sen. dodd, i hope you will stick to the public option on healthcare. also what is up with joe lieberman?

Here in New Hampshire we saw during the last presidential election how hard Chris Dodd works and cares for the people in this country. Everything Chris Dodd does is genuine because he has a proven record of fighting for what is right as his father did. I feel very confident to have Chris working on improving our health care for all. Personal freedoms and doing what is right is what he has worked for years in the Senate. He will do a fine job in improving the laws that oversee our banks and corporations as well. No small feat , but Chris will change things back to the forward direction we are proud of in this country. Gail Mitchell NH.

It is my understanding that as good as Senator Dodd is on some issues he is severely against citizens from south of the border being allowed into this marvelous country (not).

Senator Dodd:
I am very interested in supporting your efforts to reform our nation's financial markets.  Towards that end, I was pleased to receive your recent solicitation e-mail.  However, events of the last several years have taught me to approach every political campaign solicitation with a healthy skepticism.  

As much as I'd like to embrace your latest venture, I need to predicate that support on one key litmus test.  Specifically, where do you stand on mandatory Sarbanes-Oxley disclosure requirements for public companies?

The House Financial Services Committee last week approved an amendment to the Investor Protection Act of 2009 that would (a) allow most public companies (those under $75 million in market capitalization) to never comply with Section 404 of S-OX, and (b) mandate yet another study to see whether it would be a good idea to exempt companies with market capitalization of less than $250 million from those mandatory disclosures as well.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board already relaxed S-OX financial accounting disclosure obligations earlier this year, letting large banks and other financial institutions continue to maintain secrecy over the level of toxic assets held in their respective portfolios.  To do so at a time when America is crying out for accountability and transparency strikes me as dubious, to say the least.

I am quite familiar with the arguments that neither the markets nor the public at large are capable of handling the truth about the precarious condition of our economy.  Frankly, I've grown skeptical of any argument that maintains secrecy for the protection of the uninformed.  It's an anti-democratic argument, it's fundamentally contrary to what we as a nation have considered to be the American Way, and I'd like to believe it's contrary to your philosophy of governing.  Before I commit funding and support to your efforts, would you please confirm to me that we are on the same page regarding this issue.

Does your new legislation relax S-OX financial accounting disclosure requirements?
Thanks for your time and consideration.
-Richard Blau
Tampa, Florida