Chairman Christopher Cox makes CNN's List of Culprits of the Economic Collapse
Number 3 named –Christopher Cox In naming number 3 of the top ten most wanted culprits of the economic collapse, Anderson Cooper believes the public has a right to know the names and faces of those who drove the economy into the stormy waters in which we now find ourselves.
Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is next on the list. Chairman of the SEC serves by appointment of the president and is essentially the sheriff of the stock exchange. Chris Cox is drawing fire from Democrats and Republicans alike. During the presidential campaigns, John McCain said flat out that Cox had betrayed the public trust and if he were president, he would fire Cox. Democratic representative, Daine Watson of California observed that Mr.Cox is either incapable or unwilling to enforce even the most basic laws on the books.
As early as 2004, the SEC allowed a handful of major Wall Street investment banks to borrow far more money than we now know they could pay back. Cox was not chairman at the time, but inherited that ruling. The SEC says now that they had no way of knowing that the collateral placed against these mega-loans was no good. Economic expert John Coffee of Columbia University says that red flags have been clear and consistent since 2007, but no action was taken by the SEC.
Washington has had a long standing love affair with deregulation and free enterprise, but how could Cox have gotten it so wrong? Aren't there checks and balances in place? The answer is a resounding, "YES." There is a seven person investigative panel appointed within the SEC, however, there have been no inspections performed since March 2007. Again, this panel was in existence before Cox's appointment as chairman. But Cox's head is on the chopping block regarding the operation of the SEC. He is believed to have done too little to correct the flaws in the system he inherited.
Should Cox have seen the writing on the wall in the early stages of the collapse as the health of major Wall Street financial institutions was declining? Cox maintains that he did not have the authority to police that part of the market and is now requesting that congress give more power to the SEC. While the authority Cox is seeking may help in the future, it is too late to reverse the current economic breakdown. The federal reserve has already stepped in to regulate what is left of the financial market.
What is not clear at this point is whether the president even has the authority to fire the SEC chairman. Meanwhile, Cox is still in office complaining that he does not have the tools needed to fix the SEC. This is another example of the age old Washington tradition known as "passing the buck."
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