The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was the major response to the corporate scandals that occurred earlier in this decade. From Wikipedia:
The Committee approved the final conference bill on July 24, 2002 and gave it the name "the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002." The next day, both houses of Congress voted on it without change, producing an overwhelming margin of victory: 423 to 3 in the House and 99 to 0 in the Senate. On July 30, 2002, President George W. Bush signed it into law….
This is an amazing feat for the Bush Congresses and is certainly one of the most overwhelmingly supported bills passed in the history of the U.S. Congress. As with everything else, it has its shortcomings and its strengths.
Now just four years removed from this monumental event, the chatter in the financial publications is that Sarbanes-Oxley is too restrictive and burdensome on
I suppose this is only one of the many problems that occurs in a society that is dominated by corporations that can sue and be sued, avail themselves of legal protections as persons, and ultimately refashion all legal structures to benefit themselves above individuals, who are actual people. Even so, they cannot be subject to criminal laws because they are not people. It is so irrational that it defies any semblance of logic.
And even when real people overwhelmingly implement programs to cultivate transparency so fewer people have to experience situations like the Enron fiasco, the corporate sectors screams bloody murder. It's absurd. You can't have your cake and eat it too; you gotta take the bitter with the sweet. Excuse me, I forgot that these trite phrases only apply to people. A corporation is only a person when advantageous.
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