No More Enrons?

The reports are that Chris Cox, President Bush's nominee to run the SEC is another pro-Business type. This doesn't surprise me overmuch, that's pretty much the tenor of this whole administration, but it scares me.

It may not be President Bush's FAULT that he presided over the era of Enron, Adelphia, Tyco and the rest, but clearly in the aftermath of these and other cases of corporate malfeasance, what we need at the SEC is not someone who takes the side of business over the good of society as a whole.

The SEC is supposed to be a regulatory body. That means their job is to ensure that those who would otherwise have free reign to misbehave are monitored and kept in check.

If there's any doubt that the climate in Washington under the Bush administration is pro-business beyond the point of fairness to the point of "anything business wants to do is OK by us", one has only to look at the recent Supreme Court reversal of the Anderson Consulting case. Shred documents illegally to cover up other illegal activity by you and your client? Sure, why not, to disallow that would impinge on your right to make money hand over fist!

The nomination of Chris Cox sounds altogether too much like putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house. Well, maybe not quite that bad, but certainly like putting the fox's best friend.

Liam.