After three days of floor debate, the House voted to approve the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (HR. 4173) by a measure of 223 to 202 on Friday. Not a single Republican voted for final passage of the bill.
Elements in the bill to increase protections for Main Street besides the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency include auditing of the Federal Reserve, leverage limits for banks, shareholder limits for derivative clearinghouses, and provisions to eliminate "too big to fail."
Fighting the efforts to enact financial reform were groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who also lobbied for many of the policies that caused the financial meltdown in the first place. The Chamber is running $2M in ads to fight the CFPA alone. The corporate front group threatened to score an amendment gutting the oversight part of the bill and the vote on the bill itself....and lost on both counts.
Creating the CFPA as part of Obama's broader plan to clamp down on Wall Street is an important step towards preventing much of the reckless lending that contributed to last year's near-collapse of the market. SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger welcomed the passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 in the House as an "important milestone in reversing the decades-long strangle hold Wall Street and big banks have had over our economy." More from Anna:
"Despite the millions Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce spent fighting the demands of the American people and the dozens of visits by big bank CEOs to strong-arm members of Congress, our leaders found the political will and courage to pass the most historic financial reform legislation in nearly 80 years.
[...] "The bill passed by the House today includes a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency to ensure consumers have access to safe and secure financial products; strong whistleblower protections to allow workers to sound the alarm on harmful products and policies; and increased transparency and accountability to hold Wall Street accountable."
Burger also warned that there is more work to be done if we are to truly stand up to Wall Street and reverse the economic trends that have been disastrous for American workers. Progressive advocates of the bill are concerned that the bill allows the same federal banking regulators whose inaction led to the current crisis to continue to ignore state law.
SEIU is advocating for the Senate to do more to strengthen the bill, and
· Crack down on the sale of derivatives and other risky products;
· Require rating agencies to fairly rate the bonds issued by state and local governments
· Shield investors from Wall Street risk; and
· Establish a watchdog to rein in excessive risk and greed across the financial industry and prevent another financial meltdown.
For more info: The AP has a helpful Q&A on the financial regulation bill here.
