the backs of average Americans who are in danger of losing their homes or who have lost their homes. And all of those outrageous loans need to be refinanced so that homeowners can afford to stay in their homes.

Vanetta Crute, Gwynn Oak

The president and Congress are working on a plan to bail out the lending institutions that are guilty of poor decision-making, mismanagement and lending money to people they should have known would be at great risk of defaulting.

These actions have gotten us into a situation that could cost taxpayers anywhere from $200 billion to $1 trillion.

We are also told that this bailout is something we must do to save the economy. The people making this decision for us are the elected officials who allowed this debacle to occur by their failure to take necessary action.

Why, then, should we trust them when they say we must bail out these lending institutions? Wouldn't we, the taxpayers, then be guilty of the same kind of poor risk assessment and mismanagement that led to this crisis? And who will bail us out?

Since the taxpayers are the ones who have to suffer the consequences of the lending institutions' poor judgment, why not let us decide whether we want to bail them out via a referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot?

However the vote turns out, I propose that the CEOs and CFOs of the failed institutions be removed from office without any severance package and that they be required to forfeit any company stock holdings that they held as of Sept. 15.

John Frazier, Falling Water, W.Va.

Any relief to these financing companies must come along with stipulations (such as an obligation to repay the taxpayers or make us investors in any enterprise bailed out) and pay cuts or forfeiture of "golden parachutes" for upper management.

It is unpardonable for these companies to be given a free pass while the average American struggles as a result of their recklessness.

It is time for government to prove that it is for the people, not big business.

Sean Rueter, Baltimore