July 15, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1423

WASHINGTON, July 14: A key member of President George W. Bush’s team scrambled Sunday to safeguard the administration’s credibility, working to try to skirt political fallout from corporate scandals rocking the United States.

Asked about impressions the administration might be too cozy with big business, Bush’s Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a former oil firm CEO himself and a boyhood friend of Bush, told Fox television: “I totally reject that. I know this president well and I know that he’s angry.”

“The system has not failed us; a few have failed the system,” Evans stressed.

Bush, also a former oil firm chief, has come under scrutiny for a loan he received on sweetheart terms to purchase stocks in the same company — a practice he now has criticized. He “wants tough reform. He wants tough measures,” his commerce chief insisted.

Just what kind of reform is the question.

Asked if Bush would back reform legislation sponsored by Maryland Senator Paul Sarbanes, Evans stressed “he shares the same goals that are in the Sarbanes bill” but noted “amendments are being added every day ...(Bush) wants tough reform.”

“You can put all the rules and regulations in place, but if people don’t tell the truth, it won’t work,” he added.

And with many keen to lay blame for the financial troubles, controversy was running high over whether Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Harvey Pitt’s head should roll.

A Bush appointee, Pitt has faced a barrage of criticism for what critics see as his lax attitude towards the accounting scandals that have torpedoed US corporations since the spectacular bankruptcy of Enron last December.

Republican senator John McCain told CNN television Pitt “should serve the country in another capacity.”

Later on, McCain said on NBC a Pitt resignation would be “in the interest of restoring trust and transparency in the greatest economic system in the world.”

But Evans restated the Bush administration’s line, arguing “Harvey is doing a terrific job.”

Sarbanes told ABC television Pitt’s “testament will be on what he does. He’s an extremely able and competent person .. He’s done some very strong positive things, but he’s been slow to pick up on other things.”

Pitt responded on NBC: “I really object to seeing the SEC, which for 68 years has had an admirable record as an independent agency, drawn into this political finger-pointing and fighting. What we want to do is solve today’s problems.”

Friday, with markets reeling, Bush did his best to cheerlead, pointing out that unemployment numbers are steady, “our consumer spending numbers are up, our manufacturing orders are increasing — in other words the recovery is beginning to show some strength.”

The US president also emphasized that frayed confidence in corporate actors was just one factor affecting the US economy, which must also contend with fears and expenses tied to the “war on terrorism” as well as price-to-earnings ratios that of late have been “very high.”

Meanwhile, his overall approval rating has slipped to 68 percent from 70 percent amid the ballooning corporate scandals that have sent the US stock market sliding, according to a poll out Saturday.

The survey by Newsweek magazine also found 51 percent of those polled approved of the way the president has responded to recent business scandals.

But public opinion is split on whether the president’s corporate reform proposals are tough enough on wrongdoing of corporate executives.

Forty-seven percent said they are not tough enough, while 34 percent believed they are about right, according to the survey. Only three percent of Americans think they are tougher than necessary.

Asked about corporate misdeeds, Evans countered: “I’m sure its not widespread.” He also was quick to talk up what he called a “pretty healthy (economic) recovery,” adding: “I’m pretty optimistic that will continue.”—AFP