This is in response to "Money for campaigning" (Readers' Forum, June 12).
The Founding Fathers did risk their fortunes, their lives and their sacred honor from the time they signed the Declaration of Independence until the end of the Revolution. However, contrary to what has been implied, candidates for office in the U.S. are not required to take these same risks.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (property), the presumption of innocence (sincerity), these are principles properly and more relatively associated with the Founding Fathers. It is un-American and unjust to suggest that Mitt Romney must be divested of the honest fruit of his labors obtained in "the pursuit of happiness" in order to prove his sincerity (innocence).
To state that "Romney needs to ... be impoverished if he loses" is to imply that the winner should be remunerated for his investment, which isasinine. I hope a reciprocal sense of justice does not suggest that if Romney wins, President Obama must leave the field an impoverished loser.
Tim Campbell
Taylorsville