Dear FRONTLINE,

"The Madoff Affair" was a scathing commentary on the failure of the United States Government (the SEC) to protect its citizenry from fraud and theft. I cannot imagine how anyone could absolve the SEC (and by extension, Congress) from their responsibility to compensate all victims of this catastrophe, immediately and equitably. That means both direct investors (who knew about Madoff and were eager to give him their money), and indirect investors (who placed their trust in professionals who then gave Madoff their money). All of Madoff's investors are now victims of the same crime.

And no, we were never "promised" the excessive returns the show and the blogging community seem to think were out there. To the indirect investors, at least, it never seemed "too good to be true." In fact, many of us had never even heard of Madoff before he stole our entire life savings.

While there wasn't enough time to cover all aspects of the complex fraud in an hour, Frontline would have presented a more balanced picture if it had interviewed some real-life investors who have lost everything to the Madoff scandal. We are not the mega-rich "fat cats" the show focused on, but rather newly-destitute middle-class Americans: small business owners, doctors, teachers, engineers, farmers, firefighters, and many others who had lived frugally and saved every penny we could, in order to be able to retire and not be a burden on our children or the government. Many of us have been retired for years and can't just start over.

For thousands of honest citizens, the American Dream has been shattered by the entire Madoff Affair.

Longmont, CO

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

Click here to read profiles of some of the Madoff investors FRONTLINE spoke to.

Dear FRONTLINE,

I was very disappointed in Frontline's "take" of the Madoff affair. The biggest losers, in my opinion, are the Jewish charities who relied on contributions and endowments from the many foundations and individuals that invested with Madoff. Several of these charities have already closed their doors. Others have laid off staff and reduced their projects. The worst part of this story in that Bernie Madoff took advantage of the trust and bond that many Jews have for each other. Madoff has defrauded his "own people" in order to live a life of ultra extravagance and indulgence. Yes - there should have been more due diligence, of course, by the SEC and the investors themselves. But Madoff and his family taking money (to live like princes) from Jewish charities that get their funding mainly from other Jews, (i.e., Jewish institutions of learning and Jewish Federations across the U.S.) is dispicable and unforgiveable.

North Potomac, Maryland

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am very disappointed that you didn't cover an important aspect of this story - the non-profit victims of Madoff. Many charities were unwittingly recipients of the unearned profits from Madoff investors - their benefactors now have no funds to support their charitable works. But more interestingly, several foundations, congregations, universities and private schools were duped by Madoff and his feeders too - causing them to lose substantial funds from their endowments. Many poor, disadvantaged and deserving people will not receive aid and services. Many employees of these non-profit institutions have lost their jobs.Also, what of the psychology of Madoff and others who used the ill gotten gains of their fraud to obtain leadership positions in charitable and educational institutions?

new york, new york

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

We chose to focus this film more broadly on how Madoff operated and how the money flowed to him, and less on the effect on his victims. That is also an important story that simply did not have time to cover in an hour-long broadcast.

Dear FRONTLINE,

it's very simple. My family 350 year's experience in finance trained me to trust no one. Since 1971, I had always viewed Bernie Madoff as a soundrel for a host of reasons. Late 18th century Economist David Ricardo put it best..."Finance is a conspiracy against the laity." Never forget that point !

John Crowley
New York, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

Your program last night was a great presentation of how greed can control so many people. Also, it was a sad commentary on how government cannot keep up with business dealings. I just have one question, where did all the money go? We are talking billions of dollars. Did he recycle it to the investors and just take a little off the top? Thank you for a wonderful show, in some small way, you have made me a smarter person.

Ward Smith
Concord, North Carolina

Dear FRONTLINE,

I found it fascinating to listen to the woman who ran the hedge fund and discussions on all the feeder funds. It is incredible to me that EVERYONE listened to Madoff, they did not list his names in their prospectus, and followed his every whim and fancy. Everyone was "afraid" of Bernie.

I feel for "victims" if you can really call people who fell for his scheme "victims." I am the dumbest person alive when it comes to investing but when someone tells me 20% every year even I know that is too good to be true. It was all about greed and being a member of a select club. That is why I don't believe that most were victims. Many failed to do their own due diligence. Yes those that lost their pensions from feeder funds are innocent victims.

Yes the SEC dropped the ball but they do not hold sole responsiblity for this mess.

judy stone
new york, new york

Dear FRONTLINE,

An immense sadness pervades this matter. One wonders how investors put such large portions f their wealth with one investor, lacked any sense of curiosity about how that investor paid consistently generous returns without occasional losses, and now blame the lack of government enforcement for their losses when the monitoring agencies have been persistently under funded and burdened with a poisoned disdain for regulation of financial markets. One recall Marx's comment "all that solid melts into air." The sadness in part is that anyone was surprised.

Ted Morgan
Baton Rouge , Louisiana

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am sorry but anyone receiving returns of 15 to 20 percent on their investment knows they are taking huge risks.

Red flags should go up when someone gets rich on Wall Street. It is no more than Gambling. At one time we were satisfied with 5% from our banks but Wall Street made us believe you could get rich without producing anything or in some cases not even working. After watching this program I support higher taxes of at least 50% on investment income over 10%. Let's encourage young people with tax incentives to become doctors, lawyers and teachers - we have enough economist to last for at least a couple generations.

Zoe Kelman
San Francisco, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Harvey Pitt was one of many "regulators" who were part of the emasculation of corporate oversight. Why not do an investigation as to whether the weakening of the watchdogs was part of a deliberate scheme to enrich prominent campaign contributors while carrying forward the establishment of an oligarchy?

As Ronald Reagan said, the government is part of the problem.....

Richard Brandlon
Portland, OR

Dear FRONTLINE,

Wasn't Harvey Pitt one of Bush's cheerleaders for deregulation of the markets while he was Chairman of the SEC? I wish you has asked him some hard questions about the ineffectiveness of the SEC not only with regard to Maddoff but also the entire lack of responsible oversight of the financial industry. Unless the federal government gets a handle on the entire industry, we will see this all unfold again...and again.

Dennis Ryan
Chicago, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Frontline, you found your niche. Great program, very well done. So much better then when you have a producer and director that has an ax to grind against someone (usually the opposition party). You exhibit great credibility in this story. Learn from it....apply it to future stories. Ask the hard questions and don't try to preach. Give the facts, tell the story.

Elliott Reed
Portland, Oregon

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you Frontline for this look at greed and corruption. It was a wonder how Madoff got access to so much money. Thanks to greedy hedge funds managers and the incompetent SEC. Many people will no longer have the confidence in the markets for many years to come. The SEC did a hatch job on Martha Stewart, but could not (with the help of a whistle blower) catch Madoff, because he was apart of the mover and shakers of Wall St. The sad part is all those people he has backrupted. The fund managers (in my opinion) are just as cupeable as Mr. Madoff and the leadership of the SEC.

Ronald Payton
Fort Drum, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

I can't help but to think that one of the bigger frauds was occurring at the SEC. As a recent college graduate and graduate school graduate, I know that there are hundreds, if not, thousands of resumes lined up at all of these Federal administration offices. Each one of those resumes represents an eager mind ready to get to work doing good work. I would bet money that the SEC was "'severely understaffed and overworked'" for the exact reason that Bernie was good business for the government as well.

Tony Trebuchet
St. Louis, MO

Dear FRONTLINE,

Frontline's attention to Madoff would be better directed to the bigger frauds: Geithner, Sommers and others now in the "change" President's cabinet and highest councils. They are costing present and future taxpayers trillions not billions. Your program is a distraction from the biggest crooks in the investment banks and rating agencies of Wall Street and their lackeys in Washington.

St Petersburg, FL

Dear FRONTLINE,

How Sad! Here we go again blaming the government and Clinton and Bush and who else?

I have a friend in investments who just told me about the numbers of people who were investing with Madoff because they thought that he was getting illegal inside information. Otherwise how could he have the success record he had? And then there was a multitude of people who followed just like sheep.

I was taught that when something looks to good to be true it is too good to be true. And I don't need the government to protect me from it.

Well my friends, the idea that the 'best and brightest' are going to work for the government and protect us from the 'Madoffs' is another 'it's too good to be true' concept that is just that, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

Just like the no down payment loans, etc, etc, etc

RV Burkett
Des Moines,, Iowa