PRESS RELEASE
LaRouche Renews Call for New `Pecora Commission'
Dec. 27, 2008 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC).
In the wake of a growing public groundswell of anger at the now $8 trillion bailout of some of Wall Street and London's biggest swindlers, Lyndon LaRouche today reiterated his call for the establishment of a "new Pecora Commission," to probe the causes of the now-onrushing greatest financial crash in modern history. Between 1932-33, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee staged high-profile hearings into the causes of the stock market crash of 1929, and dragged some of Wall Street's top bankers, led by JP "Jack" Morgan, before the American people, to account for their crimes. The Committee's lead counsel, Ferdinand Pecora, led the probe, which gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt the political leverage he needed, to push through sweeping regulation of the financial sector, including the Glass-Steagall Act of June 1933.
LaRouche had first issued the call for a Congressional select committee to probe the financial crimes on Sept. 28, 2008, in the form of an endorsement of House Resolution 1452, sponsored by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), which mandated the creation of a "Select Committee on Financial Bailouts." That resolution was referred to the House Rules Committee and never was put to a vote.
"The recent revelations of the Bernard Madoff $50 billion Ponzi Scheme have only served to further highlight the criminal folly of the Bush Administration and Congress' efforts to bail out the quadrillions of dollars in unregulated derivatives, that cannot and must not be paid," LaRouche declared today. "The majority of members of the U.S. House and Senate, against their own best instincts, under enormous pressure, and against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of their constituents, approved the Paulson-Bernanke bailout swindle, and now, three months, and at least $8 trillion later, we are in an even bigger hole."
"We cannot afford to waste any more time," LaRouche said. "We need a new Pecora Commission, with full subpoena powers, to get to the bottom of this worst financial debacle in history. Whether you start with the Madoff Ponzi Scheme, or the illegal and unregulated activities of the offshore hedge funds, or the role of the rating agencies, the mortgage brokers, and commercial banks in the sub-prime mortgage bubble, is of less importance than the need to act promptly, and with full public transparency," LaRouche insisted.
"Given the horrible condition that states and cities find themselves in, I call on my friends in the state legislatures, the city councils, the mayors' and governors' offices, to contact your Congressional delegations, and get them to act, now. The incoming Obama Administration needs to borrow this leaf from FDR. Give the American people what they demand: Answers to how it was that the the biggest financial bubble in history—a bubble that already burst in late July 2007—was created. Hold those responsible for this to account. Only by placing a very large public spotlight on the crimes of the recent past, can we build the political support for genuine solutions," LaRouche concluded.
"Give the incoming Obama Administration the same kind of leverage that the Pecora Commission afforded Franklin Roosevelt, so that the urgently needed bankruptcy reorganization and economic rebuilding can be launched, without interference."
