July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Time now for financial reform
Editorial
The jury's still out on how history will judge the Congressional Republican strategy in the face of President Obama's health care reform package.
But it's hard to see how united opposition to the president's proposed reforms of the financial sector make sense, either as a matter of public policy or as a matter of political gain.
In case you've been marooned on a desert island, it's worth noting that gaming of the financial sector played a huge role in the great meltdown of 2008.
There were other players as well, notably people who borrowed too much to buy houses they couldn't afford, based upon an assumption that the house value would go up automatically, giving them instant and painless equity.
But most of those home-buyers have paid a penalty. Many are underwater on their mortgages.
The financial wizards, meanwhile, have continued to collect bonuses, sometimes for the very deeds that put us all in this fix in the first place.
Clearly, it's time to put some rules in place that prevent this sort of nonsense from happening again.
It's time, as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has been saying for months, to create a system for huge financial institutions that get in trouble to wind down and go out of business without pulling down the whole American economy with them.
The first step is to prevent such crises from happening.
The second is to minimize the damage if they do happen in spite of new restrictions.
That, as we read it, is what the Dodd and Obama proposals set out to do.
They do not - despite what you may have heard from GOP talking points - create a process for endless bank bailouts in the future.
Instead, they represent an honest attempt to prevent the kind of meltdown the country has experienced the past few years.
Are they perfect? Probably not. Will they need to be revised and tweaked in the future? You bet.
But if financial reform is going to be more effective, it's going to require Republican participation. And by participation, we don't mean tantrums and gaming the situation for political advantage. We mean ideas. And more.
Despite what you may have heard, there were plenty of Republican ideas in the recently passed health care reform package.
What was missing, despite those GOP ideas, were Republican votes.
This time, if financial sector reform is going to be meaningful, both Republican votes and ideas will be necessary.
Isn't it about time to stop worrying about political advantage and start attending to the business of government? - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
But it's hard to see how united opposition to the president's proposed reforms of the financial sector make sense, either as a matter of public policy or as a matter of political gain.
In case you've been marooned on a desert island, it's worth noting that gaming of the financial sector played a huge role in the great meltdown of 2008.
There were other players as well, notably people who borrowed too much to buy houses they couldn't afford, based upon an assumption that the house value would go up automatically, giving them instant and painless equity.
But most of those home-buyers have paid a penalty. Many are underwater on their mortgages.
The financial wizards, meanwhile, have continued to collect bonuses, sometimes for the very deeds that put us all in this fix in the first place.
Clearly, it's time to put some rules in place that prevent this sort of nonsense from happening again.
It's time, as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has been saying for months, to create a system for huge financial institutions that get in trouble to wind down and go out of business without pulling down the whole American economy with them.
The first step is to prevent such crises from happening.
The second is to minimize the damage if they do happen in spite of new restrictions.
That, as we read it, is what the Dodd and Obama proposals set out to do.
They do not - despite what you may have heard from GOP talking points - create a process for endless bank bailouts in the future.
Instead, they represent an honest attempt to prevent the kind of meltdown the country has experienced the past few years.
Are they perfect? Probably not. Will they need to be revised and tweaked in the future? You bet.
But if financial reform is going to be more effective, it's going to require Republican participation. And by participation, we don't mean tantrums and gaming the situation for political advantage. We mean ideas. And more.
Despite what you may have heard, there were plenty of Republican ideas in the recently passed health care reform package.
What was missing, despite those GOP ideas, were Republican votes.
This time, if financial sector reform is going to be meaningful, both Republican votes and ideas will be necessary.
Isn't it about time to stop worrying about political advantage and start attending to the business of government? - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
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