The Brian Sullivan Blog
  • February 4, 2009 11:56 AM EST by Brian Sullivan

    "Don't Reward Failure?" Then Fire Those In The SEC & Congress Who Failed To Do Their Jobs

    The President doesn't want to "reward failure" at banks who need to be bailed out by taxpayers and who take taxpayer money by capping executive compensation at those banks going forward.

    Fine.  No doubt most in America would agree with that move (even though it will make it nearly impossible to find anyone who would want to take these jobs, now some of the most important in America).

    But most Americans would also agree that regulators and Congress alinke were complicit in the housing and toxic asset bubble that built - unregulated - over a period of years.  It are the SEC and Congress who are charged to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the money "management" firms such as Bernie Madoff.   As Harry Markopolos said in his explosive testimony today, it took him "about five minutes" to realize Madoff's returns were impossible year after year, yet the SEC and other agencies couldn't over a matter of years.    Moreoever, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - which are overseen by the government and have special Congressionally granted tax benefits - were left to grow unchecked over the years, in part promoting the subprime housing boom and bust.    Ironically, the SEC was actually investigating Fannie and Freddie's accounting back in 2003 and we still had years of growth of these agencies after that.

    If the President is right in that we can't "reward failure," isn't allowing those who were partially responsible for these bubbles and frauds to occur to keep their jobs a form of reward?  Not only keep their jobs, but in the case of Congress get a pay raise this year.

    As the President likes to say, we are all in this together.  And if we truly are then we need to punish equally those in the private and public sectors who failed in their roles as regulators.

Fred Watson

Don’t get all mad before you put yourself in their shoes. I cannot even imagine making 75000 a year, but a contract is a contract. How can you expect someone who has worked hard all year knowing their real compinsation will come in their bonous then because others have dropped the ball you don’t get paid. Now im sure everyone complaining has given their employer money back when they made a mistake. Another thing to consider is if you have millions in capital available as all these high rollers do you don’t need to put up with a corporation to make 500000 so why not walk and shed yourself of the responsibility of this mess. The government needs to get their spending under control before they can tell everyone else what to do. Why isn’t everyone outraged that congress increased each congresspersons expense account by 75000 and its was already in the hundreds of thousands. LIVE AND LET DIE CORPORATIONS ARE JUST PAPER NOT PEOPLE WE CAN MAKE NEW ONES IN THE STROKE OF A PEN.

February 5, 2009 at 1:20 pm

madattaknas

Amen, Brian!!

February 5, 2009 at 1:07 pm

Adam

If people are not fired for failure to do their job, or people who defrauded people through deceit are not prosecuted, then what is telling them and others that what they did is illegal ? And if people don't think its illegal, why not do it too ? The woman at the SEC - fire her. Apathy towards her job. The people selling fraudulent securities - prosecute them. The people selling loans to unqualified people - prosecute them. The banks that ignored lending standards - let them go bankrupt and the stigma of a bank failure be attached to their namees.

February 5, 2009 at 12:08 pm

Randy Cross

If Obama and the Democrats were really for Change the we could believe In....They would be kickin' ass and taking names....Where's the accountability and transparency ???? Until they rid us of these "thieves and liars" they will have zero credibility....,Zero.....

February 5, 2009 at 10:37 am

Andy K

I have said many a time before its in the vote. We need to vote all of them out. There are a few good ones in DC but leave them there long enough and they become crooked or just plain loose touch. And this is not only at the Washington level, it is all the way down to idiotic leaders in small village boards. If the person isnt doing their job VOTE THEM OUT. Quit looking at the high dollar ads and personal attacks and the mud smearing and the and the and the and the and so on. VOTE THEM OUT.

February 5, 2009 at 8:42 am

Adam

Someone asked me today why can't boards of large corporations also be held accountable. Funny thing is they can if they are not bailed out. Which ironically also fixes the whole CEO pay issue to. Bankrupt companies have no money to voer pay CEO's

February 5, 2009 at 4:55 am

earle

It was the Bush#43 Administration that pushed for more open(anything goes mentality) housing, not the Clinton Administration,because the Congress was controlled from 1995-2007 by the Republicans! Rep. Barney Frank is perhaps the greatest american alive today,period! Senator Schumer,and Sen.Dodd were responsible for the housing legislations passage on the democratic side. Finally,it was Sec.of Treasury Robert Rubin that got all the garbaged passed under the Clinton Administration. It was Clinton that passed NAFTA/CAFTA in 1993. It was Clinton that weakened/changed the FDIC law in 1993 with Greenspan's help. It was Clinton that repealed(gutted) the Glass/Steagal Law in 1997. All these laws Clinton de-boned were borne out of the "Great Depression"!It was Clinton that pushed vigorously for more "WTO" members such as China to be recognized! The list goes on ,with enough blame for both side of the aisle,but if you ask me their all the same, just out for their own self-interests,and no party loyalty is of consequences! Thanks Brian, Great Read (:

February 4, 2009 at 9:08 pm

Manny

You obviously don't understand how government works. The priorities of government agencies and the people who work for these agencies are set by the executive officer. In the case of federal agencies, it is the president, and for states, it is the governor. I have worked for a government regulatory agency and how we regulated and who we went after depended on the administration in power. For example, we regulated one way when there was a Republican administration and different way under a Democratic administration. Firing the workers would be punishing the wrong people. These people were only following directions handed down by the executive office. They would be jeopardizing their careers if they went against the policy set by the executive officer. In a sense the American people did fire those responsible; they elected a Democratic president and handed congressional power to the Democrats, blaming Republicans for this mess.

February 4, 2009 at 7:37 pm

The Narrator

You are exactly right, Brian. The greed and corruption that infect the board rooms of corporate America also infect the well-heeled offices of our elected (and appointed) government officials. The only real difference is that corrupt corporate America cannot throw you in jail if you don't obey them. If our elected officials want credibility, they will have to pay for it with prompt, thorough, non-partisan investigations and prosecutions against their own kind.

February 4, 2009 at 7:15 pm

sprytling

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPESENTATION.

February 4, 2009 at 6:03 pm

sprytling

I absolutely agree. Those members of Congress who had anything to do with the failure of the housing markets, from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, should be included in this punishment. They should lose their jobs in the most disgraceful of ways. They have allowed our country to come under the control of socialist/communists. Those companies who took bailouts sold their companies to the government. When you accept a bailout, you no longer are in control. Now the government tells you what you can make and what you can spend.

February 4, 2009 at 6:01 pm

Larry

If Americans knew just how easy it is to turn this mess around they would be assassinating their CONgressmen/women and Senators for the waste-full Tarp and Stimulus Plans that have been passed and proposed. I know a couple of 12 year old's who are smart enough to solve this mess.

February 4, 2009 at 4:42 pm

Katie

If any regular "Jane" or "John" performed their duties in the manner the Wall Street gang and the financial institutions CEO's, Presidents, VP's and others did we would have been out the door a day after all these problems were revealed...the answer isn't to put caps on salaries...it's to fire these idiots and to make those senators as in Franks and Dodd be held responsible for what they didn't do...which was to keep their public informed about what was happening...not lining their pockets...and how in the world can you justify the hiring of the new financial guru for the IRS that owes/owed back taxes...please don't try and feed me a line of baloney that it was an "honest" mistake. I owed the IRS $700 and you would have thought I robbed a piggy bank...they don't let you FORGET...so I don't buy he didn't know or he forgot...bull_ _ _ _! He's a crook now in charge of the hen house...

February 4, 2009 at 4:29 pm

6ftRabbit

We are besieged by liars and thieves. Time to saddle up the horses and find a hangin' tree.

February 4, 2009 at 4:26 pm

K B

Yes. Perhaps we should start with Barney Franks, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee who, only days before the government was forced to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said that these two institutions were in good shpae. Talk about "failure!"

February 4, 2009 at 1:18 pm

C Edgar

Dish started carrying Fox News (about time I called and called) I totally support your point of view! There are a few non-sheep American's listening.

February 4, 2009 at 12:46 pm

ZB

Bravo Brian, I love your passion on this issue. I saw the blow-up on Fox Business this morning and I couldn't agree more. Finally, someone on TV who expresses my sentiments. I've been screaming at the TV for months and calling and emailing my elected officials, all to no avail. Without adding in social security and medicare this nation is already 14+trillion in debt. That's the entire GDP for a year. They're still piling on!!! They're turning us into slaves to the world.

February 4, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Angrybuckeye

I listened to you this morning after the pay cap speech. I agree with you 100%. You said everything I wish I could get on TV and yell about. Keep it up. The Government likes to play the Kansas City Shuffle on the people and a lot of people keep falling for it and voting these idiots in over and over again. I also don't hear anything on MSM about all the teabags in letters and emails that our Dear Leaders have been receiving these past few days. Not everybody is fooled by their tactics.

February 4, 2009 at 12:13 pm

about this blog

  • Brian Sullivan joined FOX Business Network (FBN) in April 2008 as an anchor. He co-anchors the 10am-12pm ET hours of the FOX Business block. Prior to joining FBN, Sullivan served as an anchor for Bloomberg Television where he hosted the programs Morning Call and In Focus.

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