The 5 legislative mistakes of the 1990s according to Molly Ivins:
The 3 Little Horrors
--- 1994, the Senate, at the urging of heavy contributors in the securities, high-tech and accounting industries, persuades the Financial Accounting Standards Board NOT to rule that stock options must be treated as a company expense. This leads directly to the explosion in executive compensation and gives executives a big incentive to inflate their stock prices.
--- 1995, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, part of Newt Gingrich's Contract On America, is passed over President Clinton's veto. It limits the right of investors to sue, exempts accounting firms from charges of aiding and abetting in cases of fraud, and allows CEOs to make ridiculous earnings claims.
--- 1999 and 2000, Arthur Leavitt's proposal to separate the auditing and consulting functions of accounting firms goes down disgracefully after the financial industry spends millions.
The 2 Big Horrors
--- The 1996 Telecommunications Act may actually be the single worst piece of legislation passed during the entire Newt Gingrich era. It was written by lobbyists for telecom, and lobbyists for telecom bought it through Congress.
Sen. John McCain, who to his eternal credit voted against the bill, tried to salvage one good thing out of the whole deal -- a pledge from the industry to wire schools and libraries for computers, gratis. One of the people who pushed hard for that little saving grace was then-Vice President Al Gore.
--- Ah, but worse, far worse, is Mr. Gramm's 1999 banking deregulation act. After reporting on a financial news channel last week that both Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase are up to their ears in the Enron debacle, some cheerful blonde piped up, "But of course, Citigroup will never be allowed to fail, because Citigroup is Too Big to Fail."
commondreams.org |
