Blogs: Curbing Wall Street

Today the new Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, modeled after the New Deal-era Pecora Commission, begins its investigation into possible misconduct by the financial sector causing last year's market meltdown. Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage released the following statement on what the commission needs to do to fulfill its mission. Below that is a set of recommendations proposed by 40 organizations to the Commission in a letter today.

Statement from Robert L. Borosage

We are pleased that the Financial Crisis Commission is coming together, under the leadership of chair Phil Angelides. It has enormous challenge before it.

As Phil suggests in his opening statement, the Commission should aspire to be the modern day version of the Senate Banking Hearings in the 1930s that came to be named after the chief counsel, Ferdinand Pecora.

In the 1930s, Wall Street excesses, fraud, and speculation helped feed a bubble that burst and contributed to the Great Depression. FDR stepped into save the banks, reorganize them, and stave off financial panic.

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In their first meeting Wednesday, members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission—often characterized as the second coming of the Pecora Commission that investigated the causes of the Great Depression—clarified how they see their mission and what we can expect. more »

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The reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve -- cleverly timed to defuse the news of burgeoning federal deficits -- was preordained. The "markets" demanded it, and as James Carville noted, when the markets speak, presidents listen. more »

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Now that congressional leaders have named the members of the Financial Services Inquiry Commission—what is often referred to as the "Pecora Commission"—we are going to see once again who is prepared to lay the groundwork for real financial reform and who is goin more »

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There's a reason why lawbreakers don't get to negotiate the terms of their punishment or their parole. There is no bartering to be done between the protectors of law and order and the violators of law and order. There are only two basic questions for the person who dared to stand outside the law: What is required of you to atone and what must be done to prevent that lawbreaking from recurring. more »

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The fact that regular citizens have been largely excluded from the debate over financial regulation on Capitol Hill was underscored most vividly when Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill, said last month that "frankly the banks own the place." more »

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that it would “develop a sweeping national advocacy campaign … to defend and advance America’s free enterprise values in the face of rapid government growth and attacks by anti-business activists.” The Chamber doesn’t get it. They aren’t defending capitalism and free enterprise. They are all but destroying it.

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I stopped reading The Wall Street Journal editorial page when it soared off into wingnuttery, writing tomes on the imaginary conspiracy to off Vince Foster and other fantasies. The news pages remain useful; the editorial page hasn't improved much.

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