More On Paulson

My original post on Paulson's appointment as Treasury Secreatary is proving dead on the money. This Bloomberg article today adds Sarbanes-Oxley reform to the list of initiatives that Paulson is putting his considerable credibility heft behind. So, on top of getting Schumer and Graham to retreat on protectionist tariffs against China, seeking to curb frivolous lawsuits, and talking down hedge fund regulation we can now add the poster child for onerous and needless regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley, to the list of bad ideas that Paulson is combatting. (Bloomberg trots out ultra-liberal Columbia Law professor and former SEC Commissioner Harvey Goldschmid to decry Paulson's efforts. Here's an encounter I had with Goldschmid. It's clear that Goldschmid has never met regulation he didn't like. Given his reputation among Columbia Law grads as an arrogant jerk, it stands to reason that he feels all-knowing people such as himself can guide and protect our capital markets through wise stewardship.)

Still, Paulson has his work cut out for him. President Bush's ratings slide and the miserable leadership of the GOP Sausage Factory majoritarians are a prime source of momentum for the lousy and economically damaging ideas that spring from the left like dandelions when there is political blood in the water. One of the very first things that a Republican (or Unity ticket or Democratis ticket for that matter) candidate for the presidency in '08 ought to do is to seek the continued services of Treasury Secretary Paulson for the nation.