DESPITE EIGHT SEPARATE PROBES OF MADOFF, SEC NEVER SAW SCANDAL

This from today's Think Progress


http://pr.thinkprogress.org/



"ETHICS -- DESPITE EIGHT SEPARATE PROBES OF MADOFF, SEC NEVER SAW SCANDAL: The Wall Street Journal reported today that although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators examined Bernard Madoff's investment firm, they "never came close to uncovering the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme" that began in the 1970s. Despite the SEC's failure to uncover the massive fraud, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox insisted in a December interview that he and his agency deserve no blame whatsoever-"

the man kept documents on a seperate floor UNDER LOCK AND KEY!! His accountants, Friehling & Horowitz, are tiny storefront no bigger a Taco Bell!

As reported by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

"One of the principals, 80-year-old Jerome Horowitz, actually left the firm in 1997, state records show. He now lives in Florida and may be Friehling's father-in-law."

Wonder if the old man lives in Palm Beach

From the Progress Report

ECONOMY -- CHENEY: FINANCIAL CRISIS 'DEVELOPED' ONLY 'OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS': On CBS' Face The Nation yesterday, host Bob Schieffer asked Vice President Cheney whether Americans were "better off now than we were years ago." "I think we've done some very good things in the course of the last eight years," replied Cheney. After listing off policies that he claimed were accomplishments, such as No Child Left Behind, Cheney acknowledged that the Bush administration was leaving incoming Obama administration officials "with their hands full." But he was unwilling to admit any real culpability for the challenges that President-elect Obama will face, saying only that they are a "new set of problems." Cheney even claimed that the turmoil in the financial sector "developed" only "over the last six months." Cheney is following in the footsteps of right-wingers like Rush Limbaugh, who also claim that the country's economic problems only began recently under Democrats. But the financial sector's problems developed over many years and were pushed forward by the economic policies of the Bush administration. As the Center for American Progress's Tim Westrich has noted, the "root cause of the financial mess is the hands-off approach towards mortgage and finance markets by the Bush administration, and its lack of action when a disaster was imminent." Instead of taking responsibility for the challenges that President-elect Obama will inherit, Cheney simply claimed that "each administration has its challenges."

Thanks Dick! So good to know that much like torture and illegal wire tapping, you'll won't accept responsible for disasters you've unleashed upon the world