The Big Banks' Best Friend in Washington

``Even today, Dugan remains in denial about his agency's role in the financial debacle. He was skeptical about the bank stress tests and disclosure of the results. He continues to celebrate the fact that national banks have had fewer failures than banks regulated by other agencies, as if Citigroup and Wachovia and Bank of America are somehow great success stories. And he seems to have forgotten that, even after the crisis hit, he continued to push for international rules that would allow big banks to hold less capital and take on more leverage. Given this history, there's no mystery why John Dugan is still running interference for big banks he is supposed to regulate. The mystery is why he is still comptroller of the currency. ''