Virginia and the Anniversary of Enron

Virginia

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell says he’s trimming Virginia’s government by cutting regulatory boards and agencies.

Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young comments.

“She does not mention that Virginia’s budget is set to increase by $1.1 billion in 2012. This new spending outweighs the proposed cuts by a factor of 550. Gov. McDonnell may be modestly reshaping government, but he certainly isn’t shrinking it.”

Enron

Last Friday marked the 10th anniversay of the fall of Enron.

Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs John Berlau comments.

“The most damaging action of the Enron affair occurred in the aftermath of post-Enron reform. This would be the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Ten years later, even the Obama administration agrees that Sarbox’s crushing burden of accounting mandates is holding back economic growth.And Sarbox has little to show in results for investors, having failed to stop Lehman Brothers, Countrywide and now MF Global, which was run into the ground by a former politician who had championed the 2002 law.”