It's Fine That They Voted To Claw Back The Bonuses, But How About Some Criminal Charges?

Glad you asked. Yesterday two Democratic senators, Byron Dorgan (ND) and Maria Cantwell (WA), called for the creation of a special task force to investigate and prosecute any crimes involved in the events leading to the global financial crisis. They pointed to the task force created to investigate Enron crimes as a precedent. Let's hope this one is more effective and gets to the bottom of the problem, rather than a feel-good whitewash.

"More than $9 trillion has been committed, pledged or loaned in response to the ongoing financial and economic crisis. On top of that, more than $10 trillion in stock market wealth has been lost as has more than $6 trillion in housing wealth," wrote the Senators to Attorney General Eric Holder urging the creation of this inter-agency Task Force. "In addition, millions of jobs have been lost and many millions of people have lost their homes to foreclosure. While this financial wreckage can be attributed in part to bad decisions and incompetence, it is also clear that some of the conduct and activities were simply illegal. It must all be thoroughly investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted."

OK, I applaud the two of them. Now they should start looking inward at recipients of the 2.2 billion in legalized bribes from the financial/insurance/real estate sector to politicians-- plus another $5.4 billion in lobbying from those same folks. If you want to solve the problem, get to the root. Greed and selfishness will always be around, but institutionalizing it in a dysfunctional perversion of democracy acerbates the problem.

Look at the members of Congress who have defended AIG and other corporate criminals with the most vigor. It's no coincidence that these deregulation fanatics have also been completely bought out by the self-interested corporations with business before their committees. The worst offenders, among the biggest whores and most corrupt members of Congress:

Charlie Rangel (D-NY- $4,276,926)- Ways & Means Committee
Spencer Bachus (R-AL- $3,789,474)- Financial Services Committee
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA- $3,185,464)- Financial Services Committee
Eric Cantor (R-VA- $3,121,188)- Ways & Means Committee
John Boehner (R-OH- $3,045,809)- House Republican Minority Leader/tobacco industry lobbyist
David Dreier (R-CA- $2,118,538)- Rules Committee
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX- $2,111,371)- Budget Committee, Financial Services Committee
Melissa Bean (Blue Dog-IL- $1,725,806)- Financial Services Committee
Ron Paul (R-TX- $1,686,375)- Financial Services Committee
Paul Ryan (R-WI- $1,555,321)- Budget Committee, Ways & Means Committee
Peter King (R-NY- $1,385,668)- Financial Services Committee
Steven LaTourette (R-OH- $1,271,387)- Appropriations Committee
John Shadegg (R-AZ- $1,191,961)- Energy & Commerce Committee
Scott Garrett (R-NJ- $1,156,599)- Financial Services Committee, Budget Committee
Buck McKeon (R-CA- $1,015,098)- Education & Labor Committee

Maybe you noticed that a whole gaggle of the worst money-grubbing crooks are on the House Financial Services Committee-- lowlife corporate shills like Garrett and Bachus, for example. Well did I mention that this is also a breeding ground of crass hypocrisy?

Twenty-four of the 29 Republicans currently on the House Financial Services Committee voted against a January bill that would have placed strict limits on compensation for executives of companies receiving bailout funds. 

And 21 of the 29 Republican currently on the House Financial Services Committee voted against an April 2007 bill giving shareholders the right to a nonbinding vote on pay packages of senior executives.