But neither his words nor his demeanour on Tuesday had any credibility."
Republicans retort that Bush's speech was tough. Several of Bush's proposals -- forfeiting pay, preventing executives trading shares during closed periods, preventing analysts misleading markets -- sound similar to the Sarbanes program.
But this, says LaFalce, is misleading. For example, the US$100 million SEC budget increase is dwarfed by more than US$700 million proposed by Democrats. The shredding proposals are a "smokescreen" to keep attention on Andersen, not Bush's Texas friends at Enron.
Instead of a catchy "Swat team," Sarbanes proposes a prosaic but independent Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This will have the power to inspect big accounting firms every year and investigate complaints about firms. Companies should not be able to offer consulting to firms they audit. He demands compulsory rotation of firms.
The controversy is set to rumble on, much to the delight of Democrats. Sarbanes's Bill is expected to clear the Senate next week, but it must then be combined with weaker measures proposed in the "Oxley" Bill from the Republican-controlled House.
LaFalce indicates Bush's support for Oxley will be used to beat him. "He praised the House-passed Bill, which gave away everything. That revealed his true colors."
President George W. Bush plans next week to emphasis strengths in the economy, such as low inflation and interest rates, after US stock indexes slid to their lowest level since 1997.
Bush will stress that "the economy is fundamentally sound" during a roundtable discussion Monday about the economy at the University of Alabama, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
It's part of an effort to reassure investors and financial markets, which continued to tumble this after Bush traveled to Wall Street and promised to crack down on accounting lapses at US companies.
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