So far, the SEC hearing in front of the House Financial Services Committee on the Madoff matter has been fairly ho-hum. Star witness Harry Markopolos canceled his appearance, because he was sick or chained up somewhere by Monica Noel, and even Barney Frank seems off his game. But now things seem to be heating up. Long Island Representative Gary Ackerman just busted out with: "Whose job is it to protect the investors? Because I wanna tell them that they suck at it." Iced. He also called H. David Kotz, the SEC inspector general, "the Jacques Cousteau of the Keystone Cops," which is some old-person reference we don't understand but sounds nasty and like he spent all night thinking it up. "This is more than a nail in the coffin," he finished. "This is a stake in the heart of the American financial system." Go Team New York!

House Financial Services Commitee [Official Website]
Live-Blogging the House Hearing on Madoff [DealBook/NYT]