I can't get enthused over the idea of ANY current or former CongressCritter in the nations top slot - they all have had ample opportunity to develop bad habits and associations, including Lieberman, as this 2002 NY Times report on congressional hypocrisy on the Enron fiasco points out:
Article
A few excerpts:
"Although Enron's executives and accountants have much to answer for, they can be forgiven for cracking a wry smile when members of Congress begin lecturing them on their dereliction of duty: Congress ... pressured the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission not to demand tougher standards for financial reporting in the petroleum industry.
While the F.A.S.B. is a private organization financed by industry, the board's authority comes from the S.E.C. requirement that corporations follow the standards its sets. If Congress is unhappy with an F.A.S.B. standard, it can pass a law directing the S.E.C. to ignore it.
From 1991 to 1994, members of Congress prevented the F.A.S.B. from issuing a standard that would have forced companies to take a charge against earnings when they issue employee stock options. Congress persisted in this course of action even though investors like Warren Buffett and the S.E.C. itself supported the F.A.S.B.'s initiative, saying options should be counted as an expense on earnings statements in the same way other forms of compensation are.
(In 1994)... Senator Joseph Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut and now chairman of the committee that will convene tomorrow's first hearing, (
on Enron) introduced a bill that would have effectively destroyed the F.A.S.B.'s authority to set standards for financial reporting. The bill, proposed as an amendment to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, would have required the S.E.C. to vote on every statement issued by the board. In the face of this proposed legislation, the F.A.S.B. had no choice but to drop its proposal to amend the way options are accounted for.
... Each of these changes could have helped regulators and investors see the Enron-Andersen debacle coming, or even helped to prevent it. By sending a message that such changes are not remotely welcome or politically possible, Congress paved the way for the current crisis. Congressional involvement in financial standard-setting has been pure politics, fueled by a system of campaign financing that distorts the pursuit of the nation's legislative agenda. If members of Congress are sincere about identifying and correcting weaknesses in the standards used for financial reporting, then they should investigate the old-fashioned way: follow the money. They are likely to find a trail that leads to the nearest mirror."