Lone SEC Democrat To Leave Jan. 31: Nazareth's Exit Leaves Agency Short-Staffed

[ursi]

The lone Democrat at the Securities and Exchange Commission has notified the White House that she will depart at the end of the month, leaving the agency short-staffed at a time when the stock markets are volatile and Wall Street banks are posting enormous losses related to the mortgage crisis.

Annette L. Nazareth, who started her career at the SEC nearly a decade ago, told President Bush in a letter over the weekend that "it is time for me to pursue other professional opportunities" in the private sector. Her Jan. 31 departure means that the five-member commission will operate without any Democratic representatives at a critical time for the economy and in the waning months of the Bush administration.

The SEC is composed of three members from the president's political party and two from the opposing party. Nazareth's resignation, which she had said last year would be coming, follows the departure of the agency's senior Democrat, Roel C. Campos, for a law partnership in September.

The agency has a major role in policing corruption in the stock markets and protecting investors from fraud and abuses. In response to widespread problems with mortgage-backed investments, SEC enforcement officials have opened three dozen investigations into whether banks and lenders are downplaying their losses and whether executives enriched themselves by trading their own stock based on inside information.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101943.html?wpisrc=rss_business


Damn, I had no idea there was only one Dem there in the first place but it all makes sense to me know as I look back over the past 7 years of Bush crap.