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Subprime Scandal: Barney Frank's replacement as head of the House banking panel vows to dismantle what's been done in the name of financial reform. Time also to undo the anti-Wall Street spin.
Rolling back FinReg, which was based on a false assumption that Wall Street caused the financial crisis, is just as critical as repealing or defunding ObamaCare.
Republicans ought to go through Frank's monstrosity, page by page, and strip out all its jobs-killing and capital-killing provisions â?? along with the new race-based mandates Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters stuck in. Such politically mandated lending is what got us into this mess in the first place.
Incoming House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., promises to do just that. He argues that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act puts Wall Street at a disadvantage against London, Hong Kong and other financial centers. It also constricts capital, he says in a recent letter to the Treasury chief, "hobbling the provision of credit necessary for economic recovery in the U.S."
Indeed, the massive red tape generated by Dodd-Frank threatens to strangle the banking industry, choking the flow of credit for years to come. A new report by the American Bankers Association warns the coming "tsunami of regulations" could wipe out hundreds of smaller banks.
The graveyard of lenders is already crowded. Some 140 banks were closed in 2009. This year we're well on the way to reaching 200. Meanwhile, the FDIC reports 775 additional institutions on its "problem bank" list. The regulatory burden imposed on these shaky banks could spell disaster. Dodd-Frank has already generated 5,000 pages of new rules from just three of its 16 titles. Looking at this tidal wave of new regulations, bank boards must reassess whether they should continue operating independently.
"ABA estimates that the pressures on bank consolidation produced by new legislation and regulations could result in 1,000 fewer banks by the end of the decade," ABA says in a letter to the FDIC. Which means consumers can look forward to higher rates and fees as the industry consolidates to survive.
Asked about GOP talk of repealing FinReg, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs argued the new banking rules are "what people want," and they won't let Republicans water them down. But the Americans didn't bargain for 1,000 fewer banks. Or a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headed by Harvard radical Elizabeth Warren, who wants to cap interest rates and nationalize banks.
Leadership: Arnold Schwarzenegger pulled off some jaw-dropping feats as a movie action hero. But he saved the best for his last role â?? leaving the state of California in even worse shape than the man he replaced as governor after a recall. ...
California agencies, departments, boards, quasi-governmental groups and other fiefdoms: California Academic Performance Index (API); California Access for Infants and Mothers; California Acupuncture Board; California Administrative Office of the Courts; California Adoptions Branch; California ...
Global Warming: Wouldn't the followers of Scientific American have a pretty good understanding of what's really going on with the climate? If a reader poll is any indication, they're skeptical man is heating the planet. For years we've heard that scientists have reached a "consensus" that ...
Fiscal Restraint: Thanks to the rise of the Tea Party, a key debate within the victorious GOP has changed. The question is no longer whether to cut spending, but how. The big test for Republicans after their historic victory is not whether they can work with President Obama and take part in ...
Obligations: A seemingly minor collision off an obscure Pacific island chain may mean nothing. Then again, it may be about China seeing just how serious we are about our treaty commitments to Japan. It would be easy to dismiss the recent collision of a Chinese fishing boat with two Japanese ...
Posted By: tabrussell(1285) on 11/12/2010 | 10:40 PM ET
Wall Street and the financial sector deserve more blame than this article suggests. The government deserves a fair share of blame, no doubt about it. But, the financial sector went far too eagerly along with the government's wishes because most financials saw a chance for profits and relaxed their underwriting standards. Trying to spin it as though the financials are fully innocent is questionable at best and an outright lie at worst.
Posted By: UofC Booth(920) on 11/12/2010 | 7:50 PM ET
Instead of fixing it, repeal it and start over. Instead of 5,000 pages try to keep the new bill to 50 pages that are understandable.
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