Michael Oxley is a windbag, and one who is full of himself for the fame and glory he received from the creation of Sarbanes-Oxley. Oxley was completely unknow and insignificant until his “groundbreaking” legislation began its assault on business in America. Since then, he’s become a highly-paid speaker on the ex-politico circuit. Here’s his latest interview. (Oxley is a really popular guy in terms of his speaking engagements, his position as Counsel with an Ohio-based law firm Baker Hostetler, and well as his position as a nonexecutive vice chairman of Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.)

First of all, count how many times “investor confidence” is stated in this piece, and it becomes clear that these guys are cluless. Post-SOX, all we hear is how the freedom-robbing politicans in Washington who passed Sarbanes-Oxley have somehow “increased investor confidence,” and apparently, they have been able to quantatively measure this remarkable feat, though the evidence is somehow never produced by those making the statements. Oxley states that without his brilliant legislation, today’s environment in corporate America would resemble the “Wild West.” In addition, Oxley considers Ron Paul’s opposition to the more extreme concepts of SOX as being “fringe” behavior. No one, he says, except the fringe guys, would dare try to dump his sacred law.

But Oxley brushes off the possibility of Paul or anyone else making major changes or repealing the law.

“It’s been amazingly well-received,” Oxley said. “Only the fringes, including Ron Paul, would try that, and they’re not in a position to make any changes.

How do these people manage to convince themselves (and a whole host of others) that they were needed to save the world?