Reactions to House Financial Reform Bill
House passes a "landmark" bill: celebrations and warnings
This afternoon, the House of Representatives passed a Democratic bill aiming to tighten federal regulation of the financial sector. The Associated Press calls the proposal a "sweeping overhaul of financial regulations." So is it time for Democrats and populists to pop open the champagne? The passage of the landmark bill is impressive, say bloggers, but there's a rough road ahead. Here are the first reactions:
- Dems: Watch Out for Republicans Ernie Smith says "Republicans largely didn't go for the bill because they feared it would limit credit, force job losses and lead to future bailout. They also argued that 'too big to fail' companies didn't need hand-holding and could handle bankruptcies." But Smith thinks that "sounds less like something they believe and more like something they can use against the Democrats."
- Senate Will Be Tough The Washington Post's Ezra Klein predicts that "what you're going to hear from everybody," as the reactions flow in, "is some variation of 'the Senate will be harder.'"
- 'Landmark' Bill May Not Survive in Current Form Though "the legislation is extremely ambitious," says The Atlantic's own Daniel Indiviglio, "I would expect this bill to be watered down significantly for it to get through [the Senate]. Remember, the bill only passed by a measly five votes in the House." Currently, the massive overhaul "seeks to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) to regulate consumer credit products, to create a systemic risk council, to provide the Federal Reserve the authority to function as the systemic risk regulator, to create a non-bank resolution authority, to provide better oversight of the derivatives market, and to reshape the financial market as we know it today."
- Financial System Still Bad The current bunch of populists are a tough crowd to please. Case in point: Harry Moroz. Writing at The Huffington Post, Moroz says "the financial reform bill codifies into law a financial system that will always be on the brink of destruction."
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.