Issue Position: Wall Street Reform

Issue Position

We have suffered the largest transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street through both the housing crisis and the financial crisis. The six largest banks, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Metlife, Inc, now hold over two-thirds of our nation's assets.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill did not go far enough in addressing the challenges facing our financial system. For example:

* It did not replace and strengthen Glass-Steagall, separating commercial banking from investing or speculation.

* It did not reform the credit rating agencies, which had a starring role in the misdirection of investors, including the fundamental business model of the credit rating agencies.

* It did not force every derivative to be traded openly and transparently on an exchange.

* It did not end too big too fail.

* It did not prevent Wall Street banks from replacing community banks.

* It did not encourage prudent lending.

* It did not strengthen support for those agencies finding and fighting fraud in our financial system.

* It did not properly address the housing crisis.

Almost two years ago, I fought against the Troubles Asset Relief Program and I did not vote for it the two times it was brought up in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The clever comedic tale that is being spun by Wall Street megabanks here in Washington is that they are paying back the $700 billion our taxpayers bestowed on them in the fall of 2008, and so the cost to the American taxpayer will be low.

They want everyone to look at the TARP and not at the big picture, the real cost of the crisis, or the real losses thrust upon the American people. The American taxpayers need to be paid back for ALL the damage the Wall Street and its reckless banksters did to our economy.

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