Pelosi Calls for Commission to Investigate Wall Street

With an eye toward quelling the populist anger roiling across the nation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today called for the creation of a commission to root out the causes of Wall Street's meltdown patterned after an obscure Depression-era committee.

In San Francisco to speak about her book encouraging the rise of women in society at a gathering for the Commonwealth Club of California, Pelosi said Americans are angry with the economy and bonuses given to AIG, and at least 75 percent of them want an investigation into the missteps that led to this recession.

"That's what we would do with this commission, is to make sure it does not happen again," she said.

Pelosi spoke with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this morning about the plan to emulate the Pecora Commission created in 1932. That commission, named after Deputy District Attorney of New York County Ferdinand Pecora, followed two failured attempts but ultimately benefited by Franklin Roosevelt's election to the presidency. The commission's findings led to the Securities Act of 1933 and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission – itself alleged by many to have been lax in regulating Wall Street (with Bernard Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme being the poster boy for this age).

“Some people can tell you one piece of it. Others can tell you another piece of it. It's really hard to know. Do you understand it?” Pelosi asked rhetorically. “We need a clearer understanding of how we got here.”

Pelosi is not the first politician to allude to the Pecora Commission in recent weeks. Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan called for a new iteration of the committee along with the resurrection of the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial and investment banking. Many believe its repeal in 1999 was the impetus for banks and investment firms like Citigroup and Travelers to merge and allow the subprime credit markets to run rampant. (Wells Fargo Chairman Dick Kovacevich gave the banks' side of the deregulation story in a speech to The Commonwealth Club in 2008. Click here to view video.) A New York Times editorial last month also called for a Pecora-like commission to be created.

Besides making news with her call for a Wall Street investigation, Pelosi had a full schedule. Earlier in the day, appearing on the local Fox affiliate KTVU, Pelosi characterized an upswing of “Tea Party” tax protests as window dressing for elite conservative interests that mainly wanted lower taxes, mocking them as “Astroturf” or fake “grassroots.”

The Speaker also drew upon her personal biography to encourage woman to continue reaching for more positions of power. Her book, Know Your Power: A Message to American Daughters urges women to get involved in all aspects of community service. Pelosi is the daughter of the Baltimore establishment and said she found politics both exciting and distasteful. “It taught me I didn't want to be a part of it,” she said.

While raising five children with husband Paul Pelosi – who incidentally spent the speech doting over their newest grandchildr – she slowly became immersed in Bay Area politics with her big break occurring in 1976 when she secured Maryland for a youthful Jerry Brown in the Democratic presidential primaries. Pelosi joked, though, that the then-governor of California had a problem with saying, “thank you,” but he nonetheless found time to praise her for delivering Maryland to his campaign.

Newsom Rides the Media Circuit to the Commonwealth Club

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has been popping up in some unlikely places lately. He appeared last week as a panelist on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, is slated to speak in Oakland tomorrow night and even chatted with the mortal enemy of "San Francisco liberal Democrats" Sunday morning on Fox News. It seems Newsom's exploratory foray into a possible run for governor is in high gear, to be topped with a conversation at The Commonwealth Club of California Wednesday night. (Check out recent appearances of the mayor on MSNBC's Morning Joe here and CNN Newsroom here.)

Newsom's increased visibility during the past week might be designed to increase an early Field Poll that gave the liberal Democrat just 10 percent of the vote. To be fair, the poll was questionable, because it included Sen. Dianne Feinstein who has declined to state whether she will run (yet she still topped the poll with 38 percent).

The HBO appearance may be instructive about how Newsom plans to run as the progressive candidate on the Democratic side. On the show, he spoke candidly on topics such as gay marriage and medical marijuana (unequivocally supporting both) and skillfully wove his talking points regarding his accomplishments in the city. Though Newsom was an early supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential aspirations, he might stand to benefit from the coattails of President Obama's liberal resurgence across the country. One theme likely to be espoused by Newsom in the race is his talking point touting the existence of universal health care in his city. If President Obama follows through on his pledge to offer health-care legislation nationally by mid-year or later, Newsom might get a bounce. And as one of the first politicians to stick his neck out for gay marriage, the mayor might lead the way on two popular statewide issues that could vault him from a dark horse candidate to serious contender.

Former Governor (and former just about everything in California politics) Jerry Brown is hoping to represent the state's future with an eye at its past. The other challenger, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, suffered somewhat of a letdown last week despite winning re-election. With only 15 percent of the electorate voting, Villaraigosa garnered just 128,000 votes, raising statewide electability questions.

If Newsom's past media appearances are any indication, his remarks at the Commonwealth Club should be candid -- and palatable to the hometown San Francisco audience.

--Steven Tavares

Meg Whitman Wants the Governor's Office

Former eBay president and CEO Meg Whitman has thrown her hat into the ring by announcing her intention to run for the California governor's office. The business leader, who was an advisor to Republican Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, is expected to make a high priority out of California's business competitiveness.
That was also the focus of her September 23, 2008, speech to The Commonwealth Club (see video below.) In it, she openly questioned whether California's tax and regulatory environment would allow a company like eBay to be born and thrive today like it did.
"A significant portion of our population is unsuited for today's high-paying jobs," she told the audience. "You can't grow your business if you can't find the people you need, and if you can't find the people you need, you have to move the company to where those people are. We need to make education a priority in California."

Whitman joins a possible field of candidates including current San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, former Governor and current state Attorney General Jerry Brown, current U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and others. His possible candidacy is likely to be brought up when Newsom speaks to The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco March 11. For information on that event, go here.