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Republicans Voted
Against criminal penalties for CEOs, tougher corporate regulations, executive
accountability, greater auditing safeguards, and stronger protections for employee
pensions. Now we see the results. |
How Republican Greed Sank the Economy
July 12, 2002 thepeoplesvoice.org
Posted by the EDITOR
It is no accident that the current wave of costly corporate scandals followed the rise of
modern conservatism to political power two decades ago. Ronald Reagan governed while
denigrating government as "the problem, not the solution." He starved agencies
of resources and placed committed ideological opponents in charge of them. Reagan's
Commerce Department drew up a hit list of regulations resented by business ("the
Terrible 20"). And of course Reagan signed the law that deregulated the savings and
loans associations, while his appointee revoked requirements that any S&L have 400
shareholders. The resulting infamies cost taxpayers many billions.
"Regulatory agencies have run amok and need to be reformed," said Rep. Tom DeLay
of Texas, the House majority whip, as he invited business lobbyists to detail the
regulations they wanted gutted. A centerpiece of Gingrich's Contract With America was
"securities reform." Passed in 1995 over President Clinton's veto, the bill
shielded outside accountants and law firms from liability for false corporate reporting,
and made it more difficult for shareholders to bring suit against fraudulent reporting. A
flood of corporate misstatements has followed, with nearly 1,000 companies restating
misleading reports in the past five years including Enron and WorldCom,
Then there were the compromised auditors of Enron and
WorldCom, paid lucrative consulting fees from the companies they audited. In the 1990s,
Clinton's SEC chairman, Arthur Levitt, waged a long and bitter campaign to ban this basic
conflict of interest. The accountants' lobby -- led by one Harvey Pitt -- blocked the
reforms, with Republicans Billy Tauzin in the House and Phil Gramm, threatening to gut the
SEC's budget if Levitt went forward.
On July 9, 2002, President Bush went to Wall Street to
call for several specific reforms in response to the recent corporate responsibility
scandals. However, many of his plans have already been proposed by Democrats in Congress -
and shot down by Bush's fellow Republicans. The following is a list of reforms that the
House Republicans have already rejected.
214 Republicans Voted Against Criminal Penalties for
CEOs Who Falsify Financial Reports. In April 2002, 214 Republicans voted against a
Democratic substitute amendment to the Corporate and Auditing Accountability,
Responsibility, and Transparency Act of 2002 that would impose tougher regulations on
corporations than the Republican bill. The amendment would have imposed criminal penalties
on CEOs who falsify financial reports. The amendment failed 202 to 219. [HR 3763, vote
#108, 4/24/02; R 1-214; D 200-4; Gannett News Service, 4/24/02]
218 Republicans Voted Again Against Tougher
Corporate Regulations and Executive Accountability. In April 2002, 218 Republicans
voted against a Democratic motion to recommit the Corporate and Auditing Accountability,
Responsibility, and Transparency Act of 2002 that would have included in the bill language
similar to the Democratic substitute, adding public regulator and executive accountability
provisions, including criminal penalties for false certification of financial statements.
The motion failed 205 to 222. [HR 3763, vote #109, 4/24/02; R 0-218; D 204-3]
214 Republicans Voted Against Greater Auditing
Safeguards. In April 2002, 214 Republicans opposed a Democratic substitute amendment
to the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act that
would create a public regulator to oversee auditors. The regulator would have authority to
set auditing standards and conduct more thorough investigations. The amendment was
rejected, 202-219. [HR 3763, vote #108, 4/24/02; R 1-214; D 200-4]
214 Republicans Voted Against Greater Limits on Analyst
Conflicts of Interest. In April 2002, 214 Republicans voted against a Democratic
substitute amendment to the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and
Transparency Act of 2002 that would, among other things, seek to curb conflicted
investment advice by prohibiting analysts from owning stock in companies they research and
barring them from having their pay tied to the revenue of their investment banking firm.
The amendment failed 202 to 219. [HR 3763, vote #108, 4/24/02; R 1-214; D 200-4; Gannett
News Service, 4/24/02]
214 Republicans Voted Against Executives Certifying
Financial Statements. In April 2002, 214 Republicans voted against a Democratic
substitute amendment to the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and
Transparency Act of 2002 that would, among other things, replace the executive
responsibility provisions in the bill to require executive certification of financial
statements. The amendment failed 202 to 219. [HR 3763, vote #108, 4/24/02; R 1-214; D
200-4]
209 Republicans Voted Against Stronger Protections for
Employee Pensions. In April 2002, 209 Republicans voted against the Democratic
substitute amendment to the Pensions Security Act of 2002 that would have mandated
independent investment advice for employees with company stock, required a 30-day notice
of any limitation on company stock sales and would have mandated equal representation of
employees and employers on pension boards. The amendment failed 187 to 232. [HR 3762, vote
#90, 4/11/02; R 1-209; D 185-22]
191 Republicans Voted to Allow Companies to Avoid Paying
Federal Taxes. In June 2002, 191 Republicans voted against the Neal (D-MA) motion to
recommit the Retirement Savings Security Act of 2002, which would have closed a loophole
that allows corporations to locate their headquarters offshore in order to avoid paying
federal taxes. The motion failed 186 to 192. [HR 4931, vote #247, 6/21/02; R 2-191; D
183-0] http://www.investorsbillofrights.com/GOPfailed.phtml
Bush Govt May Speed Telecom Deregulation December 19, 2000 By Martin Stone A research evaluation just
released indicates that the administration formed by the president-elect, George W. Bush,
will speed deregulation of the telecommunications industry, as the Republican government
assumes a more hands-off approach to business. The report, by the Dataquest unit of
Gartner Group, Inc., said some of the expansion of the telecom industry has been held back
by the government's micromanagement and reluctance to encourage free-market dynamics. computeruser.com |
Corporate America hit by Biggest Scandal in
History June 26, 2002 by Chris Ayres in New York
CORPORATE America suffered its biggest scandal to date last night when it was claimed that
WorldCom, a telecommunications company founded by a devout Mississippi Christian, had lied
about making about $3.85 billion (£2.6 billion) of profits over 15 months. The size of
the alleged profits overstatement at WorldCom is more than double the previous record, set
by the pharmacy chain Rite Aid, and makes the accounting irregularities at Enron
Corporation look like a rounding error. WorldCom, already crippled by nearly $30 billion
of debt, is now expected to go bust commondreams.org |
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