The Moment

1|13|10: D.C.

Epic congressional investigations of Wall Street have followed the nation's epic financial disasters: the Pujo Committee, starting in 1912, and the Pecora Commission, in 1932. Now, after a year of sometimes enlightening but mostly maddening congressional hearings about the Panic of 2008, a potential modern equivalent is under way--the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created by Congress but populated by a mix of financial experts and smarter-than-average former elected officials. In keeping with the P-heavy historical precedents, it could be known as the Phil Commission, after chairman Phil Angelides--a former California state treasurer who lost to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the state's 2006...

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