. >> up next, security and exchange commission chairman mary schapiro testified on capitol hill about wall street regulations. then the state judiciary committee vote on elena kagan's nomination. later, "washington journal." on tomorrows "washington journal" jane and how agencies are organized. brian bilbray on washington. we will talk about the buildup of counter-terrorism capabilities since 9/11. the fda prescription drug approval process. "washington journal" is live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. >> c-span is available in of a 100 million homes. it is all as a public service created by america's cable companies. >> the chairman of the sec told congress today that her agency had increased the enforcement activities in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and has implemented reforms to avoid repeating past failures. mary schapiro's testimony was her first public comment since the financial regulation bill passed in congress last week. it gives the sec new powers and responsibilities. this is a little more than two hours. affec>> each side will have 15 minutes for opening stat

chairman mary schapiro is asking for what she calls good faith input from both business and the public, even though that isn't required by law. the new rules will cover everything from over-the-counter derivatives to credit rating agencies and hedge funds. >> susie: finding value in the overhaul of the nation's financial rule book. it's not easy, but it's there. here's tonight's commentator, justin fox, editorial director at the "harvard business review." >> the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act that president obama signed into law last week is 848 pages long. that's shorter than some earlier versions of the legislation, but mainly just because this time they used really small type. the new law is a monument to the bloated ways of modern washington. in 1933, congress transformed wall street with the 37-page glass-steagall act. today's lawmakers went on for 23 times as long to achieve what is likely to be a far less dramatic result. so, when a skeptic asked me the other day to name one good thing in the new law, i initially threw up my hands. then i reconsidered.

but you know, getting back to the sec, i have to say in 2007, mary schapiro admitted recently, and she's the head of the sec, we only had 27 people overseeing these big investmentanks. and i think it's a breath of fresh air to see more talent at the sec and a more robust team looking at these big, big giant pieces of risk. >> all right, lawrence mcdonald, john coffee, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you >> lehrer: now, a second story about investment companies, this on private equity firms and the companies they buy. newshour economics correspondent paul solman explains. it's part of his ongoing reporting on "making sense of financial news." >> reporter: new york city's times square where tourists still flock despite a terrorism scare this spring. but business reporter josh kosmin is spooked by incendiary device of a different kind, debt bombs. especially from companies like these, that were taken over by private equity firms. kosmin who has written a book on private equity, the buyout of america sees a lit fuse almost everywhere he turns. especially in times square. >>

mary schapiro of the sec is a strong supporter. mayor shapiro, elizabeth warren, and sheila bair are all strong supporters of this bill. here are a number of important things in the bill. a fiduciary requirement for municipal advisers said the we do not give the kind of problems we have all seen. all those are very important. i am prepared to make compromises. for those who worry about is getting too far, the conservative party prime minister of canada said over the weekend that with this bil america takes the lead in financial regulation and the rest of the world will follow. on the tarp, what it says is this. i prefer the original way. what cbo is saying is this, money repaid to the tarp goes into the treasury and to have made a profit on the big part. what the cbo is saying is that if you spend the remaing on allocated tarp money, you will lose some of it. you will nt get it all back. cbo is a wondrous institution. i am often puzzled by it. i do know that my colleagues have a tendency to love it when it agrees with us and not so