Bribery

The front-page headline reads, “Senate Votes Kill Campaign Finance Reform for Year.” The Column One headline reads, “Greasy Palms Are Rampant in Russia” (Oct. 20). In the “Greasy Palms” column, writer Richard C. Paddock states, “It [bribery] is an example of market forces working in a country where the government doesn’t.”

Bribery does work in the U.S. too, especially in the funding of political campaigns; but government for the people suffers.

MARION WHITE VASSILAKOS

San Bernardino

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When I was a journalist in Soviet Russia a decade ago, the expose of the day was on Moscow’s “black marketeer,” a disparaging term that has since evolved into the more palatable “entrepreneur” as Western ideologies make their mark.

And now we look at the palm-greasing side of life in Eastern Europe. As the economies there find more legitimized market structures and rate plans, the word “bribery” will likely morph into more acceptable terms of fees, dues, gratuities, fines, fares, campaign contributions, etc. It’s a matter of semantics. One way or another we all pay the piper.

STEVEN R. VAN HOOK

Kiev, Ukraine