Goldman Sachs pledged not to spend money on political ads.

Facing pressure from critics of Wall Street to limit its role in elections, Goldman Sachs has pledged not to spend any of its vast corporate reserves on political advertising.

The move was an unexpected sign of restraint after a major Supreme Court ruling this year that gave corporations the power to devote unlimited amounts to electing or defeating candidates for federal office.

The investment bank quietly revised its statement on political activities on its Web site last week, adding a sentence addressing the powers that were granted under the Supreme Court decision in January, known as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. “Goldman Sachs also does not spend corporate funds directly on electioneering communications,” the firm said in its statement. Those communications are generally interpreted to mean advertisements on radio and television broadcasts in the run-up to an election.

It's up to us to hold them accountable if they break their promise.

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.

A must read editorial in today's New York Times argues that the FCIC needs to push harder:

Congress created the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission last year to investigate the causes of the meltdown. Many banks, financial firms and other witnesses have cooperated. But not Goldman Sachs.

On Monday, Mr. Angelides announced that the panel had finally subpoenaed Goldman. He told reporters that Goldman’s performance had been “abysmal, unacceptable and won’t be countenanced.” He added that it is his job to ensure that the American people are not “played for chumps.”

We couldn’t agree more. We also have to ask what took the commission so long — and hope this new toughness will carry through to a smart and tough report. The commission’s final product is due on Dec. 15. If Goldman’s lawyers think they can play out the clock, Congress had better disabuse them of that notion right now.

If Goldman doesn’t comply, the commission can — and should — ask a court to enforce the subpoena. If Goldman still balks, the court could find Goldman in contempt.

We still don’t know in detail what the crisis panel is hoping to learn from Goldman. In its own disturbing lack of transparency, the panel has not made the subpoena public. A summary on its Web site, posted late Monday, says that it is looking for information on Goldman’s derivatives’ deals and wants to interview Goldman’s top executives and other employees with knowledge of specific transactions. The public clearly has the right to know those details and how they may have contributed to the financial crisis.

The Goldman subpoena is only the latest of many black eyes for the bank, including a civil suit for securities fraud brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year.

In the conference call on Monday, the panel’s vice chairman, Bill Thomas, a former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, suggested that Goldman’s failure to cooperate indicated that the bank had something to hide. “They may have more to cover up than either we thought or than they told us,” he said. At the least, it suggests that Goldman is still trying to control the narrative of the financial crisis.

That is a prerogative it and all of the banks forfeited when they nearly brought down the financial system and then were bailed out by American taxpayers.

The country needs a full accounting of what went wrong. To do their job, Mr. Angelides, Mr. Thomas and the commission are going to have push a lot harder.

This is a positive step, but, as the New York Times notes, the FCIC needs to push harder.

More encouraging news from the FCIC:

Today, Chairman Phil Angelides and Vice Chairman Bill Thomas announce that the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has issued a subpoena to Goldman Sachs & Co. for failing to comply with a request for documents and interviews in a timely manner.

In seeking documents and testimony from public agencies and companies, the Commission has made it clear that it is committed to using its subpoena power if there is a lack of, or delay in, compliance. Failure to comply with a Commission request is viewed with the utmost seriousness, as the Commission will not be deterred from getting desired information.

In creating the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission under the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, Congress granted the Commission the power to “require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents.”

The Huffington Post has more on the subpoena:

Goldman Sachs refuses to comply with federal investigators probing the roots of the financial crisis, a government panel said Monday.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission slapped Goldman with a subpoena compelling the most profitable firm on Wall Street and the nation's fifth-largest bank by assets to turn over documents and produce employees for interviews.

Thus far, most of the firms at the heart of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression have voluntarily turned over documents and allowed crisis investigators to interview their employees.

This is at least the panel's third subpoena pushing financial industry exes to comply with its request. The FCIC's first such subpoena was issued to Moody's Corporation in April for the firm's delay in producing documents and allowing investigators to interview Moody's Investors Service personnel. Its second subpoena was issued last month to famed investor Warren Buffett, compelling his June 2 testimony before the FCIC. Both parties complied.

In a statement, the FCIC said it issued its subpoena to Goldman for "failing to comply with a request for documents and interviews in a timely manner."

More, please, FCIC.

Warren Buffet has a novel plan for banksters who begged Congress for a bailout:

"I think it's disgusting that you've got all of these failures of major institutions that the government has had to step in for society reasons to help and, basically, all the CEOs that caused all the trouble went away rich."

Buffett suggested new policies that would require "the CEO and his wife go broke" if a company needs help from the federal government.

"That would change behavior."

Buffet voiced his support for real Wall Street Reform because he knows that Wall Street has turned into a dangerous casino that is designed so that it wins, even if we lose.