Businessmen Make Boo-Boos

Let us now take a walking tour of Washington, D.C., to see whether the Enron scandal has loosened corporate America's grip on our nation's capital. (Okay, the answer is no.)
At the White House Thursday, President Bush announced a 10-point plan that he said will "improve corporate responsibility and help protect America's shareholders."

It will not.

In fact, a quick analysis shows that the federal government already has the authority to implement Bush's proposals. No new laws are needed. It's merely a question of will power.

Even the toughest of the Bush ideas (#5 -- CEOs or other officers who clearly abuse their power should lose their right to serve in any corporate leadership positions) can be executed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today, right now, with no law changes.

But given that the top cop on the securities fraud beat in Washington is the accounting industry's former top lawyer -- that would be current SEC chair Harvey Pitt -- we may conclude this: there is no will, and there is therefore no way this Bush's 10-point proposal will "improve corporate responsibility."

It's all smoke and mirrors.