Well this is good news. Getting this gutting of Dodd-Frank through the House should be easy. But the Senate will require a few Democratic votes and that’s going to be problematic…
ABC NEWS – House Republicans took a major step toward their long-promised goal of unwinding the stricter financial rules created after the 2008 crisis, pushing forward sweeping legislation that would undo much of President Barack Obama’s landmark banking law.
A House panel on Thursday approved Republican-written legislation that would gut much of the Dodd-Frank law enacted by Democrats and signed by Obama in the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession. The party-line vote in the Republican-led House Financial Services Committee was 34-26.
“I can’t do a good James Brown, but I feel good,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the normally reserved Republican chairman of the committee, referring to the singer often called the godfather of soul. Hensarling wrote much of the overhaul legislation.
Republicans argued that the Dodd-Frank law is slowing economic growth because of the cost of compliance and by curbing lending.
After attempts in recent years to overhaul the Dodd-Frank legislation, the Republicans were heartened this time by a sympathetic Republican president now in the White House. President Donald Trump has denounced Dodd-Frank and promised that his administration would “do a big number” on it.
Still, getting the new bill to Trump’s desk could be a hard road. It now goes to the GOP-dominated House for a vote, but supporters admit that the path will be much more difficult in the Senate, where Democratic support will be needed.
In a fast-moving session following two days of laborious debate, the panel flew through a series of votes on amendments, as the majority Republicans easily beat back Democrats’ attempts to reshape and soften the legislation.
The bill would repeal about 40 provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Banks could qualify for much of the regulatory relief in the bill so long as they meet a strict basic requirement for building capital to cover unexpected big losses.
Republicans argued that big banks have done well under Dodd-Frank, but that community banks and credit unions are struggling to keep up with the regulatory burdens imposed by the law.
“This economy is poised to take off, but it’s not going to take off as long as Dodd-Frank in its current form remains on the book,” Hensarling said. “It’s important that we get tax reform done. It’s important we get health care reform done, but it’s also important we pass the Financial Choice Act.”
Here is Jeb Hensarling talking about this before they voted to gut it in committee:
Well all of that sounds really good. Let’s hope the bill matches the rhetoric for a change…