Pecora Commission Raised Again

February 3, 2009 (LPAC)--In a Jan. 30 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Senate leaders, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded an investigation into what caused the current financial crisis. "We have an enormous responsibility to explain to the American people what led to this financial crisis, how did we get here, who is responsible, and what we can do to make sure that this never happens again,'' wrote Sanders.

"To accomplish this very important goal we need to examine what responsibility should be borne by individuals, corporations, and institutions for the poor decisions and foolish investments that have in large measure created this monumental crisis.''

Sanders proposed the investigation be conducted by the TARP Oversight Panel, chaired by Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren.

In its favorable coverage of Sanders' call, the Nation magazine headlines its piece "Bernie Sanders: Put Wall Street Under Oath.'' Wall Street Under Oath was the title Ferdinand Pecora gave his book on the 1932-34 hearings he conducted, that exposed the criminality of the British-allied Wall Street financiers, and laid the groundwork for FDR reining them in.

To bolster Sanders' call, the Nation cited Pecora's hearings and quoted from FDR's first inaugural address:

"Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

"True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

"The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.''