The Free Market, price of gas, class warfare or socialism?

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by dmek25

all i know is that creative book keeping has been around since people started keeping records. and politicians looking for a handout has been around for, well, forever. schneed, im not sure why you take it personal when someone disagrees with you. we can agree to disagree. because i know what you say isn't changing my thought process. and im sure my viewpoints aren't changing yours. its known as healthy discussion. the name calling isn't very productive, and it tends to change someones opinion of your personality. which is kind of funny

Schneed doesn't mean to attack people personally, he just doesn't pull any punches with regard to how he feels about someone's opinion.

As for cooking the books, let me just say the SEC can bring the hammer when companies get too cute. In the post-Sarbanes Oxley (i.e., post-Enron/WorldCom) world, it's become a lot more difficult to overstate/understate earnings. As a securities lawyer, I must say that I have a lot of confidence in the SEC. The SEC and securities laws are not perfect, but they are pretty damn good. Moreover, dmek, companies have a vested interest in OVERstating their profits.