California's usually mild-mannered Democratic governor, Gray Davis, has sharply criticized federal regulators for dragging their feet, calling them "armchair Washington bureaucrats".
Democratic lawmakers, regulators and even some industry groups say they are increasingly concerned that the vacancies are impeding efforts to improve regulation and spur growth.
For those who don't know, Ward Three is a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., where many Democratic staffers, regulators, journalists, lawyers, Obama aides and senior civil servants live.
David Brooks, who is always worth reading except when he channels Spiro Agnew every thirteenth column, used this language a couple of weeks ago in sneering at the "Democratic staffers, regulators, journalists, lawyers, Obama aides and senior civil servants" of Washington's Ward 3, who "disdain three things: cleavage, hunting and dumb people who are richer than they are".
Regulators currently suspect that MF Global — at the time run by Jon S. Corzine, the former Democratic governor of New Jersey — improperly used customer money for its own purposes in the days before filing for Chapter 11 protection on Oct. 31.
Amid record oil prices and soaring gasoline costs, Exxon Mobil's $400 million retirement package to its former C.E.O. is a "shameful display of greed" that should be reviewed by Congress and investigated by federal regulators, Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan said on Tuesday.
Sixteen Democratic senators are asking regulators to examine the use of A.T.M.-style cards to pay hourly employees.
Another lawmaker suggested that the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul, a centerpiece of Democratic legislative accomplishments, stymied regulators efforts to stop MF Global's collapse.
Legal experts, some regulators and Democratic lawmakers are concerned that the changes would put American investors at the mercy of overseas regulators who enforce weaker rules and may treat investment losses as a low priority.
The House rebuffed a Democratic effort to force regulators to order bigger refunds for electricity consumers in Western states who were victims of price gouging during the energy crisis of 2000 and 2001.
