A week ago, Obama delivered his third State of the Union speech. As is always the case in an election year, especially with an incumbent running for re-election, it was primarily a political speech. There is probably a higher chance of the State of Georgia erecting a statue of General Sherman on the Statehouse steps than there is that most of the substantive proposals that Obama made making it through Congress this year.
There was one item though, that does not need Congressional approval, that could prove to be highly significant. That is the creation of a Task Force, headed by New York State Attorney General Eric Schniederman to investigate, and bring criminal prosecutions for the frauds that lead up to the 2008 collapse. This is separate from the post collapse fraud cases that are now moving towards a settlement, the so-called Robo-signing case.
My personal reaction was: “What were you waiting for? and better late than never”. The sight of some top level Wall St. types in handcuffs may well prove to be as significant in preventing the shenanigans that lead up to the collapse from happening again than all the Dodd-Frank legislation in the world, although both are needed. So far, in his day job, Schniederman has shown himself to be a worthy successor in the role of “Sherriff of Wall St.” to his predecessors in the job, Elliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo (and even Thomas Dewey if you want to go further back in history and add a bi-partisan flavor to it).
Do you see this as a good thing? Will it actually result in a significant number of high level indictments and convictions, or do you think that his is just election year Kabuki Theatre? Or could it be a real game changer?
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