The editorial page of The New York Times, which is closely watched along the Washington-to-New York power axis, argued that Levitt "would not appear to be asking for very much. He wants independent audits of corporate financial statements to be just that, independent."

"Ordinary investors should pull for Mr. Levitt to win this struggle because the rules he has proposed are calibrated to protect their financial interests," says the Times.

"In some recent cases where a company's financial condition turned out to be much worse than investors had been told, the accounting firm that performed the errant audit had also provided its client with substantial non-audit services," says the Times. "Is there proof that the non-auditing work caused auditors to wink at impropriety? No. But suspicions lurk."