Illiquid or Worthless?

Editor,

Treasury Secretary Paulson said on the Sunday talk shows that the mortgage-backed securities Uncle Sam is going to buy from Wall Street are "illiquid" and that the U.S. government will find buyers for them in the future.

But the securities in question are not illiquid; they are worthless.

Buying them at a deep discount to get them off the investment banks' books is the right thing to do, but anticipating selling them someday is a fantasy.