You know, here's a story from the New York Times that pretty much summarizes why November 7th is so important. The first two grafs...
Frustrated with laws and regulations that have made companies and accounting firms more open to lawsuits from investors and the government, corporate America - with the encouragement of the Bush administration - is preparing to fight back.
Now that corruption cases like Enron and WorldCom are falling out of the news, two influential industry groups with close ties to administration officials are hoping to swing the regulatory pendulum in the opposite direction. The groups are drafting proposals to provide broad new protections to corporations and accounting firms from criminal cases brought by federal and state prosecutors as well as a stronger shield against civil lawsuits from investors.
The scary part of this is that these business/industry groups are planning to do this via means that do not involve Congress, using SEC rule-making and other mechanisms. I don't think that a Congress run by guys like John Conyers and Henry Waxman would let that crap stand for long without challenge.
So yeah, sure. Make businesses absolutely immune from criminal prosecution and civil litigation. What a great (and ultimately) republican idea! Shielding companies from federal and state prosecution for malfeasance! What a concept!
Notice that it's a plan being encouraged and espoused by none other than the 1600 Crew. I guess that after MBNA got their bankruptcy bill with the help of MBNA Joe Biden, these other guys figure that they have no real problems getting absolute immunity from Congress with the help of Beloved Leader. Let's see how long it will be before he starts making speeches (to selected audiences) about how not passing this legislation will drastically affect the competitiveness of American Business because they are soooo overburdened with you know, having to watch their asses and do the right thing.
The only thing keeping most companies from selling sub-standard shit are (1) some vestige of market forces, but mostly (2) fear of being sued and/or prosecuted. Yeah, those "voluntary" measures work oh-so-well, don't they?
posted by Jo Fish on 10.28.06 at 05:43 PM
Comments:
Much as I am not a Republican, I have to say no, this is not a Republican idea. This is a fascist neo-con idea. Teddy Roosevelt, who was one of the first and foremost industry regulators was a Republican.
I wish we had a Teddy Roosevelt now instead of these thieves and charlatans of the neo-Republican Party.
posted by: DBK on 10.30.06 at 03:28 PM [permalink]
