Friends of FF to Investigate Financial Crisis

Last week, Congress announced its selections for the new commission to investigate the financial crisis. The four Republicans will be familiar names to readers of FrumForum.com: Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Keith Hennessey, Bill Thomas, and Peter Wallison.

Last week, Congress announced its selections for the new commission to investigate the financial crisis. The four Republicans will be familiar names to readers of FrumForum.com:  Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Keith Hennessey, Bill Thomas, and Peter Wallison. Douglas Holtz-Eakin needs no introduction to NewMajority readers.  A frequent contributor to FF, Mr. Holtz-Eakin served as the sixth Director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2003-2005 and as the chief economic advisor to Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid.  Mr. Holtz Eakin has also recently been a guest on the NewMajority podcast. Keith Hennessey, served as a top economic advisor to President George W. Bush from 2002-2007, rising to become director of the National Economic Council.  Bill Thomas served a distinguished term in the United States House of Representatives from 1978 to 2007.  For six of those years, he chaired the House Ways and Means Committee and is currently serving as a visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Thomas will serve as the Vice-Chairman of the Committee. Peter Wallison currently serves as the co-director of the American Enterprise Institute’s program on financial policy studies. A former general counsel to the U.S. Treasury Department and then White House counsel under President Reagan, Peter Wallison’s new book on campaign finance reform was recently reviewed at FF and he was also recently a guest on the NewMajority podcast. The four Republicans will serve alongside six Democrats. Former California Treasurer Phil Angelides will chair the Commission. Democrats also named: Brooksley Born, who chaired the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1996-99; former Senator Bob Graham; Heather Murren, chair of the Nevada Cancer Institute; former CEO of the security software firm Symantec Corp., John W. Thompson; and plaintiff securities lawyer Byron Georgiou. The crash of 2008 was as severe a financial shock as this country has ever experienced. Crises like this can often provoke ignorant scapegoat-hunting. The role of bad public policy is often minimized, while individuals are targeted and blamed. At FF, we know first hand the high intellect and strong character of the Republican members of the Commission, and if it is up to them, this commission will produce one of the outstanding reports in the history of American finance.