Why health care is stalled

Angelides to head financial crisis investigation

WASHINGTON -- Congressional lawmakers released the names Wednesday of 10 members of the Financial Crisis Commission, a body set up to investigate the events that led to the monumental collapse of the financial markets last year.

Former California State Treasurer Phil Angelides is to chair the group. Joining him is former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and the ex-chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brooksley Born.

Representing the business community are Heather Murren, a retired managing director at investment bank Merrill Lynch, and John W. Thompson, chairman of Symantec Corp., a business-software provider. The sixth member of the panel will be Byron Georgiou, a Las Vegas businessman and attorney.

The Republican appointees to the commission are former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Thomas, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economic adviser to Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) during last year's presidential campaign, former director of the Bush White House's National Economic Council Keith Hennessey, and Peter Wallison, a director at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

The panel was created by Congress earlier this year. Lawmakers demanded a full investigation into how one of the greatest collapse in the financial markets occurred. It is mandated with reporting back to Congress by Dec. 15, 2010, with a series of conclusions about what occurred, and recommendations as to how to avoid future market breakdowns. There have been some fears expressed that the committee's work will be outpaced by efforts already under way to completely overhaul the regulation of the financial sector.

The Obama administration has revealed details of its planned rewriting of the regulatory framework which would see the Federal Reserve given the authority to oversee firms deemed systemically risky, and the creation of a new consumer financial protection regulator.

It is modeled on the Pecora Commission, a Senate panel that investigated causes of the Great Depression during the 1930s. The Pecora Commission led to major changes in federal law, including the creation of Securities Exchange Commission.

Write to By Corey Boles at Corey.Boles@dowjones.com

Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

Michael Jackson wasn't just the King of Pop, he was also the King of Humanitarian Service and Ambassador to the World. His beautiful music and his dedicated service to the least of these touched our hearts, tore down barriers of all kinds, and inspired so many of us to serve humanity. Back in the day I had the privilege of seeing MJ perform at the Fabulous Forum, not far from where Micahel's friends and family said goodbye on Tuesday. Watching Michael Jackson, the greaters entertainer in history, was truly an unforgettable experience.

It's important to remember that Michael Jackson -- and every American born before 1965 -- grew up in a society where Black people were not citizens, were denied basic human rights and were subjected to racial terrorism on a daily basis. Yet like Dr. King, Fannie Lou Hamer and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Michael Jackson responded not with hatred but with love -- through his music of peace and solidarity and his unparalleled charitable giving. As Rev. Al Sharpton explained so so eloquently at the Memorial Service, without Michael Jackson's pioneering work as a pop culture trailblazer there could never have been a President Barack Obama. Michael Jackson, gone too soon... far too soon. Heal the World. MJ, thank you and R.I.P.

Happy 4th of July from President Obama!

Is the U.S. becoming more socialist?

Well informed debaters;