It’s Official, Obama Signs Financial Reform Into Law

With a few strokes of several pens, President Barack Obama achieved his second major legislative accomplishment today, signing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law.

Addressing an audience of roughly 400 stakeholders, lawmakers and members of the public, the President praised the architects of the legislation, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). He reiterated many of the same talking points he has used to garner support for the bill, and softly chided Republicans for delaying the bill’s passage.

“Passing this bill was no easy task,” he said.  “To get there, we had to overcome the furious lobbying of an array of powerful interest groups and a partisan minority determined to block change.”

However, Mr. Obama did thank Republican Senators Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the only three members of the GOP to vote for the bill.

Throughout his remarks, the President noted what a long journey getting financial reform passed had been. In fact, Mr. Obama spoke about the need to fix the financial system as early as June of last year, and the House passed its version of the bill last December. Yet, progress stalled in the Senate, mainly due to the fact that Democrats could not muster 60 votes in support.

Republicans and other business groups, notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, opposed the legislation on the grounds that it would expand the reach and size of the federal government, and would over-regulate the market. Additionally, some conservative Democrats, including Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), expressed concerns over a proposed Consumer Protection Bureau.

However, Snowe and Collins threw their support behind the bill after they were able to secure favorable language for small businesses in their state, and Brown came aboard after getting Dodd to agree to strike a $18 billion dollar fee on big banks.

Axelrod, Farrell Hail Financial Reform Bill

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the president, and Diana Farrell, Deputy Director of the NEC, told reporters in a Friday conference call that they are pleased to see the financial regulatory bill pass the Senate.

Farrell said that the reform bill was almost perfect and contained “90% of what the president wanted.” She also said that the Obama administration’s second major victory of the year will bring financial security to Americans nationwide and will help boost economic recovery.

Axelrod agreed and expressed his approval of the Wall Street bill, but he also admitted he was “surprised” with remarks from Republican members of Congress who have already begun the fight to repeal legislation.  Early Thursday afternoon, House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters that he believed the bill to be “ill conceived” and suggested it be repealed.

“We’re not moving backwards, we’re moving forwards,” Axelrod said in response to Republican criticism.

Senate Republicans Obstructing Financial Reform Bill, Says House Democrat

By Linn Grubbstrom - Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told reporters Monday that the Senate must vote “yes” this week on its recently reconciled financial reform bill.

“The reality is that this will be very, very good for the American economy,” he said.

Himes blasted Republicans in the Senate for threatening to filibuster the bill, accusing them of using baseless fear-mongering to justify their actions.

“We are running the same movie we ran in the 1930’s when opponents of reform said this will be the end of capitalism, this will be the end of free market, this is overreaching by the government into financial markets.”

Frank Knapp, Jr., the president of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said the bill would jumpstart the job sector by making life easier for small businesses. 

“Greed by [large] financial institutions collapsed our economy and shout down loans and credit lines to our small businesses,” he said. “Every economist acknowledges that small businesses hire the employees we need to lead us out of this recession.”

Dorgan Proposes Amendment To Stop Financial Institutions From Growing Too Big To Fail

By: Antonia Aguilar / University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) proposed an amendment to the Wall Street Reform bill Tuesday to prevent financial institutions from expanding into powerhouses that are “Too Big To Fail.”

“This amendment that I offer would be mandatory rather than permissive,” said Dorgan. “If you have risen to be judged to have been 'too big to fail,' which would cause a grave financial risk to our entire economy ... the best most direct and most effective approach will be to have those institutions divest those activities and those portions of their business that have made them 'too big to fail.'”

According to Dorgan, his amendment will stop the future risk of taxpayer bailouts on Wall Street. The amendment will appoint the Financial Oversight Council to identify companies that pose a high risk to the financial stability of the U.S. and restrict their business activities until they are no longer a concern.

“It is another approach that is far superior, much more direct, more decisive and one that will produce better results,” said Dorgan. “It is the only one I think that effectively will end 'too big to fail.'”

Senate Democrats Tout Major Provisions Within Wall Street Reform

By Chingyu Wang
Talk Radio News Service

A collection of Democrats along with small business advocates said Wednesday that the Wall Street reform bill is the only way to save the U.S. economy, and emphasized that the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency is central to reform.

Frank Knapp, President and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said that without Wall Street reform, "'Too Big To Fail' banks will be back to the old greedy, irresponsible, even fraudulent ways, and it'll fail us all once again."

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), on the other hand, pointed out that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency in the bill will ensure fair competition in the market.

"[It is] common sense regulation to make sure that all businesses in this country are able to compete against each other fairly," he said.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) claimed that "the strongest consumer financial protection in the history of the United States" will expose hidden risks within the financial sector, and will "guarantee that mortgages won't explode!"

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) added that he is hopeful the bill will make its way to the Senate floor by Monday.