Government and Economy Obama: Workers and Businesses Must Serve and Sacrifice The president's inaugural address praise for American workers and entrepreneurs may serve him well as employers brace for a spate of pro-union legislation and health care reform. Schapiro: Time to Sarbox Small BusinessThe incoming SEC chief is calling for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for smaller companies. The law mandates that publicly traded companies—and some private ones with public debt—get independent certification that they have reliable internal controls over their financial reporting. [Read Full Article]

As if the economic meltdown, the dog-and-pony shows from Detroit and Wall Street, and the Federal Government’s ham-handed attempts to regain control over the nation’s finances were not bad enough: Former NASDAQ chairman and respected money manager Bernard L. Madoff, has for years been running what is possibly the largest Ponzi scheme ever--$50 billion. When I read about it, I was not surprised. Madoff’s crime was merely one of the various crimes and crises that have afflicted Wall Street over the last decade. It was not the first to come to light and I promise you, it will not be the last. The SEC Surprise What was a surprise was a story on Yahoo News that reported: On Tuesday night, [Securities and Exchange Commission] SEC Chairman Christopher Cox ordered an internal investigation of what went wrong and offered a scathing critique of the conduct of his staff attor... [Read Full Article]

Government and Economy Obama Names Richardson as Commerce Secretary New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has been chosen to join the Obama administration as Commerce Secretary, President-elect Barack Obama announced Wednesday at a press conference. Fed: Economy Darkens Heading into HolidaysWASHINGTON (AP) - The country's economic picture has darkened further as Americans hunkered down heading into the holidays, forcing retailers to ring up fewer sales and factories to cut back on production. [Read Full Article]