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I have a major problem with this (read beyond the whole release for my comments):

Boehner, McConnell Announce Appointments to Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

Select Bill Thomas as Vice Chair, former CBO Director Doug Holtz-Eakin,
AEI Scholar Peter Wallison, & former NEC Director Keith Hennessey

WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Leader John Boehner (OH) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) announced their four appointments to the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today that Congress established to investigate the causes of the financial crisis and the collapse of major financial institutions.

Boehner and McConnell jointly selected former House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas to serve as Vice Chairman of the Commission.  In addition, Boehner appointed Peter Wallison, Co-Director for Financial Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and McConnell appointed former Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Doug Holtz-Eakin, and former National Economic Council Director Keith Hennessey to serve on the Commission as well.

“This commission is charged with examining the financial crisis that sent our nation into a severe recession, and it’s critical that it works in a bipartisan manner to do so,” Boehner said.  “With Bill Thomas serving as Vice Chairman alongside these other distinguished members, I am confident this commission will vigorously seek out the facts so Congress can move forward with common-sense reforms that restore confidence in our financial system.” 

“It is my hope this Commission will fully examine the policies which contributed to the near-collapse of the financial system last year,” McConnell said.  “Not only do the American people deserve answers, but we in Congress must first understand the root cause of the problem before we act so we can be sure to enact policies that address the issue and strengthen our economy.”

The Commission was established in a mortgage, securities and financial fraud bill that Congress passed earlier this year and is required to issue a final report by December 15, 2010.  The other six members were chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV).

NOTE:  The four appointees’ biographical information follows:

The Hon. Bill Thomas
·         Senior Advisor, Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney
·         Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
·         Member, U.S. House of Representatives, 1979-2007
·         Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee, 2001-2007
·         Chairman, House Administration Committee, 1995-2001
·         Cochairman, National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, 1998-99
·         Member, California State Assembly, 1974-79
·         Professor, Political Science, Bakersfield College, 1965-74

Douglas Holtz-Eakin
·         President, DHE Consulting, LLC
·         Director for Domestic and Economic Policy for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, 2007-08
Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 2003-2005
·         Chief Economist, President's Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President, 2001-2003
Chair, Department of Economics, Syracuse University, 1997-01
Senior Staff Economist, Council of Economic Advisors, Executive Office of the President, 1989-90

Peter Wallison
·         Co-Director for Financial Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
·         Member, Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, 1991-present
·         Member, Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting, SEC, 2007-08
·         Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, 1986-87
·         Partner, Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher, 1987-98, 1985-86
·         General Counsel, U.S. Treasury Department (Reagan), 1981-85
·         Counsel during Nelson Rockefeller's Vice Presidency, 1972-76

Keith Hennessey
·         Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council, 2008-09
·         Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, 2002-07
·         Economic Policy Advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, 1997-02
·         Economic Advisor to the Senate Budget Committee, 1995-97
·         Staff member on the 1994 Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform

OKAY, THIS IS WHERE MY COMMENTS START: See who McConnell appointed. Do these people have ANY understanding of who their friends are?
So here is the guy who advised McCain to dump all over the honest, conservative Chris Cox at the SEC while blaming Cox for NOT doing something Cox ALREADY had done; the guy who advised McCain to suspend his campaign, embrace the bailout, and ruin all chances of keeping the radical leftist Obama out of office... and he. Holtz-eakin, is the one asked to help determine what CAUSED the crisis? What a pathetic commentary on our people in office right now. What in the Lord's name is McConnell thinking? Mr. H-E is also the same guy who fought AGAINST dynamic budget "scoring" while at the CBO, thus hamstringing conservative budgeteers. For McConnell to appoint him is for McConnell to effectively shoot the middle finger at conservatives of the Jack Kemp school, and at all who were appalled at McCain's panicked performance last fall. This is, truly, an outrage.