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May 18, 2002

Senator Phil Gramm has no shame

His wife was on Enron's auditing committee, which would make most politicians, especially those retiring, take themselves out of the middle of the political debate of the failure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to police the auditors of corporations. But there Gramm is, fighting for the auditing industry as their chief defender in the Senate. It all seems like dry stuff, but the real story of Enron is learning that all corporate filings have become fantasy stories endorsed by an auditing industry whoring for consulting contracts enmeshed in conflicts of interest. But the House happily passed a pathetically weak bill (which Gramm is pushing in the Senate) to increase oversight, largely leaving it to the industry itself to watch itself. You can tell how bad the legislation is in the NY Times article G.O.P. Fights Proposed Rules on Auditors, since "The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has applauded the House legislation as 'unprecedented and rigorous.'" When an industry covered by a bill "applauds", you know the rest of us are screwed.

Posted by Nathan at May 18, 2002 07:01 AM

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