When it comes to getting to the bottom of the financial crisis, it seems everyone could use a little bit more help.
A government task force known as the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group -- created earlier this year to investigate the mortgage abuses that rocked the economy in 2008 -- could use more manpower to get the job done, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, one of the group's five co-chairs.
"Do I want more resources, want things to go faster? Yes," Schneiderman told the Wall Street Journal. "Am I asking for more? Yes. Do I believe we'll get that? Yes."
Schneiderman's desire for more resources is shared among those tasked with investigating the financial crisis and policing Wall Street. Earlier this week, the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission told Congress that their agencies are underfunded and "outgunned" when it comes to policing financial misconduct.
In addition, the SEC is reportedly dropping its probe into Lehman Brothers, another cause for concern for critics of the government's efforts to hold individuals and companies responsible for the financial crisis.
Schneiderman's group, which was formally announced in January, has touted itself as an ambitious effort to uncover the roots of the mortgage-backed securities crisis, which nearly tipped the U.S. economy into chaos four years ago.
When the group made its debut, Schneiderman emphasized that it would strive to accomplish its goals quickly. "This is not something people are going to have to sit around for six months before they see results," he told WNYC in January.
But by April, the group was reportedly still securing office space and finalizing its staff, and it has faced political opposition from legislators who have refused to grant it funding. A spokesperson for Schneiderman told HuffPost in April that the group's work "must proceed in a thorough and deliberate fashion."
According to the WSJ, the group today has more than 100 members, including investigators and prosecutors from both the federal and state level.