Both Chris Dodd and Barney Frank are said to be the authors of the bank regulations – the financial legislation to be signed next week.
Not coincidentally, both these legislators were responsible for the major part of the meltdown – the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae failures, what started this whole mess.
Just exactly who we want fixing the problem RIGHT? (that’s sarcasm!) It goes way, way, back – even before that though!
Years before that, at the behest of organizations like A.C.O.R.N., (under the guidance and counsel of Community Organizer Barak Obama), Dodd wrote the language of the regulations that led us into the meltdown; Frank oversaw them.
So let me ask ….. “Do you trust Frank and Dodd to have written this legislation?”
Here are some concerns about it:
- There are 243 new (difficult to interpret) new regulations.
- They’re to be implemented by …. over 10 different regulatory agencies. Will different agency’s regulations conflict? Most likely.
- Chris Dodd said of the regulations: “It’ll take years to know what’s in the legislation.” Huh? He was (supposedly?) the author? …. It must have been staff; right? Or lobbyists? Anyway, he was said to be one of the two legislators who wrote the legislation.
- Bank Regulations – the new law to be signed next week has 2319 pages (they’re written in small print)
- Two of the major banks, (JP Morgan & Citi Bank) have allotted 230 TEAMS (not people, but TEAMS of employees) to decipher / interpret, the new regulations!
- That said, financial experts say, it’ll take years for the banks to know how these regulations will impact their bottom lines; the banks are already saying, it’ll be an enormous cost to them, which of course will be passed on to you!
- Small community banks, w/o the resources of the JP Morgan and Citi banks, are going to follow the lead of the larger banks. The larger banks have professionals and lawyers to interpret these regulations and lobbyists to pressure for other (alternative) interpretations.
- Meanwhile, don’t expect any changes in loan policies, except of course more reticence.
How many of these regulations impact the previous Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae problems, ….. the ones created by the authors of this legislation? ZERO! ZIP! NONE!
No wonder, consumer confidence is faltering. No wonder Wall Street’s confidence is waning as well; the Dow dropped 261 points Friday.
Businesses and banks are known to be hoarding cash. They’ve learned not to jump until they’re sure and of the Obama Administration’s claim they’re business friendly ….. Obviously, THEY’RE NOT SURE!
Banks are making few if any loans and will continue in the same vein until there’s firm indication of which way the administration is headed. If they don’t make it favorable for businesses to grow, and lower taxes, they’ll continue to hold onto the cash; they know full well how to survive in hard times!
All that said, ….. according to some experts, though there are a couple of positive indicators, meaning one step forward, the majority of these new regulations are indicating that over the next few months we’ll all have to take several steps backwards!