When Congress created the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in 2009, it tasked the group with digging into the origins of the global economic meltdown that began in 2008.
The 10-member commission is scheduled to issue a report in December 2010. In the meantime, the panel appears determined to shed no light on itself. According to the New York Times, FCIC Chairman Phil Angelides, the former California state treasurer, has complained that his panel’s $8 million, taxpayer-funded budget is inadequate, but he refuses to provide this newspaper with a list of staff members, how much they are paid or their job descriptions. He won’t even cough up a copy of the FCIC ethics policy he claimed to have instituted to avoid conflicts of interest among his staff members. Angelides’ attitude is especially puzzling considering that his appointment was approved by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who famously promised “the most open, the most honest, the most ethical Congress in history.”
This lack of transparency increases public confusion and skepticism about the value of congressional commissions in general and of the FCIC in particular. Its stated purpose, according to its Web site, is to “examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States.” But what value can there be in such a report when the Senate and House have already passed landmark financial reform legislation designed to prevent another economic meltdown?
Angelides and the FCIC’s vice chairman, former Republican Rep. Bill Thomas of California, told The Washington Examiner the panel won’t be making policy recommendations. “This report is to explain to the American people what really caused the meltdown,” said Angelides. But if it won’t be making policy recommendations and Congress has already passed legislative fixes to avoid another meltdown, why are we spending $8 million on this commission? The only explanation Angelides could offer was that his panel’s report might be of use to those who enforce the new law.
More likely, there will be two FCIC reports, one by the panel’s six Democratic members, and a separate minority submission from its four Republicans, even though panel spokesman Tucker Warren claimed a minority report is unlikely. Interestingly, the panel’s 10 commissioners and 52 staff members had to sign permanent nondisclosure agreements regarding confidential information. Since they alone apparently decide what constitutes confidential information, taxpayers most likely will never know how either report was compiled. That’s eight million more reasons why America needs a new Congress.
To reach the FCIC and find out how your tax dollars are being spent, call this number and request the staff list and the salary information: 202-292-2799. Journalists can call Tucker Warren at 202-292-1346.
