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News Tuesday, Oct 2 2012

BRIDGE BRIEFING: Romney And Wall Street Reform

Oct 02, 2012

Romney Wanted To Repeal Wall Street Regulations – Has Not Been Specific On What Would Replace It

Romney’s Financial Regulation Plan Was To Have “Something” Replace Dodd-Frank After It’s Repealed. According to The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, “On financial regulation, Romney would ‘repeal Dodd-Frank and replace with streamlined, modern regulatory framework.’ That is literally his entire plan. Three years after a homegrown financial crisis wrecked the global economy, the likely Republican nominee for president would repeal the new regulatory architecture and replace it with … something.” [The Washington Post, Ezra Klein, 8/6/12]

Romney Adviser Lanhee Chen Said Romney Would Get Rid Of The Dodd-Frank Law And Would Seek To Replace The Law’s Volcker Rule. According to CBS News, “In talking about financial regulations, Chen reasserted Romney’s desire to get rid of the Dodd-Frank law, and disputed the assertion that repealing the law would lead to ‘a dog-eat-dog kind of situation where there’s absolutely no regulation.’ ‘Governor Romney has made clear that we do need some regulation of derivatives trading, that we do need to have some kind of consumer protections in place, that we do need to look seriously at things we can do to ensure that the financial services industry is regulated in a reasonable way,’ Chen said. ‘But Dodd-Frank is really not the answer. And so I think we have to resist the temptation to caricature what a post-Dodd-Frank world looks like.’ He also said Romney would seek to replace the Volcker rule, one part of Dodd-Frank that restricts the ability of banks to make certain kinds of speculative investments that do not benefit their customers.” [CBS News, 6/1/12]

Romney Said He Was Open To The Repeal Of The Financial Reform Bill. According to the Boston Globe, Romney said “Whether you repeal the whole bill wholesale is something which you’d have to resolve after you had a chance to look at each of the pieces of regulation that comes forward… But clearly the consumers deserve protection… Legislation and regulation is important, but the level of over-regulation and burden which has been placed on the financial services sector I think is unnecessary and will cost us jobs down the road.” [The Boston Globe, 5/16/11 ]

Romney Defended Wall Street

Romney Said Questions About Wall Street And Inequality Were Driven By “Envy.” According to The Washington Post, “ Mitt Romney had a remarkable exchange on NBC this morning that may not be as attention-grabbing about his “fire people” gaffe — but may actually be just as revealing and significant. And I hope it gets some attention. In it, Romney suggested that concerns about Wall Street conduct and inequality are driven by “envy,” and even said we needn’t have a public debate about inequitable wealth distribution in this country… ROMNEY: You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare. When you have a president encouraging the idea of dividing America based on 99 percent versus one percent, and those people who have been most successful will be in the one percent, you have opened up a wave of approach in this country which is entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God. The American people, I believe in the final analysis, will reject it.” [Washington Post, 1/11/12]

Romney “Didn’t Back Down” From His Defense Of Wall Street. According to Michigan Radio, “Democrats attacked Romney in recent days for his defense of Wall Street as the Obama administration pushes for new banking regulations. During his visit, Romney didn’t back down from his strategy. ‘And frankly, I don’t believe in discriminating against anybody, regardless of the street they’re from,’ he said. ‘You see, all the streets in America are connected, and scape-goating and demonizing individuals based on where they live or where they work is a big mistake.’” [Michigan Radio, 4/28/10]

 


Published: Oct 2, 2012

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