Financial Reform’s Empty Promises

July 15, 2010 10:05


By Sen. Tom Coburn – The plan is more likely to help the financial industry than individual consumers, a fact that was confirmed by Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein during congressional hearings on the financial crisis. I asked Blankfein point blank if he supported the financial reform bill. He said, “on the whole, financial reform is, absolutely is essential … the biggest beneficiaries of reform will be Wall Street itself.” 202-224-3121

Sen. Tom Coburn at RealClearPolitics

With President Obama expected to sign financial reform legislation into law in the next few days the public is hearing grandiose rhetoric about the bill’s merits. The president has promised the bill will “end an era of irresponsibility” while Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said the bill will clean up Wall Street and “fix the system that caused the recession.”

The public isn’t buying these arguments. Four out of five Americans have little or no confidence in the bill, according to a Bloomberg Poll. Respondents also said the plan is more likely to help the financial industry than individual consumers, a fact that was confirmed by Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein during congressional hearings on the financial crisis. I asked Blankfein point blank if he supported the financial reform bill. He said, “on the whole, financial reform is, absolutely is essential … the biggest beneficiaries of reform will be Wall Street itself.”

In other words, the CEO of a financial institution the majority spent months demonizing supports the bill that supposedly reins in his firm. Still, the bill’s backers won’t acknowledge the massive disconnect between their rhetoric and their legislative product. If the CEO of Goldman Sachs supports the bill, it’s no wonder the public is skeptical.

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