April 1, 2011
Financial Takeover Repeal Act would stop burdensome regulations, spur job growth, and ensure that ‘too big to fail’ bailout policies are not permanent
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, announced the introduction of S. 712, The Financial Takeover Repeal Act of 2011. The bill would repeal the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that President Obama signed into law on July 21, 2010. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently commented that the Dodd-Frank regulation “fails to meet [the] test of our times.” He warned, “The act may create the largest regulatory-induced market distortion since America’s ill-fated imposition of wage and price controls in 1971.”
Eighteen Republicans cosponsored the bill including U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Ensign (R-Nevada), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), John Thune (R-South Dakota), and David Vitter (R-Louisiana).
“We must repeal the Democrats’ takeover of the financial markets that favors Wall Street corporations, over-regulates small businesses with massive new bureaucracy and hurts consumers,” said Senator DeMint. “This financial takeover will strangle our economy and move jobs overseas unless it is repealed. Democrats rammed this government power-grab through last year, despite widespread concerns it would perpetuate federal bailouts, restrict credit to qualified borrowers, and raise costs for all Americans. Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd actually said at the time, ‘No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.’ Nearly a year later, it’s clear that this bill has failed.
“The Dodd-Frank financial takeover is producing hundreds of new regulations, forcing banks to charge consumers higher fees, and institutionalizing ‘too big to fail’ policies that favor Wall Street companies over small businesses. If the Democrats were serious about financial reform that protects small businesses and consumers, they would join with Republicans to curb the power of the Federal Reserve, permanently end ‘too big to fail’ and wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Senator DeMint.
A study conducted by Bloomberg Government found that after implementation of the Dodd-Frank regulations banks deemed “too big to fail” are expected to get even bigger, stating “the largest banks have grown larger since the financial crisis, and the number of ‘too big to fail banks’ will increase by 40 percent over the next 15 years.”
JPMorgan Chase Chairman & CEO Jamie Dimon recently said the Dodd-Frank regulations may “put the nails in the coffin” of the U.S. economy, calling it the most “irrational” legislation he’s ever seen, and that its provisions to limit debit-card fees is “basic price-fixing at its worst.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently highlighted a study that found the Dodd-Frank regulations “could cut capital spending by over $5 billion and cost the U.S. over 100,000 jobs.”
The government’s Special Inspector General for TARP, Neil Barofsky, flatly told Congress that “the financial-regulatory overhaul has ‘clearly failed’ to damp market expectations that the government will bail out systemically important firms.”
Also, recent news accounts have highlighted the fact that the Fed’s interchange rule, required by the Durbin amendment to Dodd-Frank, will force higher bank fees on Americans and reduce their choices in debit card purchases.
Source: demint.senate.gov
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