Defending Goldman Sachs

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According to the Wall Street Journal, the recent SEC vote to sue Goldman Sachs broke down along partisan lines:

The Securities and Exchange Commission decided to sue Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over the objections of two Republican commissioners, suggesting an unusual split at the agency that could politicize one of its most prominent cases in years….People familiar with the vote said [Mary] Schapiro — a registered independent — joined two Democrats on the commission, Elisse Walter and Luis Aguilar, in supporting the fraud case against Goldman. The two Republican commissioners, Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes, were opposed, they said.

….In a letter to be sent Tuesday to the SEC, Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) plans to ask the agency why the Goldman case was brought as the financial-regulation bill was pending, according to Mr. Issa’s spokesman. “Democrats are desperate to cast Wall Street as the villain so they won’t be held accountable for the country’s economic condition,” Mr. Issa said. “It must be nice for the Democrats that the SEC’s filing against Goldman Sachs so conveniently fits into their political agenda.”

Hmmm. Darrell Issa seems to think that describing Democrats as the party that wants to “cast Wall Street as the villain” will somehow be bad for Democratic fortunes. And that defending Goldman Sachs will be good for the Republican Party.

I suppose anything is possible. But I’m willing to take my chances on casting Wall Street as a villain — and the only sure way to find out who’s right is to run a test. So with that in mind, I encourage the rest of the GOP caucus to join Issa’s crusade to defend Goldman Sachs against the depredations of Democratic SEC commissioners. In a few months we’ll see how that plays out for them.