Those indignent Congressmen knew full well that none of the Enron executives were going to say anything given the high probability of criminal investigations and the certainty of civil lawsuits. All those Congressmen (and women) were after was TV face time as they brush aside the money they took from Enron.

There has been a lot of attention on the Enron employees losing a lot of their 401K investments. Where were the Congressional hearings a few years ago when the same thing happened at ColorTile? How about all of those dot-com employees who lost a bundle and still owed taxes on non-existant profits for now worthless stock options?

Are they going to hold hearings for every company that goes bankrupt like K-Mart and Global Crossing?

If, as it appears, there was criminal activity at Enron then those responsible should be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law. Those convicted should face harsh jail time (and not in some country club prison), with their pictures released as an example to others who might be tempted to do the same thing. I have no sympathy for them.

In the end, there may need to be some new laws to force companies to ease restrictions on their 401K plans. Employees need to know that investing too much of their retirement savings in a single stock is very risky. Or, we might consider what Steve Chapman wrote about the topic.

"Many Enron critics think that the alternative to more government controls is tolerating continued bamboozling by corporate swindlers. But a lot of people in the private sector have been newly invigorated to watch out for serious mismanagement. The self-interest of people with their money and their good names on the line will do more than new legislation or new regulations to protect us from the next Enron."