As much as Amber Pawlik would like to believe, pure free-market capitalism is NOT utopia.

It's time to get our noses out of the Ayn Rand novels and back into reality where humans aren't perfect. Free-market capitalism and competition breeds corruption and dishonesty in the same way that communism breeds apathy due to lack of incentives to work.

Think about it. How far would an honest businessman or politician go in this world if he or she didn't accept bribes, soft money contributions or exploit labor? They would quickly get bought out or defeated by someone sneakier, who could squeeze out more profits or campaign dollars by any means necessary.

With respect to Enron, these "do-gooder" laws, as you call them, such as the 1940 Investment Company Act, would have prevented Enron from shifting its assets and debts to foreign locations, which led to the company's current situation.

Too bad Enron paid big bucks to lobby the Securities and Exchange Commission to get an exemption of this law. But, alas, such is the golden rule of your precious unregulated free market — he who has the gold rules.