Financial Markets Commission Act of 2009: Key Word is "Act"

[Post Summary]

I called him, but he gave me no answer.
—Song of Solomon

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If those who lost loved ones on 9/11/01 could not find elected representatives eager to step up to their sworn constitutional duty to "provide for the common defence," then what chance is there Americans who "only" had a few trillion dollars picked from their pockets will find Congressional representatives willing to put their necks on the line investigating a financial swindle occurring on their watch?

Accountability is the issue I wish to raise here. None of the members on the 9/11 Commission was an elected representative holding office in the federal government. None was accountable to a vote wielding constituency.

This approach, too, reflects the proposed manner in which a few Senators wish to investigate the breakdown of global credit markets leading to the ongoing financial crisis.

This might seem a subtle distinction. Yet there's something to consider here along lines you might be familiar.

The financial system has come to be dominated by derivative products whose costs, we are now coming to see, far outweigh benefits they promise. That their acceptance naturally would lead to our current vulnerability likely will one day become a dreadful point of reference among historians and humanity alike. Regulated or not, their lure likely will come to portend a scourge.

So, might derivative representation likewise have the same effect one day? Are we so bankrupt of courage among elected leaders that, not one will demand the institution of government accept its long overdue dose of humility for failing just about every principle put forth in the Constitution's Preamble, and atone for what now is being exposed by our hopelessly insolvent financial system, doing so by giving committee hearings the highest priority?

What is the point of even having a Banking Committee if it is unwilling to tread in waters where its jurisdiction runs?

These men and women will send young Americans into battle, but they themselves will not pick up the sword. This simply is scandalous.

—Tom Chechatka