Yeltsin’s Visit

Boris Yeltsin, a former Communist and now a “born-again” capitalist, came to Washington to worship at the altar of the free market and be anointed an apostle of greed and selfishness (Part A, June 21). He saw President Bush and other gurus; however, out of concern that his free-market educational experience be complete, we offer a list of “must-see” experts he should have consulted.

He should, of course, have seen Charles Keating, to learn how to set up a successful free-market savings and loan system in Russia. Further, he should have consulted the managers of Executive Life Insurance Co. to learn how to plunder the Russian coal miners’ pension plans and invest the proceeds in junk bonds.

Yeltsin should have walked the streets of New York, Washington and Los Angeles at night. The cardboard and plastic contraptions of the homeless dotting the sidewalks could have given him useful ideas on solving the housing problem in Russia. Old masters Ronald Reagan and Oliver North could have taught him how to violate the law and get away with it.

Finally, as to restoring the freedom of travel, Yeltsin could have inquired from the State Department how Americans are not permitted to travel to Cuba; or, he could have received the wisdom of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who just authored a decision permitting police to board buses and trains and search the luggage of passengers at random.

Fortified with all this new knowledge about free markets and democracy, Yeltsin should naturally stop in Switzerland on his way back to open his own secret bank account where he could deposit the fruits of such knowledge.

ARIS ANAGNOS, President

Americans for Democratic Action

Los Angeles