The Bush administration formally weighed in on the side of business in a closely watched Supreme Court case, finalizing the battle lines in a case that has big implications for Wall Street.
The administration's position is largely at odds with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which earlier this year took the side of the shareholder plaintiffs. The case centers on whether shareholders can sue to hold third parties accountable for their company's fraud. [...]
In a "friend of the court" brief, the Justice Department said finding for the plaintiffs would "considerably widen the pool of deep-pocketed defendants that could be sued for the misrepresentations of issuers."
God knows we don't want the rabble getting their hands in those deep pockets.
A similar case is being fought by Enron shareholders against Merrill Lynch & Co. who doctored Enron's financial image to appear healthier than it was. The Bush administration, contrary to the logic of ownership, does not want Merrill Lynch to be held accountable for its role in the Enron fraud. Enron shareholders should just shut up and take their losses, despite having been generated by a Republican cabal composed of Bush contributors at the tops of Enron, Merrill Lynch, and the defunct Arthur Andersen (Halliburton's auditor under Cheney).
The glory of ownership, often phrased by the GOP as the Ownership Society, is its blanket excuse for such ideas as the privatization of Social Security. But now they have proved that not only do they want all your money in the US Treasury, they also want all the money in your 401(k) and brokerage accounts.
You would think that a property-revering Republican would want to enforce accountability among his properties. But that's because the Republican party is no longer the party of property — such sacred cows are old school. Under Bush's son it has become the party of outright fraud.
