As I drive by the umpteen coffee huts along Bothell Way, I must say, I’m absolutely disgusted that the “bikini barista” has hit our town. I’ve always been appalled by the young ladies in Kenmore that don’t seem to mind displaying themselves for folks to gawk at, and now that it’s moved into my town, I’m very disappointed and outraged. Save the bikinis for the beach, the night clubs or the bedroom, ladies!

Christi Leonetti, Bothell

Capitalism

didn’t cause crisis

Many think unfettered capitalism caused this economic crisis. Au contraire, it was over-regulation and subsidy that caused the housing bubble and bad loans.

The following three causes of this recession resulted from fettered capitalism, not unfettered:

1. The Federal Reserve Bank held interest rates artificially low, incentivizing riskier loans that the market — if left alone with interest rates fluctuating freely — would not have allowed.

2. The Community Reinvestment Act (under Clinton) subsidized banks making home loans to risky buyers — ones who in the free market, wouldn’t have gotten loans.

3. Fannie May & Freddie Mac got government favors and affiliation that said to the private sector, “make risky loans because we’ll guarantee them if they go bad.” This only encouraged risky loans.

Government, not the free market, was the cause of this crisis. The free market has natural shock absorbers built into it (to reduce boom and bust), but government regulations, subsidies and meddling disable them.

Jeff E. Jared, Kirkland

Responsibility: Where has it gone?

We are constantly being bombarded in the news that say our people won’t take menial jobs. Where has responsibly for ourselves gone?

We need to take back our spirit to fight for ourselves and our nation like we did during the Great Depression.

We need immigrants to take jobs we refuse? How does anyone think those of us who lived through the Great Depression made it? We took any job available to fill our bellies. When you don’t have a roof over your head, survival takes over and you grab whatever work there is.

Those menial jobs have their rewards. It can show us that by hard work we can move upward in America’s financial world. I truly believe the government is not responsible for us. We are.

Billee Escott, Kirkland

Bad news,

bad dream?

This, I am sure, is the news we are all waiting for: Unemployment hits 8.5 percent and climbing.

Boeing exec’s pay will climb with McNerney receiving $14.8 million in salary, bonuses and perks. He apparently is being rewarded for making the world wait for the 787 “Dreamliner” and planning to lay off 10,000 workers.

Microsoft will be one of the first recipients in our state to get money from the stimulus package to build a bridge, making it easier to enter their empire. Had no idea that company is so short on funds.

China says it is worried about U.S. investments with an estimated $1 trillion in U.S. government debt.

Am I crazy, over wrought or is it just a bad dream?

Jutta Kurtak, Bellevue