Tell the Senate to Strengthen Financial Reform Legislation and Hold Big Banks Accountable

[flpoljunkie]

Tell the Senate to Strengthen Financial Reform Legislation and Hold Big Banks Accountable

Our coalition: http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/about/our-coalition/

Senator Dodd just released his financial reform proposal. AFR thanks Senator Dodd for taking this important step towards fixing our broken system. This bill takes some important steps to protect consumers, curb Wall Street's greedy and risky behavior, and end the era of "too big to fail." But, it doesn't go far enough. The bill must strengthened as it moves through the Senate.

It has been a year and a half since our economy crashed and the Senate must not wait any longer. Tell them to get moving right away to strengthen the bill and hold big banks accountable.

Take Action: http://capwiz.com/affil/home/

[golddigger]

1. Yeah right.

[flpoljunkie]

2. So, you will remain silent. Congress responds when voters speak out.

[annabanana]

3. Done. . It's EASY.

and, like grandma always said
"It couldn't hurt"

[flpoljunkie]

4. Thanks, annabanna! It is easy.

[flpoljunkie]

5. Congress needs to hear from us. Fill their inboxes to overflowing!

[Supersedeas]

6. DINO's will start with something watered down and then water it down some more to satisfy Repigs

[flpoljunkie]

7. Kick for Krugman's column today about financial reform!

[flpoljunkie]

8. Paul Krugman: Financial Reform 101

April 2, 2010

Financial Reform 101

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Let’s face it: Financial reform is a hard issue to follow. It’s not like health reform, which was fairly straightforward once you cut through the nonsense. Reasonable people can and do disagree about exactly what we should do to avert another banking crisis.

So here’s a brief guide to the debate — and an explanation of my own position.

Leave on one side those who don’t really want any reform at all, a group that includes most Republican members of Congress. Whatever such people may say, they will always find reasons to say no to any actual proposal to rein in runaway bankers.

Even among those who really do want reform, however, there’s a major debate about what’s really essential. One side — exemplified by Paul Volcker, the redoubtable former Federal Reserve chairman — sees limiting the size and scope of the biggest banks as the core issue in reform. The other side — a group that includes yours truly — disagrees, and argues that the important thing is to regulate what banks do, not how big they get.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/opinion/02krugman.html

[flpoljunkie]

9. Kick!

[flpoljunkie]

10. Krugman today on 'Fool-Resistant Financial Reform'

The point is that the Dodd bill would give an administration determined to rein in runaway finance the tools it needs to do the job. But it wouldn’t do much to stiffen the spine of a less determined administration. On the contrary, it would make it easy for future regulators to look the other way as another bubble inflated.

So what the legislation needs are explicit rules, rules that would force action even by regulators who don’t especially want to do their jobs. There should, for example, be a preset maximum level of allowable leverage — the financial reform that has already passed the House sets this at 15 to 1, and the Senate should follow suit. There should be hard rules determining when regulators have to seize a troubled financial firm. There should be no-exception rules requiring that complex financial derivatives be traded transparently. And so on.

I know that getting such things into the bill would be hard politically: as financial reform legislation moves to the floor of the Senate, there will be pressure to make it weaker, not stronger, in the hope of attracting Republican votes. But I would urge Senate leaders and the Obama administration not to settle for a weak bill, just so that they can claim to have passed financial reform. We need reform with a fighting chance of actually working.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/opinion/05krugman.html?hp