The Cox in the SEC's Henhouse

AP reports that President Bush has chosen California Republican Rep. Chris Cox (R) as his nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Big Business, still looking to evade even the weak post-Enron reforms, could not have asked for a better corporate shill than Cox.

During his career, Cox has taken more than $640,000 from the securities, insurance, finance and commercial banking industry.

He has also led the fight to protect Big Business from shareholder actions that would have forced companies to start following the law. As the Orange County Register reported on 7/20/02, in 1995 "Cox took a lead in legislation" called the Private Securities and Litigation Reform Act that was designed to limit shareholder lawsuits against companies. As one market analyst notes, Cox's bill "paved the way for corporate chieftains basically to lie without fear of being sued." Though President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill, Cox followed Corporate America's orders and helped make sure the veto was overridden.

On Enron, it was much the same thing. The Los Angeles Times reported on 1/22/02 that Cox told reporters he "rejected the notion that Enron's meltdown should cause Congress to rethink deregulation." He said this even though his state had been gouged by energy companies, thanks to deregulation.

To Bush's fat cat donors, this nomination is a salute that when it comes to a serious crackdown on corporate crime, there's nothing to worry about - it's going to be business as usual. Unfortunately for the rest of us who want to see a more honest system, this nomination is just another slap in the face.