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I have a clear picture of the first time I met Chris Cox. It was a bright spring day in 1986. I was at the White House speechwriters’ shop on the 1st floor of the OEOB (the fabulously rococo Old Executive Office Building in the White House compound). It’s in the northeast corner with windows overlooking the West Wing. At the other end of the hall in the southeast corner was the White House Counsel’s office.

As I was in the doorway talking to a friend, this young fellow came down the hall – he couldn’t have been much more than 30. He walked right up to me, and with this impossibly engaging smile, said, “Hi, I’m Chris Cox. I’m new at the Counsel’s office.”

As I shook his hand, my first thought was, “What a likeable guy!” My friend said, “Chris is one of us, Jack – he’s FTC.”

“FTC” was code for being a total hard-core Reaganaut. It stood for: Foil the Commies – well, not actually, but I’ll let you do the letter substitution for o-i-l.

I soon discovered Chris’s other attributes besides being a likeable proponent of Ronald Reagan’s values. Yes, he was charming and witty, memorably so. But what overwhelmed you was his mental energy, his intelligence, his quickness of thought, his dazzling articulateness. After a few moments of serious conversation, you realized you were in the presence of a world-class mind.

What disarmed you was Chris’ lack of pretension, of any effort to impress you with how bright he was, of any condescension. He was the kind of guy you’d love to have a beer with – so that’s just what we did at the end of the day.

Two years later as the Reagan Presidency was coming to a close, Chris returned to his home state of California and got elected to Congress. I was there in the gallery to see him sworn in to the 101st Congress in January 1989. It was during his second term that I had a traumatic experience in his Congressional office.

It was supposed to be a 15-minute visit. But we got to talking about his legislative proposals. He showed me a huge three-ring binder on his desk, in which there were outlines of over 80 separate proposed pieces of legislation he had crafted and wanted to pass. Every single one he had designed to reduce, some in big ways, some in small technical ways, the interference of government in our lives.

Flipping through the pages, he explained about two dozen. I lost count, my mind began to swim. An hour an a half later I emerged from his office, Chris still daisy-fresh, me mumbling thanks and sinking into a chair in the foyer. The receptionist, seeing me in a daze, asked, “Jack, what happened to you?” All I could do was shake my head. “Yes,” she commented, “Chris has that effect on people.”

Here are two Chris Cox bottom lines. Bar none, no one Congress is more dedicated to capitalist free market freedom than him; bar none, no one in Congress is smarter.

Now you may reply that being the smartest man in Congress is like being the tallest building in Topeka. But Chris would be the tallest skyscraper in just about any city. That’s why the Senate Banking Committee hearings on his nomination to run the Security & Exchange Commission are going to be so entertaining, a C-Span show you won’t want to miss.

There are a fair number of bright people in the House, and a fair number of really stupid people in the Senate (we’re talking ratios here – there are some amazingly dumb Congressmen and some very bright Senators). The disparity is because it costs so much more to run for a state-wide Senate seat; thus the majority of Senators are millionaires who inherited their money (like Teddy Kennedy), or made it through a particular idiot-savant expertise (like Jon Corzine) which they think makes them an expert on everything.

With few exceptions, every Senator’s ego vastly exceeds their brain-power. Arrogance, power, and stupidity is not a good combination, which is why the Senate is so dysfunctional. They love to prate and pose and pontificate and act so insufferably important in front of television cameras during their hearings. Which is why it’ll be so much fun to watch Chris take them apart.

Chris’ hearing will be held by Senate Banking. The Republicans, with the possible exception of Chuck Hagel, will not bother him. Most Democrats will know enough to do the same. But Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer may not be able to contain themselves.

These two embody the Senate’s Ego-IQ Inverse Square Law. They are leftists who have a visceral hate of economic freedom. The thought of Chris Cox running an SEC that refuses to assume all corporate executives are criminals enrages them. If they can’t keep their egos in check and are foolish enough to match their dim wits with Chris, he is going to eat them alive.

And he is going to do it so smoothly and so courteously they may not even realize they are being salami-sliced on national television. If Dodd and Schumer try to pull a Bolton on Cox and even hint at filibustering him, they won’t know what pole-axed them.

Appointing Chris Cox to be Chairman of SEC is the most pro-business, pro-prosperity, pro-wealth-creation act of George Bush’s presidency. Businessmen will be capitalist heroes once again, and will walk in the sunshine of Wall Street, not slink in the shadows. But don’t think that Chris will settle for expanding economic freedom only. Never forget he’s hard-core FTC.

I predict he will shine a spotlight on the collapsing banking system of still-Red China, for example. He will focus on other enemies of America besides the Chicoms. Iran is a designated terrorist country with which it is illegal for an American company to do business. It is the management of a number of European companies that run Iran’s economy, the most significant of which is Siemens. Chris will enforce the law, and move to delist from the NYSE (traded as ABRs) Siemans and any and all European companies doing business with Iran.

Starting to get the Chris Cox picture? And it’s just the start. He’s only 52. After the SEC, there will be a lot of support for Chris to run for Governor of California, succeeding Arnold, unless he’s tapped as Condi’s running mate in 2008. I am one of the many folk in Washington who believe Chris is ultimately destined for the White House. America could not do better.

[For President Bush’s remarks nominating Chris as SEC Chairman, and Chris’ response, click here.]