SEC watching porn instead of Wall Street?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/04/23/art.wallstreet.0423.gi.jpg caption=" SEC watching porn instead of Wall Street?."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As Wall Street brought the nation to the brink of financial collapse a couple years ago some of our so-called top government regulators were spending hours a day of agency time watching pornography on government computers instead of watching the investment bankers on Wall street who were going south with the economy.
The inspector general for the Securities and Exchange Commission says at least 33 employees were involved watching internet filth. Almost all of these cases occurred in the last two and a half years which would coincide with the near-collapse of the financial system.
More than half of these employees were at a "senior level" making up to $220,000.
And if you're not disgusted yet, let me continue:
One senior attorney at the SEC in Washington spent as much as 8 hours a day looking at and downloading porn. After running out of hard drive space on his computer, he burned the files onto CDs or DVDs and stored them in boxes in his office.
An SEC accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in one month from trying to access porn sites.
Another SEC accountant tried to access pornography online almost 2,000 times in a two-week period. She had 600 pornographic images saved on her computer.
The SEC won't release the names of these people even though they work for you. They claim those involved have been disciplined, suspended or fired. They should all be fired end of discussion.
Meanwhile President Obama wants to create another new government bureaucracy to oversee Wall Street. What if the SEC just did its job instead?
Here’s my question to you: Should Pres. Obama be more concerned about the SEC watching pornography when they should have been watching Wall Street?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
David in New Hampshire
Why in the hell aren't their names being released? That along with getting a pink slip. After all, like you said, Jack, they work for us. (I use the word 'work' for lack of a better term). I used to work for a major airline, and it was cut and dry, if you are caught accessing porn on company computers, either on the clock or not, you can kiss your job goodbye.
Mary
Our entire government is a sham. We are going broke paying taxes and for what – things like this… We, as a society, have declined in morals and integrity. I cannot wait until Nov. 2010 to vote these incumbents out of office and for Nov. 2012 to remove Obama.
David in West Virginia
Come on, Jack, those guys were under a lot of stress.
Micah
This is a perfect example of big government gone wrong. Who regulates the regulators? And let's not forget the government's hand in the financial collapse by putting programs into place that allowed people to buy homes they had no business buying in the first place. They love to blame Wall Street without accepting their own part in it.
Chris
Well, the SEC clearly has its priorities. Maybe just fire them all and create a new agency. But, just adding layers of bureaucracy to the bloated government of a broke country is not the solution. If something doesn't work, replace it! Don't create a couple new agencies to do the same redundant and ineffective work.
Dennis in North Carolina
Yes, but it is a typical government employee mindset. We owe them a living.
Nick in Detroit
You've got to admit though, that when the world is crumbling around you, nothing spells relief quite like 'P-O-R-N'!
Kyle in Washington
Jack, They were probably on those sites legitimately. Obviously they were doing research on how to perform the same acts on the average citizen.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
As my money was flying out the window, at least these guys were watching something. What was that old comedy movie quote? "Your Honor.....whack their pee pees".
If watching porn is prohibited in the work place at the SEC, then it's prudent to block those sites. Men love to look at skantily clad women as well as nude. I'm glad they're interested in that good stuff. Manly men should be more in demand.
George from Crofton, Kentucky
The president needs to have ever single person of the SEC fired and have them replaced with competent upstanding people. I can't understand why they were watching porn. It's not the only company it happens at. If you watch porn, fine, but keep that stuff at home on your own personal computer. It's rediculous that these people put the nation at risk over pornography.
Terrence Cain
Big Spring, TX.
This kind of thing is just part of an overall problem with government. They have too many employees, too many unimportant processes, and far, far too many people employed. They seldom supervise very well. They don't manage effectively. They don't demand strong performance and they almost never get rid of dead wood! In many cases there are probably 2 or 3 government employees doing the work that one person would do in a commercial business where there is a bottom line and where they just can't raise taxes to capture enough money to pay for all the waste! Watching pornography is just a lewd insult to taxpayers on top of all the other insults.
At least now we know something probably increased in size . . . too bad it had nothing to do with our investments.
Jack, Sometime you ask the most ridiculous questions. I think Obama ghas alot more important things to pay attention to than whether a few (very few)staffers at the SEC were watching porn during the collapse, especially since it really wasn't on his watch, and he certainly has the right people in place to deal with this minor problem. There are plenty of employee review processes in place to appropriately deal with this situation up to and including termination. Jack, Not everything that happend in the government requires the presidents direct intervention and not everything in government is a conspiracy.
Jack, with as amoral as Wall Street has become, perhaps the regulators thought they were watching Bankers do their "work" all that time...
I could care less who is watching whatever porn as long as they DO THEIR JOBS WELL. Are they? I don't think so.
Wall Street has created quite a vile reputation for itself. I'll invest in a seam ripper, some thread and sew what few dollars I have into my mattress.
SEC regulations need to be in place and enforced. Greed and porn do not increase profit margins!
May I ask a question? How do all the Muslims feel about pornography?
Oh and by the way I thought the porn industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People are too depressed to be sexually active,"
The Christian opinion as I understand it to be does not count.
Isn’t watching Wall Street the same as pornography? Don’t see much of a difference, except that the former is far more obscene.
Hi Jack: Here's one more example of overpaid, big government bureaucratic waste. While some gov't employees were watching porn we had Bernie Madoff and probably Stanford operating right under their noses.
Big it's OK! As long as huge government waste exists in SEC, Pentagon and Education and results in jobs, jobs, jobs it's OK!
Mike in MA
Actually, those federal employees should :
a) Pay back with interest all salaries paid for days watched.
b) Fired for cause
c) Any retirement benefits forfeited.
David, Las Vegas
Every government computer should have fixed firewalls of parental controls against websites that are not relevant to government business. If there is software for parents to protect children from bad influences there should also be software for government to protect their employees from bad influence.
More concerned? I don't know....but I think it speaks volumes when government officials are more worried about getting their jollies using public propertyfor personal entertainment, instead of enforcing the rules and regulations on the books to protect criminals from stealing our money, taking advantage of us, and perpetrating fraud.
Yet another reason to shrink the government bureaucracy....if they don't have enough to keep them busy enforcing the laws, then there are surely too many of them.
And I am sure this has been going on far longer than just under President Obama, and in more offices than just the SEC.
I'm not sure Jack. The porn is less offensive.
he probably figures he has more excuse to fail than ever before...maybe reggie love can find a girlfriend
Is this new news or the a 2008 rehatch story during the maddoff scandal?
Jack are you sure it wasn't a training film for Wall Street that the SEC was watching? Be cause the taxpayer really got screwed over.
Jack, I think he is concerned enough. These morons did it on our money. After all we pay their salaries. This is taking moronism to a new level. Even an Emu wouldn`t be this thick. They do it on computers that can be audited. One of the morons even stored material in his office computer. Someone once said that we have the government we deserve. What worries me is : Are you sure we are the greatest nation on Earth, because I am not. With this level of stupidity, we are lucky we are better off than Albania.
S. Studenberg
Emu Ranch
USSR
I don't see the difference. Whether they watch porn or watch Wall Street, somebody is getting BLANK-ed.
Do in the privacy of your home as you wish,however, when you're on my or the people's dime, get your butt down to business. Of course, the president should be concerned, not only with the SEC, but the whole nation and in all facets of business, except the porn industry, of course. Productivity, not higher wages drove major manufacturing companies from our shores, and if that is not turned around we'll find ourselves on video doing the nasty to feed our appetites.
Does the saying "A happy worker is a productive worker" not still apply?
Is this a new story? did yo guy check your archives? It sound like recycle news to me.
While SEC investigators watching porn probably didn't help, the last twenty years of removing oversight, giving ever more investment latitude to Wall Street, and plain old greed is the cause of the financial crisis. The protections that were supposed to be instituted with the repeal of Glass-Steagall have shown themselves to be worthless. It is time to turn the clock back and put back in place appropriate regulations that limit the risk to the American people.
Either way it amounts to the same thing Jack, except we didn't even get a kiss.
Regulation protects people. Government has the right to protect people. In this case, someone should have been monitoring the SEC performance, and they should be accountable for their performance.
Do they have define job descriptions? If so, who provides performance feedback?
Let's not go off and fire everyone, after all don't we want less Government?
Obama's concern won't change a society and world gone amok. This behavior is no different that millennia past. Only difference is the electronic footprint.
Things change yet things stay the same. In this instance, the SEC "fiddled" why Rome burned.
Even though I could almost feel pity for people so damaged emotionally, that they instead of having real feelings of love and tenderness, have a need to keep on with porn, of course they have to be punished if they cannot keep that interest out of their working place. Just kick them, for people without any working morals are not needed anywhere. One never knows, maybe they are going to be grateful for it in the end, for at home they have all time in the world time for that dear interest of theirs. Besides, there are lots of people who would be eager to have their job. It`s just to choose the best ones. There`s no need to be worried, just to be angry enough to show that watching porn has consequences.
Marja from Stockholm, Sweden
President Obama should undoubtedly be more concerned about the SEC watching Porn as opposed to what's happening on Wall Street.. They are obviously watching out for the people being screwed.
Whether it's porn or Wall Street, somebody's sticking it to the people.
Susan
Tuscaloosa AL
No, dealing with Wall Street's antics deserve his attention as it does ours because too many people have suffered because of their greed , However those who were misusing their time while Rome burned must go and promptly.
Jack: The SEC has a normal work day, and during their work day they should be doing the government's business. Pornography is not part of their job description. President Obama has no direct control over the SEC, but Congress can call them on the carpet for pornography during the work day. Congress can handcuff the SEC with their funding. The Chairman of the SEC should discipline or fire the guilty parties. Anyone caught watching porn on their computer at work in the private sector would be shown the door or warned severely.
And these people will never loose their jobs. Open door wide and pitch he bums out. This is bull but not surprising cause this is over government at work
Yes obama should be concerned about the sec lawyers and accountants watching porn but obviously he is not because it happened. They also only have an 8 millon dollar budget which is hardly enough to regulate the 600 trillion dollar derivatives market. After obama gave his little phony talk to wall street on financial reform the market went up because they know he is in their pocket. All they had to hear was that geithner and bernanke will be heading the new consumer financial protection agency. The sec watched bernie madoff for years and did nothing.
He should be more concerned, about how time is being spent, but in truth, I doubt that he really is.
This is an old story. They were doing it during Bush presidency. Those that did it should all be fired. That was my money that was wasted by these sleaze-bag brokers. If they were not fired then I think we the public should sue all the companies involved.
What is it with men and their desire for porn????
You can believe it or not but this happens more than you can imagine. These people should be fired, they're no better than a child molester. The most important question is what sort of character does a government employee have that sits and looks at porn. Real outstanding person and employee. Ha
I searched "85 Toyota Camry" to repair my old car . and a new porn site after porn site came up as I tried to exit each box. My wife googled toyota camry ...same problem. Until ISPs developed better filters, I my wife and the kids were victims of spammers. Don't assume the worst if a teacher or civil servant has porn site all over their computer history. Porn spammers are everywhere and once they access your computer, they can take it over! 1800 porn site accessed – don't believe it!
I think the porn-watching employees should be fired, but I wonder about the timing of this. Are certain people trying to undermine the SEC's case against Goldman Sachs by embarrassing SEC employees?
The SEC employees' behavior was inappropriate, but why wasn't this handled years ago?
Also, although Obama has some responsibility here, most of the porn viewing took place during the Bush years. Why are we just hearing about t now?
Public servants, eh? Bet they have high-speed Internet, what with all that tax-payer money floating around...
While Bernie Madoff was scheming these lame-brains were watching pornos and getting paid hundreds of thousands to do it! If I was Obama, I'd be more concerned about the fact that these individuals kept their jobs after accessing spanktravision thousands of times! That is pathetic!
Jack,
This is the kind of story that is tailor-made for soundbites, bumper stickers and Sarah Palin speeches. It sounds outrageous and gets folks riled up. The truth, of course, is that it probably sounds worse than it was. I would imagine the big financial companies that caused the meltdown had their share of employees who watched a little porn during lunch break now and again. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that most government agencies and private businesses have employees who sneak a guilty peek on occasion. Some companies have strict policies against accessing porn sites at work including the threat of immediate dismissal if caught. That seems to work pretty well. Maybe the SEC ought to try it. But there's certainly no guarantee that time spent viewing porn would have otherwise been spent keeping a closer eye on Lehman Brothers.
Jim
Reno, Nevada
No. The stats are actually common for most large firms. Isn't in convenient that a 'sexalized scandal' leaks right as Goldman Sachs is charged? The exact same thing happened to Elliot Spitzer.
I'm stunned that CNN would run such as inaccurate title as "SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed." That's so incredibly misleading.
Hey Jack, I want their job!
Peter~Dallas-TX
Is there a difference between watching pornography and watching Wall Street?
That really explains a lot for me. Very sad if i was President Obama I'd be worried.
Definitely.So that explains it all, and Bush and the GOP are absolved of all responsibility for being really,really incompetent ?
The American President Barack Obama has to be concerned about the SEC's extracurricular activities in a time when they should have been focused on watching Wall Street. It is very probable that if the SEC dedicated office hours to its job and not its hobbie, the story of the economic crisis might have been different. The real change in regulaton has to start with the conduct of the SEC'e employees. If President Obama decides to reform Wall Street, by giving more supervisory power to the SEC, without changing from within, then the SEC will keep watching porn and not Wall Street, with the only difference of having greater authority over banks, resulting in a bigger negligence in their responsabilities.
Writing from: Bogota, Colombia.
who is being held accountable?? why are these people still emplolyed?? in the private sector they would have been terminated on the spot but apparantly government employees are held to a different standard of justice to which I ask WHY???
Obviously, someone was asleep at the switch and heads should roll. If an employee was doing this for 8 hours a day, the productivity should be nil and therefore obvious. I'm, not sure the Pres. needs to handle this himself, but he does have good team members.
Now Jack you know as well as I do that the SEC will make a few token
checks.However the good ole boys are not looking out for anyone except the folks that pay their fat pigy banks.The hard working Americans across this land have sent these bafoons trillions and they have miss managed every penny of it while the SEC looked at the wall
and wondered what day it was.
David
Jack, Back when I first worked in a government job was when I first heard the expression, "Close enough for government work." There is more truth to that saying than we would all like to belive. And now, this news is coming out about the SEC. And this wasn't an entry-level person that spent the day viewing porn, either.
Now when I first worked for Uncle Sam it was in the early 60s. How much waste do you think could have transpired from then until now??
It's too bad that this reflects on those in government who are conscientious. I thought Gore got rid of all the waste when he was VP??
Yes, he should. I know this is a rhetorical question, but how stupid are these people? Everyone knows you will get caught eventually. I'm betting they all got raises too. To do this in the position they were in, with the responsibilities they had to the American people, is just so incredibly frightening to me. The should be fired and prosecuted immediately. They are no better than the Bernie Madoff's of this world, and one could argue what he did took a certain amount of intelligence. I keep saying I am going to stop reading your column to avoid the anger I get when I see these questions, but I am addicted Jack.
It's just another instance where our government has let us down. Why would we ever want the government to take over more of our lives?? When will the DEMOCRATS wise up and help us turn this nation around in the right direction?
Henry-Lawrenceville, GA
Jack
These people were just a little confused. The SEC works for Wall Street and their primary objective was to screw the public. They just got confused as to where they were supposed to find ways to complete their mission. However, they were successful.
This is really a question for Bush and Republicans who insist that the government should not be doing nothing. So I guess I see why these employers where doing anal things during there idle time. Since republicans don't want regulations and accountability.
Only in America can you get a job and get paid 200k to watch people get screwed and not watch out for the people paying your salary who are getting screwed.God Bless Capitalism.
Recently it was reported that roughly 40% plus of all wage earners pay no income tax. What does that really mean? Maybe my math isn't too good, but if you paid $1000 in taxes and then got it all back, I would assume that means you didn't pay any federal taxes. But what if you paid $10,000 in taxes and got a refund of $1000 after deductions, does that mean you also didn't pay any taxes, although you did pay $9000. What statistics are being employed to come up with 40% plus?
Obama should go one step futher and shut down the SEC and repalce it with a new agency with people that are ready and able to doe the job. Sack all the slugs and start over from top down. They could call it the IESC. Investment Exchange Secutity Commision. New name new employees and a hope for something that works for a change.
Obama is not concerned. He knows that the public is getting exactly the same treatment as those on the porn videos.
Quite a few SEC officials had to look at obscenity in late 2008 on the job. Some also surfed porn (taking escapism a bit too far on the job).
Dear Jack,
what can I say beside some 33 hired at SEC misread three letters for SEX which explains how they misread the market! I could be so rude and crude here but will just answer human nature in government and outside government impresses me less and less every day! Let's not generalise here since the majority of people do work at the task they were hired to do; just like you Jack! But, let just say even at the higher level some people are just plain dumb, or frustrated and or insecure and or not getting a good F...!!:)
C'mon Jack. Everybody knows that the people at the SEC were turned onto those porn sites by the people in Wall Street.
Fire the SEC employees, fire their bosses and then fire some more people above that level (there are plenty of qualified out-of-work decent folks to take their places who WON'T spend their time watching T & A). Press charges for violating internet policies the SEC had those employees sign when hired. The fines should equal their hourly rate times the number of hours they were found to be "porning" around on the internet.
Are Main Street Americans the only people hearing the word "accountability" these days?
Cheryl Furr, Miami Shores, Florida
Im truley disgusted with the SEC doing this while our country was falling 33 employees at SEC was enjoying themselves. It tells me & im sure other american people how much those who was surfering the internet for those images care about our economy. And they wonder why Wall Street is doing so bad....Theres your answer!!!
Taken care of business, while being paid, life is good.
Two employees does not a company make.
The amount of porn CNN employees consume, and most USA firms consume, is actually very similar.
The SEC has become an obscenity itself.
We need Teddy Roosevelt-style anti-trust laws, and good people to enforce them.
Jack, at the very least, he should take a lesson from this type of folly. Bigger government is NOT the answer. The President and Congress simply refuse to realize that more government regulation is a futile, dead end road that never works for 2 reasons. 1) The costs are always passed from the Corporations to the consumers. 2) The government is inherently wasteful, and new government agencies rarely generate return on investment. Want new financial regulation? Shut down the SEC and the FED, fire all the employees, take their present budgets and make a NEW regulatory agency called Consumer Whatever. We don't need more Government.
Obviously the Wall Street Execs were just trying to keep up to date on what the most profitable internet businesses were.
Jack, we are betting our retirements on the stock market. It is a gamble and it would be nice if the pit bosses were paying attention instead of with themselves.
I say that we disband the corrupted SEC altogether. Fire them all. Then go ahead and form a cabinet level position with the power to oversee Wall Street and their band of hooligans. Better yet, let's nationalize Wall Street so we can fire the lot of them and hire new folks at reasonable salaries and no concern for million dollar bonuses. China wouldn't put up with all this corruption. Maybe we need to be more like them and assign stiff prison terms for incompetency and white collar crimes.
Well what do you expect this all happened during the Bush adm. Where they were more concerned with not regulating anything. So, they figured that watching porn was a better use of their time.
Well what do you expect this all happened during the Bush adm. Where they were more concerned with not regulating anything. So, they figured that watching porn was a better use of their time. dfhf
There is only one question of importance to those of us whose taxes paid for the entertainment time of the accountant and her randy colleagues: did the SEC fire her and her porn buddies? If so, there may be justice in the world of government. If not, perhaps we should all join the Tea Party movement.
I do not particularly care that they were watching porn. There is nothing wrong with porn. I care that they were not doing their jobs.
Jack, they were probably on those sites legitimately. Ovbiously they were doing research on how to perform the same acts on the average citizen.
Eliminate the SEC. For the supervisors and higher administration to know that this was going on is attrocious. Maybe Obama should start anew. Create a new agency that will regulate the financial institutions and perform all the jobs of the SEC – including babysitting our Federally paid employees. I for one demand to know WHO these degenerates are – that is names and positions. Anything less is not transparency and will not do!
Idon't like to see new agencies becvause there is a lot of start-up and with no corporate history the modus operandi is uncertain. However in view of the SEC'sperformance, it should be eloiminated. Right now, neither the SEC or any other agency has adequate control authority for worthwhile regulation.
Jack,
Seems there are more sex addicts then first thought. Accessing a porn site 16,000 times is an amazing fate. My hands went numb just thinking about it. The Prez is trying to do the right thing. The problem is, nobody cares about doing the right thing. When it eventually catches up with everyone, then it will be too late to get anything right. We are all to blame.
Great... the SEC is supposed to make Wall Street play by the rules.. instead, they sit in their offices and play with themselves.
My husband was a federal worker for over 30 yrs. He was MUCH too busy to do anything on the internet that did not involve working. These SEC morons give all federal workers a bad name.
Well, the SEC clearly has their priorities. Maybe just fire them all and create a new agency but just adding layers of bureaucracy to the bloated government of a broke country is not the solution. If something doesn't work, REPLACE it! Don't create a couple new agencies to do the same redundant and ineffective work.
Why in the hell aren't their names being released, that along with a pink slip should be a given, after all like you said Jack, they work for us. ( I use the word work for lack of a better term). I used to work for a major airline, and it was cut an dry, if you are caught accessing porn on company computers, either on the clock or not, you can kiss your job goodby, no if or buts about it!
Dave from NH.
This is just one more example on a long list of the "Dumbing of America".
You can't even make stuff like this up.
Too Late...They were not smart enough to know their job description.
Very much so Jack, if Obama had been concerned none of the financial colapse would have taken place.
This explains a lot about the Wall Street crash. The President should fire the lot of them; there are plenty of qualified, hardworking Americans to replace these "senior level" employees.
There is no doubt that we have an overwhelming number of free loaders in Washington. What has happenned is that our attention was diverted to welfare recipients who couldn't hurt the nation 1% as much as these bureaucrats and collected a hell of a lot less money. But this is how Washington operates, create a diversion while they are stealing our money and freedoms.
The fault is ours Jack when we accepted the idea that "public servants" were trustworthy and we stopped holding them accountable. The fact is most of them are lazy and incompetant.
Should Pres. Obama be more concerned about the SEC watching pornography when they should have been watching Wall Street?
Why didn't Bush do something about this the 8 years he was in office? Didn't all these failure happen under HIS watch and itsn't it Obama cleaning this mess up?
Those watching porn on our time using government pc should be FIRED.
Jenna
Roseville CA
The SEC may have created a sticky situation for itself, But missing the whole multi trillion dollar mortgage backed securities market. Come on Jack, how dumb do you think we are? There was a whole lot of collusion on that one.
You do know this happened during the Bush administration don't you?
Well, Nero played his fiddle while Rome burned down and we've got the SEC watching prono while our economy tanks. Fire them all.
Sadly, there was no adult supervision during the Bush administration. Like you said, this happened during the melt-down which was before January 2009.
Yes Pres. Obama should be upset, and I'm sure that these people are getting a good pay check to do a job. It maybe time to clean house. I know that finding people who would do the job would not be hard to do. I'm sure they would even relocate to have one of them.
There is enough government oversight on Wall Street it's just they need to do their job. How many times were they warned about Madoff? They were to busy watching porn to be bothered. He needs to create a new oversight agency to watch the SEC! Fox watching the henhouse AGAIN!!!
Like it would have made the remotest difference if they were watching wall street or porn. They would have done nothing even if they were watching wall street because there is almost no regulation to keep those wall street thieves in check and the thieving Republican backed SEC would have just ignored it anyway because they're Republican.
Jack, it is a wonder Obama hasn't blamed this lapse on the previous Administration. There is no question about firing any government employee watching and/or downloading porn to their computers. "We the people" do not pay them to monitor the porn industry. This should be a wakeup call to every government agency to monitor closely what is being looked at on computers connected to the Internet, and to let their employees know just what they may look at in the course of their jobs. And most important, swiftly firing anyone who goes outside those guidelines!
In 1974 I tried to work for the Canadian federal government, but found there was no work to do, so the days were excruciatingly boring. When I gave my notice after just a month, the boss asked me to give three months notice, because they had to replace me (they were budgeted for 6 lawyers even though they only had work for 2).
I guess nothing ever changes. Despite governments of all levels promising to cut the civil service to the bone, they never do.
Incredibly, every government employee actually believes that they are swamped with work.
Guess what I'm trying to say is that government workers need distractions like porn to keep their sanity.
Jack–
Since these incidents took place not only on President Obama's watch but also George Bush's time in office, I think that the answer is yes. Since Bush and company were the great deregulators, these SEC workers must have felt that they had nothing to do–and obviously no one was supervising them. Maybe the SEC needs to be replaced with a new a new agency that will keep its eyes on financial figures.
For the last two and half years, huh?
Mr. Cafferty, based on my math, by the same token, shouldn't former President Bush also have been concerned??? Is this a biased report? Is this really what a good author and media professional should be doing? Do away with the bias, will you?
FINALLY !!!!! We know how Madoff got away with his fraud and theft !
But it does surprise me how many perverts are in just ONE agency in our federal government. Embarrassing isn't it?
Well we all knew the SEC was incompetent, but I had no idea by how much.
I personally believe that the irresponsible conduct of the SEC is a big reason the financial industry was able to get away with the fraud and corruption,and meltdown. The banks and Wallstreet took advantage of the indifference of the previous administration(s) deregulation and greed and daring risks,with a lot of help from the SEC and the Chamber of commerce. Sex is an obvious appetite and distraction for people in high places. Gene
They knew that Wall Street was screwing the rest of us and wanted to see how they were doing it.
Of course he should but hasn't yet given more than token effort for any of the things that affect us most- jobs; illegal aliens and the effect they have on unemployment, our economy, values, and standard of living; cartels' infiltration of America, crime and violence thanks to open border advocates; the Constitution; our high school dropout rate; our wars; hyperpartisan manufacturing of racism; the middle class; our economy; excessive spending; bankruptcies and foreclosures; etc. Why should we expect him to suddenly start caring about anyone or anything other than his welfare recipients and political goals?
They were looking for ways to combat how Wall Street screwed us.
Given that this activity is not all that uncommon, it seems that CNN is really making a mountain out of a molehill here. I wonder why?
I bet anyone any money that it even happens at CNN! Who knows Jack, maybe you have a few links saved on the desktop.
What is noticeable here is that CNN has chosen to make this a news item about a government regulatory agency. We already know that CNN shills for the corporate world – this story just nails it.
A lot of people seem to forget the financial bailout occurred before Obama was elected much less sworn in. It happened while Bush the Decider and "F-word" Cheney were in office.
Jack,
I think that is hypocrisy at its best! Government regulators saying they would be monitoring Wall St was in fact monitoring pornography instead. I think the president should look into this further before doing another "Government Action". Maybe the regulations imposed by the Bush Administration will work if the regulators would actually do their jobs.
Ha ha ha ha ha
sorry, sec fiddling while wall street burns.
This is a perfect example of big government gone wrong. Who regulates the regulators. And lets not forget the governments hand in the financial collapse by putting programs into place that allowed people to buy homes they had no business buying in the first place. They love to blame wall street without accepting their own part in it.
What! I didn't know the SEC was a highschool. This is the most rediculous grab asstic load of b.s. I've ever seen. How does this happen? Where are the people that are suppose to be watching these jerk offs. (Pun intended)
Our entire government is a sham. We are going broke paying taxes and for what – things like this. Obama will be the number one person to bring the downfall of America as we know it. We, as a society, have declined in morals and integrity. I cannot wait until Nov. 2010 to vote these incumbents out of office and for Nov. 2012 to remove Obama. I am just praying he does not do irreversible harm to America and its people until then.
Jack
They need to start at the top for this one. Fir those responsible and the top three department leaders promote those not guilty and cut salaries across the board
I think the President should be concerned about who was paying these employees to look the other way.
Considering what happened with Bernie Maddof, is anyone surprised?
Someone was asleep at the wheel in the SEC. And let me remind everyone, that the Bush administration was warned in 2007, of the impending economic disaster!
Of course, they should be fired. Its matters not who was in the white house at the time.
And these are the same folks (federal employees) that the libs want running our health system???
Bottom line is that the federal government should be stripped of any duties other than what it was initially made for - militarily protecting the US citizens from all threats, foreign or domestic.
Well, since we don't know how concerned he is, how do we decide whether he should be MORE concerned or not?
Come on Jack, you can do better then this, or at least you used to be able to.
Let Congress baby-sit them. Personally, I'd fire the lookie loos. That kind of frequency indicates instability. Do you know how many people would love one of those jobs, and wouldn't browse through porn sites, at least until they got home?
Why does the fact that it was Pornography make it so newsworthy? How many of them were busying on twitter, or playing Farmville, or any other of distractions available to people at work? I would be more interested in that, then all the focus on just pornography.
Come on Jack those guys was under a lot of stress
David
Martinsburg,WV
Gee, I hope they're watching the pornography in a private room. Yuck!!! I'd hate to think they're doing it in any kind of public setting.
So, these are the sickos in our government, huh?
I'm dissapointed. What is this world coming too?
I think you should have told the full story. It was 33 accountants in a 5 year span. Thanks for doing exactly what wall street wants you to do spin the story to look worst than it is. Are you really on the side of wall street. disgusting! I am disappointed but not surprised cnn fails again.
Absolutly, President Obama should be very concerned if the people who work for us at the SEC should be investigated by our President, this clearly disgusting! Why don't they watch and download porn on there own computers at home? We all know they can afford there own personal computers, Im appalled and disgusted!
Scott Stodden (Freeport,Illinois)
Errr...16K times a month? I did the math, and that sounds way more like virus behavior, possibly trying to pump page counts for online advertising income. Did anyone do a virus scan on these machines? Because thinking about why one might "use" porn, can one even do "that" 16K times a month? ?? ???? Sounds like the guy would have obvious symptoms of repetitive stress syndrome.
Why are these people still on the taxpayers payroll? If I had done something REALLY STUPID like this while at work, I would expect to be fired. Why are we paying these high wages to people who don't give a damn. After this is fixed, perhaps we can fix the agency that allowed Madoff to work his magic for so long. Has anyone looked into payoffs in these cases?
Yes but it is typical government employee mind set. we owe them a living.
Perhapse they should work in "The Ministry of Love."
The SEC employees were watching PORNOGRAPHY on the Internet, while ignoring OBSCENITY on Wall Street. Just a subtle matter of preferences.
Jack:
It is disgusting and inexcusable what these SEC employees were doing with their time during the height of our economic crisis. And SEC should be required to explain exactly what happened to these employees but I disagree that their names should be made public. We do not live in a society where Mob Rule is acceptable and we all know that the release of these names would serve no purpose other than to endanger the lives of these individuals. And you should recognize that your urging to make these names public is irresponsible – unless of course you think that this activity would justify a lynch mob, and if that's the case . . . God help us.
Jack something like this is a sympton of something worse I am sure. Wrong turns like this in any organisation happen because the guy at the top is steering with his knees. New leadership is required-someone who likes to kick ass.
Welcome to the USA!! Why is this any surprise!! The foxes have been in the hen house for decades and this level of corruption is in many parts of the federal government. Under the Bush debacle years other agencies that were in place to protect Americans against big business abuses worked for the same companies before being given the golden position in Government. It's time for a true third party and I don't mean birhters deathers and religious nut bags claiming liberty while they come to rallies with assault weapons. Remember "divided we fail" and as the greatest country in the world we are failing miserably!!!!!!!!!
rich
it is no surprise to me that they watch, being fired is good enough for me i don't need to see the faces of people who watch porn can't believe this question.
Jack - should they have been watching porn? No. Did they have anything else to do? No. At least nothing job related. Since all financial regulation was gutted over the last 15 years, they were just warming chairs. If they actually showed up to work in that climate, GREAT! Watching porn, not so much. Maybe they could have read great literature or blogged to you, WOOF, and all the other CNN staff while warming those chairs. They certainly had nothing else to do at work.
Gee Jack, Give these Gawkers a break, they were probably told by the Bushes not to do any Regulatory work – we wouldn't want to over regulate the fat cats on Wall street.
I have to be honest that I don't think people should be criticized for viewing pornography. However, it is completely unacceptable that these people are doing it at work, especially because they are public employees. I support Obama in general but I feel like he needs to stop talking about making new structures to oversee performance. We already have a group in charge of that, work on making sure that group does what it is supposed to. I agree that all of these individuals should be fired.
Jack, it is offensive what they were doing on the job in lieu of their jobs. I recall hearing that the SEC didn't have enough people to actually do their jobs last year when were were questions about who was watching these companies before they started failing and needing to be bailed out.
On the other hand, how does one get a job at the SEC, I want to get paid to watch porn all day.
If the govenment employees weren't so busy shuffling papers to look busy, or covering each other for job security, YES!
Look, Jack. These employees, if hired by the Obama administration are extremely liberal. Watching porn, to them, is no different than watching CNN. If the employees were hired by the Bush administration they are extremely conservative. Watching porn, to them, is no different than watching CNN. How can we penalize them for enjoying CNN?
Keep records as to which computer is hitting which sites. Establish an appropriate fine to be levied for each "bad" site accessed per minute. Tally up the fines per pay period and deduct it from the paycheck of said employee.
That'll stop it in its tracks. Guaranteed.
Jack
Wall St itself IS pornography.
Obviously as Wall St began to under-perform the more traditional kind became more attractive. It sounds like some of them were collecting pornographic videos for resale later. New China trade policy?
This is the most productive thing I have ever heard about the SEC doing good work!
Jack I am a die hard democrat, no they haven't done enjoy let take one step at a time. We can't change all of the things that the Republicians have done in one year.
David
Martinsburg,WV
I'm concerned about the President!
Jack, the one thing I found amusing was that there was a female among the culprits. Do women really watch porn?
So in other words, they would have paid attention to Harry Markopolos' testimony about Bernie Madoff starting in 2000 if he had been having sex with a hooker while testifying. No wonder why our country is in shambles. Yes, Obama should care more but he won't.
I'm more concerned that the SEC is devoting resources to investigating 33 employees while only ONE banker at Goldman Sachs was named in their complaint the other week. But that's what happened in the no oversight environment of the Bush years. All the hours of porn downloaded at the SEC didn't cause a single family to lose their home, their job, or their life savings. So unless the porn sites they were trying to view have taken TARP funds or sold derivatives to Greece over the past five years, I say lets move on and let Obama overhaul the system.
Well, as the old saying goes....the worse thing a politician could have is a dead prostitute or a live boy in their bed and now we know that the people who are watching are the SEC!
You know if they had been watching and downloading HGTV, or Turner Classic Movies, or anything else but pornography, instead of doing the job for which they were paid, the public interest would still not have been served. This issue is THEY DID NOT DO THEIR JOBS!
Whether they are watching porn or comics – they are not doing their job. What jerks – no pun intended!
Beth
Virginia
And Clinton was warned in 1998. So what.
I'm sure there are people looking at porn in every government agency and throughout the public sector as well.
I wonder if anyone in the Pentagon was watching porn on 9/10/01. Would that make them responsible for the results the following day? I think not.
This is disappointing to me that the SEC regulators are looking at porn rather than Wall Street. It makes me wonder what type of individuals are being hired to take care of our economy from behind the scenes? Even though they have the right to look at pornography, they do not have the right to look at it when they are in a work environment.
Hey Jack!
I heard these guys were using company laptops. Frankly, my job provides me with a cellphone. Part of my perks is to be able to use that cellphone in any, reasonable, manner I choose. If I choose, as an adult, to call a phone sex line, pay for it myself; then it sure isn't any business of my employer!
Love,
Don in Louisiana
President Obama can't be all eyes and ears watching over people and their criminal activity, we aren't a nation of bed wetters. Just like those people were hired, they can be fired.
Jack,
didn't you say this happened " ...a couple years ago...."? Didn't that take place on Bush's watch? This renders your question baseless.
": Should Pres. Obama be more concerned about the SEC watching pornography when they should have been watching Wall Street? "
According to you this happened in 2008. Shouldn't you have asked, "Why wasn't the Bush Administration aware of this?"
The real crime here is the fact that you can only get a job at the SEC if you have an Ivy league background. The SEC loves to hire Ivy league law school graduates with no experience. All they care about is where you went to school. The same people work 2 years for the SEC and then transition right to Wall Street. Its all about getting your two years in and leaving to make money on the street. The same "well qualified" Harvard etc.. graduates are responsible for losing billions of taxpayer dollars through negligent oversight. They really need to focus on hiring people with diverse legal experience vs. Ivy league/Big firm pedigree.
Jack, watching porn or watching Wall Street. I'm not sure I see any difference.
Dennis
Chisago City, MN
If government employees don't do their jobs, and Americans suffer as a result, they should be fired. We could use some of that promised transparency (which I supported with my vote). Name names, and I'll bet it never happens again. Hmmm...come to think of it, that's good advice for the Vatican, too.
During the "do NOTHING" Bush administration, I think most American citizens got the impression that being President of the United States was a "cush job." I don't think that Americans feel that way after seeing Obama struggle with so much in his first year in office. I think Obama will not overlook this disgusting lack of a work ethic, as Bush so readily did.
Remember "you're doin' a great job, Brownie"
Jack,
I just listened to your rant on TV. I used to work network security at a large AFB. The same thing goes on there as goes on at the SEC as goes on at....and at ...and at.....and at... As with all other objectionable/criminal behaviors.....this one ain't ever going away either. And for FYI, the military and the fed government DO severely discipline those who are caught downloading/viewing porn at work, on government equipment. I usually agree with you but in this instance you are making a mountain out of a mole hill, sensationalizing behavior which is found in workplaces, government and private sector, across this entire planet.....spitting into the wind...fomenting outrage. Shame on you....find something newsworthy to rage about...
Jack,
Government jobs are not (for the most part) about doing their job, or the right thing, they are about justifying their jobs, or other even less noble things!
John
Evansville, IN
This is a political distraction, of course it is disgusting but does only represent a very, very small percentage of SEC employees. Of course the backdoor deals of the financial industry are worse.
It would be interesting to know what sort of goodies these same people were getting from the people they were supposed to be regulating - maybe free downloads.
Jim, Craig, CO
Unfortunately the people they were watching get f...ed weren't us. Instead they should have been watching the people who were f...ing all of us.
Disgusting. Bet those who were disciplined by being fired already have other jobs with an equivalent salary, meanwhile, so many folks that have never done anything ethically or morally questionable are still unemployed.
Unfortunately, having seen this type of behavior in big business through the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, not surprised at all that it has occurred in the SEC as well.
Too bad Morality and Ethics questions are rarely, if ever, included in standard job interview questions.
Jack
I don't feel this is a problem as long as it's not "child pornography" or during "official working hours". I feel as an adult you should be able to do what you want on your FREE time. If someone eats lunch at their desk and want to watch a little pornography, so be it. We become to uptight about every little thing. Let adults do what they want on their FREE time.
Let's see here – this happened while George Bush was president and ti was discovered and disciplinary action was taken only after President Obama's appointees took over the SEC – how is President Obama to blame? It didn't happen under his watch, it was discovered under his watch and his appointees are taking appropriate steps. It sounds to me as though the issue is that the previous administrations appointees didn't do their job – perhaps they were appointed to do exactly what they did: nothing!
jack, this by far is the stupidest question you have ever proposed. to link Pres. Obama to the surfing habits of the SEC, 2 yrs. ago, is ridculous! this should be handled by first level and second level management, not the highest office in the land. the Pres has enough on his plate, then to entertain the surfing habits of some federal workers. you can do better, jack.
They are the true "Porn Servants" not "Public Servants". Kick them out! let them serve the" Porn".
I do not blame SEC, these kind of people are there all around. Watch out.
If my school can block half the web sites on the internet why can't the SEC block porn sites in their offices.
Cafferty, your an idiot, why do you people persist in trying to divide the country, don't you people realize we all will pay when the shit hits the fan,
is all you people think about is a big payday at all cost? SHAME ON YOU!!
Hey Jack, I believe that the President should replace them all and then revamp the whole SEC, there are alot more important issues: (2) wars, 'bout 2 B 3, Immigration, HealthCare, and the list goes on Jack U know this.
Hey Jack!
I heard these guys were on company laptops. My employer provides me a cellphone. Part of my perks is that I can use that cellphone in any, reasonable, personal manner I so choose. If I choose, as an adult, to call a phone sex line and pay for it myself; it's none of my employer's business!
Love,
Don in Louisiana
Tucson, AZ – It is not helpful to call the entire financial industry "Wall Street." The SEC regulates "securities", which does not include mortgages, or credit default swaps, or short term business loans, or commodities trades. The credit market is in Chicago, as is the commodities market, and many unregulated instruments are traded on-line, nowhere near lower Manhattan. The SEC was not doing its job during the GW Bush Administration – it should have, and could have, outlawed blind CDOs. Shame on them. Nobody was regulating the rest, and without new laws, nobody can. What about investment ratings? What about mortgages? What about the complex commodity gambles called derivatives? Whatever market is left unregulated, that is the one that will cause the next crash!
THe President does not need to be concerned about the PORN WATCHERS. Their wives will give them more than enough punishment every night.
I am appalled, but not surprised. It is typical government bureaucratic employment. In the private sector these individuals would be immediately fired, not suspended or disciplined. Fired! They should check all the other federal govenment departments.
This is old news Jack, this story broke almost 2 years ago, and happened under George and Dickie's watch!!!!! All of those SEC employees are gone. What motive does CNN have opening up an old story now??? Could it be that it might help Wall Streets big boys line CNN's pockets??
Another "W" failure that Obama has to fix! Obama needs to first sue the individuals for the pay they received given the fact that they were obviously not doing their jobs. Then he needs to ensure that porn sites like these are not accessible on government computers. I agree with Obama that we need an institution that can really have the oversight to monitor Wall Street, as the "W" policies left his SEC people with too much time on their hands.
Porn- a false choice as so many of your questions are. Do you suppose Obama supports porn accessed by public officials.
Is it possible the "Regulators" believed Bush when he said we don't need regulation and oversight.
YA Ya blame the republicans again, and again and again. If their deeds only eflected by their words.
I think Pres. Obama should fire them all. How bored do you have to be at your job to download porn for 8 hrs? I work at a job that can be boring at times. That's what handheld video games are for. Those people were the watchdogs & the watchdogs were all asleep at the switch. Obviously there needs to be a new agency to do the job, one that actually believes that there is a job to be done and knows how to do it.
It's a Pornzi scheme!
Sure - I believe it when conservatives say the financial industry doesn't need regulation or oversight. Yeah...right.
Does anyone expect these criminal clowns to be doing what is ethically right?
Considering how badly Goldman Sachs screwed people, I don’t see the difference. If the SEC people watched porn they saw people getting screwed. Equally, if the SEC people watched Wall Street they would see people getting screwed. Same difference.
Brian Smith Ph.D.
San Diego CA
It's disingenuous on your part Jack to insinuate dat Obama was in charge while the economy went south and sec staffers were watching porn online while at work. I wonder if those involved could have done anything to prevent the financial meltdown anyway. If you have that much time for porn I don't think you had anything important to do at work.
Sorry Jack, this is a stupid question. How about asking why Republicans are refusing to pass financial reform that re-regulates the banks and protects our financial system again? Their bank-loving obstructionism is far more sick and immoral than a couple of idiot men looking at porn.
Beverly
Charlotte NC
As usual Jack, your facts are incorrect. These creeps worked for George W. Bush in 2007-2008. You need to remember that Obama didn't take office until 2009. The irony is that you were the one swooning over Obama in 2008. I guess your hatred of latinos trumps your love of Obama. mayve you need to join Lou Dobbs.
This information was released last year and was on the news then. I do feel that the administration is doing what it has to do to filter these idiots out and has been transparent in its efforts to do so. With that said, i pay taxes and want whatever tools or agency needed to protect me when i lost almost half of the value of my 401k at that time. I find it quite curious that this information was requested by Sen. Grassley, a republican to discredit government involvement and go along with their "Big Government" mantra. These people yell about smaller government without realizing the usefullness of the government in their own lives. They want smaller government as long as it does not affect them in any way. I would ask the thousands of workers of GM who still have a job and those thousands of teachers across the country who soon may not what good government can be for them.
As a 14 yr old, I believe the government should be a little concern about the "activities" being done in Wall St., I feel that it was very immature that while America is in an economic crisis, the people who are somewhat supposed to fix the problem, were trying to "pleasure" themselves though raunchy photos.
The SEC is a blind dog with no teeth, does it surprise me that they had plenty of time to surf for porn? No. These are the same folks that were told over and over again about the Madoff ponzi scheme and did nothing!
Excuse me i thought Bush was watching the hen house, where were you then, let me guess, your head stuck ---------
Jack. I just realized that you need to put President Obama's name in any gabages coming from your sometimes idiotic file in order to be relevant. Shame on CNN for allowing this kind of primitive cynicism.
They should share sound like a great job
My savings and retirement went south with the crash. As well as my job was outsourced to India. No job yet, but there's hope. SEC pornwatchers, shame on you for not doing what you're paid to do.
Come to look at it, nobody who was suppose to be watching wall street was doing so. The guys at the SEC were watching porno while those in the white house were watching iraq. Nobody was doing their job. We know that already.
If that were any of us in the private sector, we'd be fired. The same rules should apply to the public sector. That being said, if they can block porn at libraries, they ought to be able to block it at the government level as well.
Aww, it's so nice to know my tax dollars continue to be hard at work (pun intended).
Well yes I do think Obama should have and should still be concerned about public employees watching porn,
its like a police officer in a pub while on duty, its just not right and in this case its disgusting,
not only in the fact that they were watching porn but in the fact that there partially to blame for our current economy crisis.
This is but only one case that has been exposed, it leaves one to wonder how many other cases have gone under the radar
So this is Obama's fault too. What is he supposed to do? Go make surprise inspections at the SEC to make sure they're doing their jobs. After all, it was his fault too when those idiots broke Secret Service security and crashed that party. Instead of blaming the people involved, the right people, some of us seem bent on holding Barack Obama responsible for everything. And we wonder why nothing gets solved.
The people involved at the SEC have been dealt with. Leave them alone and save your public lynching for another day. There's bound to be another group of government workers out there ready to prove that they're human beings and make an even worse mistake.
These actions took place 2 years ago. Why should President Obama be held accountable for something that took place on the previous administrations watch? We can't call on this administration to be held retroactively responsible for everything that Wall Street did during the economic meltdown.
The question should have been directed to the previous administration since that's when it happened. Just what do you, Jack, expect the president to do about it? Really!
This is just another example of the failure of centralized government. The collapse of the financials was caused by excessive speculation thanks to the Washington and the Federal Reserve system. When will we stop looking to those who create the problems to correct or prevent them?
There's a question here was this adult porn or child porn either way this person is not what the people of this country want's to make decisions for us and if it was the later on my question they should be put in jail .
Jack:
Regarding the SEC and deserved attention from President Obama, many of us out here pornography is to scumbags as beurocracy is to financial people.
Jack,
Whether you're discussing the SEC, IRS, FAA, or most any agency in Federal Gov't., internal politics is out of control. On the other hand, the focus of govenment employees should be working hard for taxpayers, and being rewarded for doing just that.
John
Evansville, IN
You could say that the result of these folks engaging in this self-centeredness-in-the-extreme behavior was the loss of homes, income, health insurance, and quality of health and life for thousands of innocent citizens. Our economy crumbled while they deserted their posts. As a tax payer, I helped to pay their salaries, and I would like to know who they are and what were the real consequences doled out to them. Keep up the conversation , Jack. You're doing a great job.
I think President Obama should personally review every megabyte of the alleged pornography to determine if any violations were made. I also noticed that a lot of women are blaming men in general for being obsessed with porn, but your story clearly states that there were females involved, as well. Fire the enablers!
I think Obama should be concerned. These people are hired to look at the brokers and the system, and when an employee isn't doing their job they should be suspended or fired. I don't care what the reason is, you would still be upset if they were watching Sesame Street rather than the brokers and the system...the fact is they weren't doing their jobs.
I agree with Obama, I feel he should create a better system and the SEC employees affiliated with this nonsense should be left in the dirt.
Where is the Internet Security there? Here at work I'm lucky if I can go on msn.com.
It is absolutely atrocious that this was allowed to happen in the first place. Can a government agency in itself not block this type of content in the first place? It's interesting that our government can supposedly prevent some high end cyber attacks from China, but it cant prevent someone within our own government from watching porn video's on the job.
Give me a break.
Oh, darn. I had so hoped this article actually looked at the number of hours watching porn people who worked on wall street (and in their various associated offices) watched, so we'd have a good apples-to-apples comparison. Because if you don't think this is going on in the corporate world at similar salary levels, you're nuts.
"Another SEC accountant tried to access pornography online almost 2,000 times in a two-week period. She had 600 pornographic images saved on her computer."
SHE? HER computer?? I don't believe you. Give me a name. Porn addiction is a rampant MALE vice. Either she was getting it for somebody else or she was insane, or most likely some MAN made it up to deflect attention from the REAL users. Men in this country aren't worth spit. That is not confined to the SEC.
Jack, I'm surprise that you have fallen for the misdirection. The problem is not that some miscreanr employees were not doing their job beacause they were on porn sites. The problem is that the employees had nothing else to do because it's a systemic problem with role of the SEC, who would like nothing better than for us to think that this was caused by some "bad" employees. Wak up Jack!
Sounds like the Bush government to me, first the MMS and now the SEC. At least they weren't having sex with the CEOs of the companies they were supposedly regulating.
Jack, this happened on Goerge Bush' watch. surprise , surprise. don't you remember when the Office of Public Land Lleases did the same thing, only they had the porn stars in for their parties.
I hope that someone files a suit under the "freedom of information act" to find out who these employees are and if they were actually fired.
We want names and firings.
I have a feeling they were given a slap on the wrist and sent back to their desk to do more of the same.
This needs to be pursued.
Jack,
This is making me tired. Please turn off the government and leave me in peace.
Yes Obama should care more and he could easily remedy this and other undesireable at-work internet activities with the cost of relatively inexpensive software and a few good IT security folks. This is a great test of his management skills and committment to clean up and streamline our government.
What a lame ending question...DUH . let me think about it....
Wow, I guess everything the SEC was watching was going down......
Shows you the lack of skill and commitment on the behalf of the IT staff.
These guys ever heard of a proxy server?
The nation still has about 9% unemployment. At the height of this recession, so many skilled and educated workers were getting laid off. Now the SEC has some voids to fill, and should have no trouble finding skilled and competent individuals who actually want to work.
Richard
Austin TX
Hey why is the Govt. dragging the porn industry into this? Isn't there a saying that goes if someone offends or hits you you should thurn the other cheek?
I hope you all noted that Jack says this took place in the last 2 and 1/2 years. That means it began in 2007, continued through 2008 and 2009. What does this mean? It means the implication is that it is the fault of the current president. What about the president in office during 2007,2008 and up to January 20,2009 when this was happening? Shouldn't he have been watching this problem instead of getting us into Iraq? Making it look like it is this president's fault and no mention of the fault of the prior president is ridiculous. Come on, Jack, grow up. The prior administration is just as much to blame for letting this filth happen as well anyone in this administration who knew of it and let it go. It sounds as though the situation has been handled okay, employees fired, etc.
The question should be "Has the SEC and other government agency computers had BLOCKS put on them to stop this kind of filth from being available? If not, Why not!!!
Wall Steet is porn.
Jack, your question makes the assumption that Obama wasn't ticked off at the employees at the SEC....and accoridng to George Soros more oversight is necessary–irrespective of the "porn gate"–you know what they say about people who "assume"--
I'll bet the same percentage of people watching porn at the SEC is the same at any other work place. 33 people watched porn there. But how many people does the SEC employ? Let's look at this situation honestly, and realize the economy didn't implode because 33 people accessed porn on their work computers.
There should be a new saying. It's gone to porn!
Unbelievable that our money is going down the toilet, while the people who are supposed to be responsible for it are on the clock getting their jollies! No one should be able to get away with doing that. I personally enjoy cheap thrills but I can wait till I get home on my own computer, risking spyware and malware. However an ex g/f of mine first name rhymes with Larry, Agliano got caught looking at porn while on the clock. She was fired on the spot!
Doesn't this question kind of contradict yesterdays question about what role government should have in overseeing the financial services industries? Obviously, they need to be doing more than watching porn, and yet when you consider that this industry was practically deregulated, I'm wondering how they still managed to have jobs. Talk about government waste! They shouldn't be fired. They should be tried for treason, and certainly no one will be shaking hands with an SEC employee any time soon.
4.23 So now I know, SEC stands for "sexually explicit content" – yeh it shocks me but doesn't surprise me. These were all "Bush buddies" who were running this country in a time of national economic peril with reckless abandon...give 'em the max., like fired and no longer be able to serve as public employees and charge them for the time, with max. penalties. Good riddance....
I think everyone ot those people should be fired!! Hire someone that can do the job they were hired for.
Sherry
Glendale, AZ
Watching porn instead of Wall Street? What's the difference?
What the hell kind of IT department are they running? Government agencies don't have filters to block this crap? Wonder what kind of viruses are hibernating on these hard drives... Next month the headline will be "SEC Network Hijacked – Wall Street Suspected".
The Inspector General of the Securities and Exchange Commission says at least 33 employees were involved watching internet filth. Almost all of these cases occurred in the last two and a half years which would coincide with the near-collapse of the financial system.
And, under Bush's watch. We all know the RNC holds meetings in strip clubs. Why are we surprised?
Jack,
Obama doesn't need to create another government organization. He just needs to fire all SEC employees, then hold a job fair. There are plenty of people looking for a job.
I doubt if any of them will be fired. It's near impossible to get rid of a government employee.
Of course he should be concerned and of course these people should be fired. They are working for the SEC to guard OUR money and they failed. Other than government work ~you'd be fired. This reminds me of
9 City workers standing around watching 1 guy dig a hole. We've all seen that. Our tax dollars at 'work'.........what a joke. I'm not even surprised at this story. Just disgusted. Resigned to the fact that we, the American people are fools to think our government is looking out for us. And PLEASE......this did not JUST come about so save the Obama bashing. I'm sick of that too.
Odd that this should come up today. Just yesterday, on a forum I visit at times, I posted a question. I asked others who post there what their opinion was of EMPLOYEES surfing the web, visiting web sites, and yes, even posting on that specific forum while at their jobs, and during hours when their employer should reasonably have expected them to actually be WORKING!
The response was overwhelming, that it is acceptable for employees to surf on company time!
This piece of news Ithe item in your question) is only NEWS because the employees were caught visiting porn sites.
My guess is, an overwhelming numbe of employees on Wall Street spend a significant part of their work day on personal sites on the internet. If they did more WORK and less SURFING, maybe someone would have noticed the impending crisis a little more quickly.
IMHO, the fact that so many people spend WORK time just surfing the web IS THE CRISIS.
This is supervisor issue not a presidential issue. Blame it on Obama
I'm really surprised at the jokes and uncaring attitudes of most of these posters. I wonder how many of you do the same thing.
These people are goofing off, however you want to put it, on WORK TIME. Not their FREE TIME. I couldn't care less what you do at home as long as it's not kiddie porn. I work at a college and I would be FIRED if I did this. Porn sites should be blocked at all work computers!
lets keep it in perspestive: 33 employees at SEC out of how many total. It is a very small proportion. The wast majority of SEC workers are still doing their jobs. And the same kind of bad behavior is probably going on pretty much everywhere. That these were at SEC makes no difference. They got caught, fine...fire them and that will discourage others. But suggesting that the economic crises would have been avoided if these 33 people had been doing their work is just a preposterous argument.
My hard earned money that I have made and "lost" to these perverted money geniuses should be put in front of all of us who "lost" their retirement and have their little gonads shot off and then maybe they will concentrate on the job they were hired for.It's amazing the double standard that we have. We take God out of our country because we might offend someone but it's okay to watch porno on Government time the athiest should be happy about that one. May God have Mercy on us because we are out of control. My 11 year old Grandaughter has more brains then they have and knows what is right and wrong. How as parents and grandparents who teach our kids what is acceptable and what is not explain to them that the leaders of our "Country" are crooks, perverts,cheaters, and liars. We teach them to respect authority again May God have Mercy on us. Their examples suck and should be dealt with and not.... tolerated one bit. Connie M
Regulating the porn industry? That's my dream job. Someone's got to make sure porn stars aren't getting raped by the corporations.
I own and oporate a small distribution company in Los Angeles, Ca. It is against our company policy to watch porn at work! I am not sure but I think most campanies have the same rule. SEC should step up and do their on policing. Don't they have a human resources deparmant?!?! They need to make an example out of these guys, not protect them.
Don't blame the SEC! Wallstreet broke NO LAWS! You blame the SEC but take away their teeth to do anything but sit on their thumbs! This is wrong wrong wrong.
Wallstreet are the crooks not SEC employees. Oh how easy it is to make a story out of watching "porn" when you give them nothing to do ANYWAY!
You bunch of holier than thou clowns! WHERE WERE YOU?!
SEC (just as any other government agency) is completely useles. It can't be fixed – it needs to be dismantled.
There is no better regulator than free market (free, not crony as we currently have in the US.).
It it was me, I'd be fired, fire them all!!!!!!
This is absolutely astonishing and infuriating. And it raises a question. At my place of employment, I can't even download a movie trailer for Avatar without getting the "Red Screen of Doom." In fact, my company has actual advertising messages and commentaries by my CEO on YouTube that I CAN'T EVEN ACCESS FROM MY WORK LAPTOP without the "Red Screen of Doom" popping up. So how is it that government networks don't have the same kinds of blockers for vile material, let alone the harmless or actual business-related material that my employer's system blocks? And what kinds of absolute idiots have the hutzpah to access this perverted content on their work computers? It is disheartening and depressing to think that these are the people looking out for us. Disgusting!
Absolutely he should, but like the rest of President Obama’s legacy agenda he would rather spend more of our hard earned money creating new agencies and engineering additional imposing legislation instead of tackling all of the wasteful and abusive actions that are occurring within the current systems. Don’t throw the baby out with the dirty bathwater.
President Obama should worry about both. Fire the porn watchers & have 24/7 watch over Wall Street.
8 hours a day? How is that even possible?
Porn or no porn these guys completely failed at their job. They were paid quite a good wage, and all they did was sit around with their hands down their pants letting corporations have their way with our economy much like in the videos they were busy watching instead of working. One giant gangbang, with Lady Liberty at the center.