H.R. 2111: Congressional Commission on Financial Accountability and Preparedness Act (Must Read!)

Hello all, was recently looking through some of the recently introduced bills in Congress, and found this one, H.R. 2111: The Congressional Commission on Financial Accountability and Preparedness Act of 2009. I think we should all message our Congressmen and ask for them to push this bill.

Here's a quick summary of it:

To establish the Congressional Commission on Financial Accountability and Preparedness to examine and report upon the facts and causes relating to the breakdown in the financial and credit markets in 2008, and investigate and report to the Congress on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for prosecution of criminal behavior.

This means that there will be a committee specifically designed to investigate, in-depth, exactly what went on in the financial sector leading up to the collapse, and if they find any fraudulent or other dealings along those lines they will submit their findings for prosecution.

Who knows if this will even be considered due to the fact that most politicians got donations from some of these companies that would be investigated, but I'm asking you all to please write to your Congressmen and ask for this bill to be pushed.

Here's a link to the full text: www.govtrack.us...

You can find an overview of it here: www.govtrack.us...

Here's a list of it's basic purpose's:

(1) To examine and report upon the facts and causes relating to the breakdown in the financial markets in 2008.

(2) To ascertain, evaluate, and report on the evidence developed by all relevant governmental agencies regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding the breakdown.

(3) To determine whether all credible leads and information regarding fraud or manipulation were pursued with due diligence by Federal investigators.

(4) To make a full and complete accounting of the circumstances surrounding the financial breakdown and the extent of the Federal Governments’ preparedness for, and immediate response to, the breakdown.

(5) To investigate and report to the Congress on findings the conclusions of the Commission and recommendations for corrective measures that can be taken to prevent and respond to financial crisis in the future.

Some other notable aspects:

(3) SPECIAL REPORT ON CORPORATE ABUSE OF TAX PAYER FUNDS- The Commission shall--

(A) submit a special report to the Congress on any corporate abuse of taxpayer funds the Commission finds occurred; and

(B) analyze the current state of the regulatory system and effectiveness of the regulatory system in overseeing the participants in the financial system and protecting consumers.

(4) SPECIAL REPORT ON CORPORATE OFFICERS AND ELECTED OR APPOINTED GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS- The Commission shall submit a special report to the Congress on any fiduciary negligence, fraudulent behavior, poor corporate governance, obstructionism, or media manipulation that the Commission determines was engaged in by relevant corporate officers and elected or appointed government officials.

Please post thoughts on the bill if you may, and don't hesitate to point out a flaw you may see. In my opinion, I think this would do a lot for the American people if it was passed.

Here's another bill (S: 911) that was introduced recently that you should also check out, the full text has not been released as of yet, but it sounds promising from the short description.

[edit on 29-4-2009 by baseball101]

They have a huge arsenal of weapons to destroy the practicability of this legislation. The first which will be brought to bare will be the commission itself.

Just like with JFK, and 9/11, the commission will only look at the information they are 'advised' to look at, and only report what they are 'allowed' to report.

I think this would be great, if we could trust those on the commission, but knowing that it will be comprised of political appointees, most likely from the financial industry and other such cronies, I wouldn't advise holding our breath.

Then there's the political games that can be played with the matter, riders and expansions, pork and waste can kill it too.

Of course, in the end, the President can veto the thing.

But even barring that, the media can torpedo it.

I have lost most of my faith in the legislatorial process in our country, especially since the Justices work for the banks and the military industrial complex too.