Among the provisions:
- Creates a new independent watchdog, housed at the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.
- Eliminates loopholes that allow risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated — including loopholes for over-the-counter derivatives, asset-backed securities, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and payday lenders.
- Provides shareholders with a say on pay and corporate affairs with a non-binding vote on executive compensation and golden parachutes.
- Provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for credit rating agencies to protect investors and businesses.
- Strengthens oversight and empowers regulators to aggressively pursue financial fraud, conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefits special interests at the expense of American families and businesses.
A thoughtful individual would have to wonder why any citizen would balk at such corporate regulation. In fact it seems odd that any legitimate corporation should put up such resistance. These changes don’t require an expenditure of money, they don’t require costly changes. At best the corporations involved might have to hire a few clerical employees, and an executive or two to mandate compliance.
Point is, under DeMint’s tutelage the Tea Party favors negation of the Wall Street Reform and Protection Act.
The Tea Party is convinced that Obama is wasting the dollars of American Taxpayers when he stimulates a failing economy with Job Programs. There is some precedent. In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, coming face to face with the Great Depression, created the WPA Work Projects Administration as part of a "New Deal", employing millions of unskilled workers to build roads and public buildings, including parks and schools, in rural and Western areas. Provisions were made for arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. Children were fed and clothed. In nearly every community was a school or road, or public building constructed by the WPA.
Article comments
1 - thomas quill
THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT,THE BRITISH ARE COMING,THE BRITISH ARE COMING,THOSE COLUMBUS'S BOAT PEOPLE ARE ALREADY HERE IN INDIAN COUNTRY ON THE NORTH AMERICAN CONINTENT
2 - Glenn Contrarian
John -
As I've pointed out many times, the Republicans (including the TP'ers) don't dare allow the American economy to recover on Obama's watch. Why? FDR came in, fixed what the Republicans screwed up, and gave us the New Deal. Clinton came in, took a bad economy and turned the deficit into a surplus (but sabotaged our manufacturing base by agreeing with the conservatives on NAFTA et al). If Obama is able to turn the economy around, that makes for a heck of a talking point in any election.
If Obama succeeds, the Republicans will have a three-strikes-you're-out reputation, economically speaking...and that would hobble them politically for generations to come.
And the Republicans aren't dumb - they KNOW this. That's why they dare not let Obama succeed, even though much of what Obama has done has been directly in line with what Republicans have strongly supported in the past.
3 - Diane TEA Party
Glenn - big difference of opinion! Conservatives know the economy can not recovery under Obama because of the anti-business regulations, EPA threats to close coal fired electric plants and regulate practically everything, high gas prices caused by failure to issue permits and blocking drilling, printing money that de-values the dollar, ObamaCare, - and this is just a partial list! Under FDR, who did a lot of the same things, the Depression lasted 10 years, long after the rest of the world recovered. The private sector has to lead us out and under Obama they can't! Government is not the solution - it's the problem!
4 - Glenn Contrarian
Diane -
Read your history again. Look up the "Conservative Coalition". By 1936 we were largely OUT of the Depression, but later that same year the conservatives FORCED FDR to back off of much of what he tried to do with the New Deal. As a DIRECT result of the austerity measures they FORCED on FDR and the nation, we went right back down into the Depression.
Again, look up that "Conservative Coalition" and educate yourself.
One more thing - if government stimuli didn't work, then WWII should have driven us FAR further into economic depression. Instead, the taxpayer-funded (by way of loans) economic stimulus left America in a stronger economic position than she'd ever been in. And you know what? At the end of WWII, we had an even greater national debt (relative to GDP) than we do now! But we nearly paid it off during the 1950's thanks to Truman and the Republican president Eisenhower maintaining the top marginal tax rate (for the uber-rich) at 90%!
Read that again - we nearly paid off the entire national debt in a decade...largely because of the high tax rates our government charged the uber-rich!
I'm not sure if you remember, but back in the early 80's during the recession, we Republicans (I was one then) used to say "we just need a good war to get us out of this recession"...and the reason we were saying it was because of the economic stimulus of WWII.
Again, read your history. Educate yourself. I used to be a Republican...but the Republicans of Reagan's day wouldn't even recognize what the GOP has become. The GOP of today (and especially the Tea Party) would call Reagan a raving socialist for several of the policies he supported!
5 - Igor
Diane,
Oil is fungible, therefore 80% of ALL oil goes to foreigners (India, China, etc.) and only 20% to the US, so increased drilling harms the USA. (Also, oil companies are 60% foreign owned so subsidies, etc., go mostly to foreigners).
The government actually prints very little money (there´s only about $900billion in US cash in circulation, about half paper money), just enough printed to replace worn bills each year. Increasing the money supply is done by issuing instruments to banks, computer to computer, no printing required.
The USA is in a favorable position, vis a vis, other nations so we can borrow at advantageous rates, like 2%, so we should, and plow the money into infrastructure.
They should teach this stuff in the high schools. But I suppose it would diminish the ability of demagogues to rule through ignorance and fear.