Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 13, 1993                   TAG: 9309030381
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KEATING

That sentence - for his conviction on 73 federal counts of racketeering, fraud, conspiracy and transporting stolen property - will run concurrently with a 10-year state sentence he is already serving. He could be paroled in less than 10 years.

Is a decade a long time? Let's see.

In 10 years, American taxpayers may be able to make a down payment on the bill - a whopping $2.6 billion - they were stuck with as a result of Keating's corrupt management of Lincoln Savings and Loan.

(The $2.6 billion, of course, is not the total cost of the S&L debacle. That's been estimated in the hundreds of billions.)

In 10 years, America may even be able to catch up on some of the worthy projects that the S&L salvage operation has slowed or displaced or deferred. For example:

Deficit reduction. Construction of highways and hospitals. Cleanup of toxic dumps. Better care for children and the elderly.

Still, one has to wonder: Ten years from now, will America have purged the greed and arrogance that led to the S&L scandal? Will there be, for instance, meaningful campaign-finance-reform laws on the books?

Or will we still suffer the system that produced the infamous ``Keating Five'' in Congress, and allowed lawmakers to deliver the nation into the hands of S&L crooks in exchange for the crooks' campaign contributions?

At his sentencing last week, Keating showed no remorse for his actions. But never mind him.

It will be more than sufficient if America has learned her lessons from this scandal. Time - say about a decade - should tell.