***(Editor’s Note:  Sean Flynn is a Columnist and Political Commentator for “The Thirsty Quill.” This is Mr. Flynn’s fourth contribution to the site. As always, ‘The Quill’ appreciates Sean’s insightful and thought-provoking editorials, and we look forward to publishing more of his work in the days ahead.)***

“Intelligence Regression 101: Hosted by Barney Frank and Friends”

By: Sean Flynn, Columnist

I watched as the eight “major bank” CEO’s testified in front of the House Finance Committee yesterday. Unfortunately, anyone who tuned in is now a bit dumber for having done so. The setup was clear: grill the CEO’s, embarrass them, draw blood, and display the ‘pound of flesh’ for all Americans to see. It was indeed a spectacle to witness.

Don’t get me wrong, too many of these guys fell asleep at the wheel and have exacerbated the mess we find ourselves in today. Much to my chagrin, the only thing that is clear to me after watching the hearing is that the members of the Finance Committee are hopelessly out of their element. I honestly would have felt better watching Barney Fife oversee Intelligence briefings, or listening to George Costanza lecture NASA on the best way to build a new Space Shuttle.  

After hearing from the Buddy Hackett look-alike chairman of the committee, Barney Frank and his band of merry “Financial Gurus” (I hope you are picking up on the sarcasm), I went from 99 to 100% certainty in my belief that the government is not who we need to solve the problems within the financial sector. The Representatives from both sides of the aisle showed me that they have a 3rd Grade understanding of a course being taught at an MBA level.

I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to make me feel good about Vikram Pandit or Ken Lewis, but these goobers in D.C. somehow pulled it off. The sad reality is that I’d rather ‘roll the dice’ with a guy like Pandit (who has managed to erode ‘Citi’ all the way down to about $4 per share), as opposed to an incompetent politician like Rep. Maxine Watters. I don’t want to see her within 100 yards of any TARP related discussions. I hope the fine people in her California district are proud that their Representative did not possess the capacity to string together a coherent thought during the hearings, much less the ability to offer a constructive recommendation on dealing with the financial meltdown.

Maybe it’s just me, but I sure as hell would have done my homework, had substantive questions aimed at correcting the problem, and not just bark poorly arranged sentence fragments at the panel through the microphone (yes, I’m talking about you Representative Michael Capuano). If we were all as unprepared to do our jobs as the House Finance Committee was yesterday, unemployment would currently be about 95% nationwide.

Alas, it seems my expectations of our leaders might be a bit too lofty. Perhaps I’m being too unreasonable. Maybe I should look at the bright side: these CEO’s have been summarily reprimanded, and I can now expect anywhere from an extra $8 to $13 per week as a result of the stimulus windfall. What a country! 

***(Editor’s Note:  Sean Flynn is a Columnist and Political Commentator for “The Thirsty Quill.” This is Mr. Flynn’s fourth contribution to the site. As always, ‘The Quill’ appreciates Sean’s insightful and thought-provoking editorials, and we look forward to publishing more of his work in the days ahead.)***