Obama Stimulus Numbers: The Return of Enron-Style Accounting

The Sarbanes-Oxley Law was rushed through Congress in the wake of an enormous corporate accounting scandal that shook Wall Street and investors across the country. CEO’s and officers at several large companies were found to have “cooked the books”; i.e. knowingly falsified earnings statements to maintain stock prices or propel them higher. The practice came to be known as, Enron-Style Accounting.

The new law had many provisions, but one of its more sweeping was the requirement that corporate officers and executives assume personal responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of financial reports. In some cases, corporate officers could face civil or even criminal penalties if the numbers they reported to the public turned out to be inaccurate.

If only the law applied to politicians.

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Tags: accounting scandals, Enron, federal spending, Franklin Center, GAO
Posted Nov 19th 2009 at 6:47 am in Economics, Featured Story, News, Obama, Politics | 3349082 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2009/11/19/obama-stimulus-numbers-the-return-of-enron-style-accounting/Obama+Stimulus+Numbers%3A+The+Return+of+Enron-Style+Accounting2009-11-19+13%3A47%3A45Mike+Flynn