Spitzer spat

MATTHEW CONTINETTI'S "I, Eliot" (March 7) properly asked, What does Eliot Spitzer really stand for?

As a former shareholder in Alliance Capital (AC), I was made painfully aware of what Spitzer really stands for. When Spitzer negotiated his sweetheart settlement with AC's corporate management, he closed his eyes to the fact that AC's shareholders would bear the cost of the deal. Although we had committed no crime, nor even an ethical breach, Spitzer's deal cost me and my fellow AC shareholders half a year's dividends.

By contrast, the senior corporate managers--i.e., the culpable parties whose neglect had facilitated AC's criminal fund timing activity--paid no penalty whatsoever. Spitzer thereby made it clear that he placed no value on the losses he imposed on the innocent--as long as he could rake in the headlines.

GERALD S. WASSERMAN

Lafayette, IN

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