During two brief terms as Dictator, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus led Rome's armies into battle and vanquished the Republic's enemies. Thereafter, Cincinnatus twice retired to his farm and left the political arena. Where other men would have been consumed by their appetite to retain power, Cincinnatus was content to till the soil.

Eliot Spitzer is no Cincinnatus.

. . . 

[I]n the end, Spitzer's attempt to reinsert himself into the political arena comes off as opportunistic and calculated. Whatever sincerity he brings to the table comes off as comically ironic. When I read the title of his Slate article, "The ABCs of Reform: How Washington Blew Its Chance for Wall Street Reform", I could barely keep from laughing out loud. Talk about schadenfreude! I mean, who among us does not imagine that Ashley Dupré will not soon write her own Slate article: "The ABCs of Reform: How I Blew Elliot Spitzer and His Chance to Reform Wall Street"?

 

 

Read Bill Singer's Huffington Post Column.  Now on-line:

 

Modern-Day Regulation: The Big Broom After the Circus Parade Passes

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-singer/modern-day-regulation-the_b_633552.html

 

[I]f I see one more self-serving television ad from BP, if I see one more politician in socks and shoes walking on the beach with his shirtsleeves rolled up, I'm going to throw my television remote through my screen. Don't these idiots get it? Disasters are not wonderful opportunities for a photo-op! Having set in motion the causes of this ecological disaster, BP wants me to thank them for giving folks shovels to clean the beaches? Having failed to timely respond to the leak with an effective containment plan, government officials want me to applaud their televised hearings?

I am not a fan of the time-wastin' speechifyin', masturbatory roundtablin', and high-fallutin' blue-ribbon panels that enervate our government. Sadly, we are saddled with legislators and regulators who belatedly cobble together ineffective solutions for yesterday's problems, or opt for abject inaction that paves the way for tomorrow's crises. In the end, we get neither an ounce of prevention nor a pound of cure. E Pluribus Unum has been replaced with Too Little, Too Late.

Among the worst examples of institutionalized procrastination is the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). More often than not, my commentaries about the SEC are filled with pointed barbs -- sharpened from frustration with the federal regulator's inability to do its job. Consider my May 2010 blog: LOST: One Securities and Exchange Commission Regulatory Priority . . .

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-singer/modern-day-regulation-the_b_633552.html