Pelosi To Meet With Reid Tonight About Wall Street Commission
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet with Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid tonight--a weekly meeting--and will discuss the creation of a congressional panel to investigate the causes of the financial crisis and worsening recession, Hill sources say.
In 1933, a Sicilian-born American lawyer named Ferdinand Pecora became the chief counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and conducted a wide-ranging investigation on the causes of the financial crisis that prefigured the Great Depression. Today, Pelosi says she wants Congress to take a similar look into the collapse on Wall Street.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley says that the majority leader is broadly sympathetic to the idea of congressional action, but notes that a panel could be figured in a number of different ways.
Pelosi plans to speak with House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank about a new Pecora commission later this week. Frank has also articulated support for the idea.
I'm awaiting a response from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd's office on whether he'd support a process along these lines, and will report back when it comes in.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Good. Congress needs to do this. The US Taxpayer has a right to know why our taxpayer dollars went to Corrupt Greedy Banks like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
Then DOJ needs to throw the Greedy Banksters/Fraudsters in Jail for a long, long time.
April 21, 2009 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reid spokesman Jim Manley says that the majority leader is broadly sympathetic to the idea of congressional action, but notes that a panel could be figured in a number of different ways.
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Furthermore, Mr. Manley noted, it may take time for Harry Reid to figure out how best to cave in to the Republican minority.
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April 22, 2009 12:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why the hell does she need to talk to Harry about this? The Pecora inquiry wasn't a bicameral Joint Committee or a Special Blue Ribbon whosiwhatsis, it was an investigation by a standing committee of the Senate. If Pelosi genuinely wants to reenact it, she should give the job to one or more of her own committees. Hire a good staff and go at it. Use your goddamn subpoena power for something other than grandstanding for once.
There's no reason the Senate, dedicated enemy of common sense policy and plain truth, needs to be a part of it. Let them do their own investigation. Make it something Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer have to endorse, and nothing will happen. Might as well just ask Phil Gramm to run it.
April 22, 2009 3:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lighten up there mate! Let Pelosi court the powers within Congress. I suspect they may be seeing the first signs of a gathering storm over the public's interest in reviewing the history of how we got into this mess so as to offset the pain of handing over trillions of taxpayer dollars to the financial sector that looks guilty as hell of squandering our national wealth for personal perks. I have the patience to wait and see them get their $hit together, minus repuglicans, and peel back the sordid deeds of financial and repuglican efforts to undermine the financial foundation for personal and political gains, and profits at the expense of the public retirement investments and savings.
April 22, 2009 6:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
The real question is whether the commission will be run by experts who can ask the right questions (think Elizabeth Warren) or by blowhard politicans who will use up all the commission's time for their inane questions (think ... well, just about any member of the U.S. House).
April 22, 2009 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink