Congress can't stop greed but can provide effective deterents. Like Catholic priests, corporate executives and accountants are not above the law (no matter how much we want them to be).

If the Congressional Branch of our government won't curb corporate corruption with proper regulation then we must allow our Judicial Branch to see that notice is given that this behavior will not be tolerated. It's not a moral thing, it's a money thing - corruption costs too much.

Theresa Tredwell
jersey city,, nj

Dear FRONTLINE,

The Congress & Senate are responsable! I see the American Congress & Senate as just one more American instatution infiltrated with selfserving worm parasites.

When I see the likes of Joe Leiberman and Kenith Lay hanging from a rope I may get back in the market. The focus of the new homeland security should be to stop the rotting from within. My fait in the market is mirrored by my faith in America and at this point it is low.

skokie , il

Dear FRONTLINE,

Long time viewer, first time poster.

I must say that I have my doubts that SEC chairman Harvey Pitt is the right man for the job.

As for the question posed, "Who's to blame for the Enron debacle?"

How about everyone.

The Media, Congress, Corporate America, Wall Street, etc. all seem to have contributed to the lack of trust problem that is prevalent throughout the country. My question is does anyone or any organization deserve the public's trust nowadays?

Keep up the excellent work!

Charles Kiley
milwaukee, wi

Dear FRONTLINE,

I fear we are in deep trouble. Now, we can't trust auditors because they are bought and paid for by their consulting clients We can't trust legislators who are bought and paid for by the auditors. When you have the current SEC chaiman hedging and talking about "going slow" and "not going overboard", we (the Nation) are in trouble.

People should go to jail. Lay and Duncan - jail. Dodd and Leiberman - voted out and sent into political exile. Borodino - jail. Levitt - a severe tongue lashing in the media. I hate to say it, but I gotta give Clinton his due. At least he vetoed the bill that would have put at least some brakes on the accounting industry abuses.

Jack P
mount kisco, new york

Dear FRONTLINE,

I found tonight's report disturbing, but not surprising. It appears that the only place the corporate establishment truly embraces Darwinism is in the marketplace. Survival of the fittest, the most savvy, the most amoral - what's the difference? I'm sure these are the same folks who are leaders in their local church community, are volunteers for the board of the local opera company, and are committed to the local United Way. Government oversight is the only protection we have from folks like this.

That the current SEC chairman wants the marketplace to determine the outcome is totally predictable. God forbid that we ask the government to perform a function that might constrain "innovation". In that environment, the only people who get hurt are the ones who can least afford it - the small investor who trusts that the fund manager entrusted with their 401K dollars knows what the heck is going on. I guess we got what we paid for.

It distresses me particularly to see Lieberman and Dodds as apologists for these practices. This is more evidence that, not only do we need to ride herd on Wall Street, but we need to continue to push for real campaign finance reform.

Sam Folmar
columbus, oh

Dear FRONTLINE,

Having seen "Beyond Enron" and having lost so much much money that I cannot possibly make it up, I am appalled.

Where can we turn. The US government is bought and paid for by these theives. We in the investing public, are simply there to be sheared.

Ernest Fazio
centerport, ny

Dear FRONTLINE,

America is ever so rapidly approaching it's own demise. We are as corrrupt a nation as Rome was and it fell from within.

t halton
fort worth, tx

Dear FRONTLINE,

Great documentary! Thanks so much! I was surprised however that there was no reference on the show or the PBS website to StockDiagnostics.com, a website featured this month in Barron's on June 6, 2002. They review over 10,000 companies and show each company and whether or not they exhibit the same accounting irregularities of Sunbeam, Enron and over 1,400 other US public companies. I have found this site (currently free)to be invaluable for protecting assets and making buy and sell decisions!! You ought to let your viewers know about the availibility of this information.

Susan Pursel
lyndeborough, nh

Dear FRONTLINE,

While there are clearly systemic issues with the accounting profession, we need to be careful not to over-react via the legislative branch to solve these issues. We will never be able to legislate business ethics and morality.

The independance issues surrounding consulting services have always been a red herring issue. At Enron, the consulting division of Andersen did very little work. However, there is a considerable amount of technical accounting and tax expertise that is required to perform an audit and to eliminate these experts from the audit function would do more harm to the public markets and shareholders than good. I suggest we listen closely to Mr. Pitt and his reforms, as I feel he can present a more balanced solution.

The real legislative issue, and indeed a public policy issue, is allowing the Justice Department to indict a firm rather than the individuals involved without any checks and balances to review the impact of the indictment on the markets and the economy. Thousands of innocent people were impacted by this decision.

Brad Goverman
sharon, ma

Dear FRONTLINE,

It's easy to finger point at the causes at the front of the bus. The more odious problem is the idea of private wealth at the expense of public good. Enron is simply the logical extension of such a system. When self-interest is ahead of the integrity of communal capital, the whole system implodes.

The bottom line is: Money silences.

Cameron Jocobsen
boston, ma

Dear FRONTLINE,

Without a doubt this program demonstrated the slime in whichour politicians willingly wallow.

These people are not stupid. The supporters fall in one of two categories: the greedy who don't give a damn and the philosophic supporters who don't give a damn. President Bush's appointee, Chairman Pitts, is doing nothing but what his appointer wants done: coverup and continue kowtowing to those with money. Woe unto one of these crooks who ever finds his neck surrounded by my hands. As my late father would have said, "These guys need to be taken out back and given a good horse whipping."

I regret I can not express the strength of my feelings about this issue.

bill weems
nashville, tn

Dear FRONTLINE,

We--the votes are to blame for the Enron debacle. We still have not removed the people in Washington that let it happen. Vote-out the people in office. If we let them remain in office, we can't say anything later.

brooklyn, ny

Dear FRONTLINE,

Harvey Pitt is perhaps the most unfortunate appointee among a host of sleeping watchdogs that have been awarded posts in this administration.

And Congressman Billy Tauzin doesn't just sleep-he sleeps around with oil and gas, Broadcasters, Telecom et al. No wonder TRUST is now just a name on a bank--Maybe it should be TRYST instead.

Regnad Kcin
baton rouge, la

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