The next meeting of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is set for June 30th - Julyl 1st. The meeting is titled "The Role of Derivatives in the Financial Crisis."

Witnesses giving testimony include representatives from American International Group (AIG), Goldman Sachs, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the New York State Insurance Department.

These manipulation of so-called 'complex financial instruments' certainly played a role in bringing about the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. We welcome the hearings.

Senator Richard Shelby is making a play to be king of the obstructionists in the Senate. First, he holds up 70 nominees because he wants more pork for his state. And, now, he's doing Wall Street's bidding and trying to scuttle real financial regulatory reform:

HuffPost asked Shelby if Dodd had confirmed to him on the floor that he was moving ahead with an independent Consumer Finance Protection Agency.

"Well, that's been our biggest split, okay, and it's still at impasse there," Shelby said. "But we're talking."

Yup, that's right - Shelby is holding up financial regulatory reform because he doesn't think there should be an organization whose mandate will be to protect consumers. It's been over a year since the collapse that brought about the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and, so far, no meaningful reforms have been passed to make sure it doesn't happen again. This is our opportunity to pass reform and all Shelby and his Republican pals can do is say no to meaningful reforms.

The Securities & Exchange Commission is responsible for enforcing securities and financial regulatory law in this country. In the lead up to and during the beginning of the global financial crisis three men were asleep at the wheel: former SEC head Christopher Cox, former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan and current Fed Chair Ben Bernanke.

Accountable America Chairman Tom Matzzie said that these three men must answer for their actions:

It’s about time. Chairman Angelides is right to call Cox and Greenspan. If they decline to appear they should be subpoenaed.

Cox macheted the law enforcement functions of the SEC—one of the reasons Bernie Madoff was never caught.

Cox in particular allowed the banks to over-leverage themselves by neglecting his role as SEC chair to protect the public. An SEC bank supervision program, started in 2004 by his predecessor, was abominably managed by Cox and has been called one of the single greatest factors contributing to the financial crisis. Cox’s 17-year record and demeanor as chairman was always to protect the Wall Street banks rather than investors, the public and the economy at large.

It is easy to forget that Alan Greenspan ran the Fed for most of the period when the housing bubble was being inflated. He sat by as the bubble grew with few critical words until after he left his post.

The last two days, Accountable America has run newspaper ads calling on the Commission to investigate the regulators who failed to protect the public and the economy. Support our efforts.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will meet on January 13 and 14 in Washington, DC in their first investigative hearings of the year. The media is reporting today that the Commission will bring high profile witnesses to the hearing.

From Dow Jones today,

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. chief executive Jamie Dimon, Bank of America Corp. chief executive Brian Moynihan, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair are expected to be among those testifying at the two days of hearings next week.

Panel chairman Phil Angelides, a Democrat, and vice chairman Bill Thomas, a Republican, said they also planned to bring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to testify under oath later this year.

The Commission has a website now and will reportedly webcast their proceedings.

The policies Doug Hoffman supports created America’s financial crisis. That's the message of Accountable America's new TV ad on the air starting this week in the 23rd district of New York.

Hoffman is the darling of the Club for Growth, the right-wing group funded by some of Wall Street's biggest fat cats. The Club for Growth’s agenda boils down to one idea: stop consumer protections in the name of “deregulation.”

They don’t want to see the Financial Truth Commission "name names" and hold people accountable like the 9/11 Commission. That is why many of the Club for Growth’s biggest supporters voted against setting up the Commission.

Doug Hoffman has yet to call for tough investigations into the banks who created the financial crisis. Nor has he called for new regulations to protect consumers and end corporate greed. Hoffman doesn’t want to upset his Wall Street friends, so, he's singing their tune by supporting Bush-style tax cuts and deregulation designed to help the richest banks.

In a new ad airing in New York's 23rd District this weekend, Accountable America exposes Doug Hoffman’s Wall Street agenda. Check out the ad and, if you like what you see, make a contribution to support work like this ad.