Raw Story<\/font><\/strong>
May 15th, 2010<\/div>\n
President Barack Obama turned up the heat Saturday on lawmakers to pass an ambitious Wall Street regulatory overhaul, as the measure headed for a key vote in the Senate. "The reform bill being debated in the Senate will not solve every problem in our financial system: no bill could," Obama said in his weekly radio address ahead of what is expected to be an up-or-down vote in the Senate on Wednesday. "But what this strong bill will do is important, and I urge the Senate to pass it as soon as possible, so we can secure America’s economic future in the 21st century."<\/p>\n
Obama, aiming to clamp down on the excesses that led to the near-meltdown of the financial system in 2008, is promising the most sweeping regulatory reform drive since the Great Depression of the 1930s. To push that through, he is trying to build momentum for Democratic efforts in Congress to overcome the Republicans’ resistance and pass a new Wall Street reform law.<\/p>\n
Republican leaders have so far been united in opposition to the bill, which seeks to impose tougher regulations on banks and finance firms, and to set up a new consumer financial protection agency. They say Obama’s reforms would push the heavy hand of government deeper into the US free enterprise system, leading to a culture of financial bailouts, a charge that the Democrats deny.<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n Obama argued that the proposed reform would help level the playing field in the financial industry by ensuring that all lenders, not just community banks, were subject to tough oversight. He said the bill under consideration will prevent banks from taking too much risk and will give shareholders more say on executive pay.<\/p>\n "The Wall Street reform bill in Congress represents the strongest consumer financial protections in history," the president pointed out. "You’ll be empowered with the clear and concise information you need to make the choices that are best for you. We’ll help stop predatory practices, and curb unscrupulous lenders, helping secure your family’s financial future."<\/p>\n Dodd’s proposal touches on several areas. Key points:<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/images\/frbill.jpg\")
The Financial Reform Bill is opaque to me. As much as I’d like to give it a thorough vetting, there was a block to my plan [shown on the right]. It’s kind of long. I wonder if anyone has read the whole thing. Here’s a brief summary from the Wall Street Journal before the debate:<\/div>\n\n
Bill’s Highlights<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n
![](\"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/images\/dice.gif\")
While my title [cross fingers and pray. something’s working in the senate…<\/strong>] suggests luck or providence. I expect the truth is that Obama and\/or his team are masters of the political universe. The decision to put Health Care before Financial Reform was probably brilliant politicking [though, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why]. Don’t argue with success. This week comes the debate about Derivatives – which, to my mind, is the big one. Derivatives can destroy Capitalism, because they turn it into too much of a game. They detach the financial sector from the actual world of business. If we must have Derivatives, they have to be kept in the realm of insurance and risk management for investments in real things <\/font><\/strong> [that actually exist]<\/font><\/strong>, backed by capital [that actually exists]<\/font><\/strong>. But I digress. Bob Corker may be right. This may be Obama and the Democrats knocking it out of the park for our country and shutting down the casino… <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"