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"President Obama this morning signed into law the most sweeping reforms of the financial industry since the New Deal. In an 18-month stretch that includes a variety of historic achievements, Wall Street reform has to rank pretty high on the accomplishment list.
Here's some video from this morning's bill-signing ceremony, and a link to some of the reasons the new law is so important. In addition to creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the new law strengthens the integrity of the industry in a wide variety of ways, including giving officials an ability to wind down failing firms without the need for taxpayer-financed bailouts -- an observation that drew sustained applause at the White House event today.As for that list of accomplishments, Wall Street reform now joins health care reform, an economy-saving Recovery Act, a long-sought overhaul of the nation's student-loan system, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, new regulation of the credit card industry, new regulation of the tobacco industry, a national service bill, expanded stem-cell research, and the most sweeping land-protection act in 15 years, among other things, on the collection of breakthrough accomplishments of the last 18 months.As Rachel Maddow recently observed, "The last time any president did this much in office, booze was illegal. If you believe in policy, if you believe in government that addresses problems, cheers to that."
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, who huddled with Wall Street lobbyists to try to kill the proposal, continue to insist that if they're given power, they'll repeal the new reform law and return to the regulatory structure that was in place for (and helped lead to) the 2008 crash that nearly collapsed the global financial system." :badidea: :evil: :nono: :sod:
—Steve Benen 2:15 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (14)
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_07/024830.php#1801823>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_07/024830.php#1801823