Rehberg Voted to Limit the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s Power. On July 21, 2011 Rehberg voted for the bill that would replace the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s director with a five-member commission. It also would lower the vote threshold required for the Financial Stability Oversight Council to override Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules from two-thirds to a simple majority and allow the council to override regulations that threaten the stability of individual institutions. According to the Washington Post, the bill would “make it easier to block the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s regulation of banking and other sectors of the financial-services industry. Under the bill, the Financial Stability Oversight Council in the Treasury Department could stay or veto the bureau’s proposed regulations by simple majority vote rather than the two-thirds majority now required.” [Roll Call 621, H 1315, 07/21/2011]
Rehberg Voted Against Regulating Wall Street After Financial Crisis. On June 30, 2010, Rehberg voted against the conference report of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In an attempt to avoid a future financial crisis, the bill would establish a procedure for dissolving financial institutions that pose systematic risk to the economy, create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, establish a national standard for mortgages, and authorize $4 billion of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds for housing relief. It also creates a clearinghouse for the previously unregulated financial derivatives market, requires registration of all credit rating firms, and creates a registry of private capital investment advisers. [Vote #413, 6/30/2010]
Rehberg Called Wall Street Reform Bill “Disastrous.” “Instead of addressing the root cause of the collapse of America’s banking system, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, this disastrous bill saddles taxpayers with permanent bank bailouts and further perpetuates the idea that some industries are ‘too big to fail,’ “ Rehberg said. “Far from solving the financial crisis, this bill creates a huge new government bureaucracy and will lead to decreased credit availability for Montana’s small businesses.” [Great Falls Tribune, 07/16/10]
Dennis Rehberg Voted To Replace Independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency With Failed Regulators That Oversaw Financial Crisis. Dennis Rehberg voted for an amendment to replace an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency with a looser council of regulators authorized to issue rules on the safety and soundness of financial institutions and products. The council would include the secretaries of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and the chairmen of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. [Vote #965, 12/11/2009]
Dennis Rehberg Voted Against Regulating Wall Street After Financial Crisis. Dennis Rehberg voted against HR 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In an attempt to avoid a future financial crisis, the bill established a procedure for dissolving financial institutions that pose systematic risk to the economy, created a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, established a national standard for mortgages, and authorized $4 billion of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds for housing relief. It also created a clearinghouse for the previously unregulated financial derivatives market, required registration of all credit rating firms, and created a registry of private capital investment advisers. Finally, the bill allowed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to overrule state consumer financial laws if they impair nation bank business. [Vote #968, 12/11/2009]
Published: Jan 1, 2011