“If we ignore history, we are bound to bail it out again.”
That was the opening note of the bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission struck yesterday by its chairman, Phil Angelides, the former state treasurer of California.
In an atmosphere that Madame Defarge would have loved, America’s bankers are now in the dock of public opinion, which has been boiling over more than a year after Bush and Obama handouts to save them followed by bad behavior that makes the aristocrats of the Ancien Regime look like Robin Hoods.
As they face TV cameras, bailout barons may be in for more than a public flogging. This Commission is “authorized to hold hearings; issue subpoenas either for witness testimony or documents; and refer to the Attorney General or the appropriate state Attorney General any person who may have violated U.S. law in relation to the financial crisis.”
But seasoned Washington observers know enough not to expect a parade of tumbrels to the guillotine. The bottom line (as the bankers themselves might put it) is how tough will be the regulations that the White House and Congress, both compromised by their Wall Street ties, will have the guts to impose when the Commission lays out its findings of greed and arrogance that will surprise no one.