Isn't it time to clean the grime from the federal government? In 2002 the Sarbanes-Oxley Bill was passed by Congress in order to clean up public corporations' accounting and disclosure statements.
Failure to clean up their filings would result in company management, and those responsible for preparing the tome, looking forward to a room and board courtesy of the federal prison system.
A citizen has always been required to sign their personal tax return, stating it is correct.
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) required the same for corporate officers and their bean counters.
Impetus to pass this legislation in almost record time came from the Enron collapse.
The securities act from the 1930s required full disclosure of public company data; however, corporate officers and accounting firms were not required to sign the filings.
Prosecuting fraud cases was difficult as officers in these areas could easily plead ignorance.
An interesting sidebar- these players have IQs in triple digits until placed under oath.
Just after being sworn in to tell the truth most become so brain dead that to keep them alive would require being nourished with a tube.
Thanks to SOX the prosecutor can prove they were smart enough to learn how to write their name.
The major actors involved with operations of public corporations squealed like pigs caught with their head stuck in the feed trough.
The chamber of concrete, all financial publications, public relations firms and lobbyists squealed in unison.
A six-year-old child refusing to take a bath held the Guinness record for excuses.
The SOX squealers took him out faster than someone ripping the page from the Guinness book.
Billions and billions of shadow wealth were at stake if SOX became law.
The law community with pockets so deep they touched the hole in citizen's footwear mobilized.
Now in 2010 the Supreme Court has just ruled that SOX is safe and legal.
One minor adjustment was made to the law, stating that Sarbanes-Oxley is now settled law.
A survey completed just this year shows 70% of the corporate community is now favorable to SOX.
Because Sarbanes-Oxley was passed and signed into law in panic it still has one major flaw.
To my knowledge that flaw wasn't an issue when appearing before the Supreme Court.
It is now time for Congress to remove this flaw.
In the years following 2002 we have experienced several financial bubbles.
Each of these has a common gene in its DNA.
Operations exempt from SOX were either a major party involved in blowing up the bubble, or in the case of investment banks were the bubble.
In its haste to protect American citizens Congress left out the largest users of public dollars.
Certainly they just somehow forgot to include these.
The largest of these is the federal government.
The next in line is the Federal Reserve Bank.
Insurance companies, investment banks, and derivatives of such institutions have discovered methods to circumvent SOX's compliance.
Until all of these are forced to abide by Sarbanes-Oxley our economy and government will continue to experience financial bubbles.
The next bubble will be a collapse of fiat currency.
The results have the potential to send the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank back to school to study this century's first depression.
A certified independent financial audit performed by SOX rules is the only way to have transparency and accountability in federal government operations.
Until then our financial family experience will be like taking a shower with our raincoat on.
Amending the law could be done in one sentence.
Just state that any entity entrusted with third-party expenditures must comply with SOX.
In fact, the House and Senate could make it the first tweet law.
The few ants left should organize and rally the grasshoppers to demand passage.
What would it feel like to have transparency and accountability? Plan for the worst - Pray for better!