Three leaders of the Financial Services Committee are asking HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan for detailed information about delayed housing projects and the agency’s oversight of its HOME program, which provides $2 billion a year to local housing agencies to build and renovate homes across the country. Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Randy Neugebauer and Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee Chairman Judy Biggert wrote Secretary Donovan after a year-long investigation by the Washington Post turned up numerous examples of mis... Read More »
In recent interviews two Democrat officials warned about some of the unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act. These quotes are of particular interest as the Financial Services Committee will consider common-sense legislation next week to promote a functioning derivatives market by giving regulators more time to write the rules and ensure coordination among regulators. H.R. 1573 provides regulators with 18 months to write and vet the rules. With this additional time regulators will be able to conduct cost-benefit analysis that has been lacking in the rule making process, as recently repor... Read More »
POLITICO’s “Morning Money” reports today that members of NY’s congressional delegation, including several Democrats on the Financial Services Committee, have written regulators to express their concerns that proposed rules governing derivative margin requirements “will inevitably result in significant competitive disadvantages for U.S. firms operating globally.” Could it be possible that the Committee Democrats who are listed as signatories – Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Gregory Meeks, Carolyn McCarthy and Gary Ackerman – will now support H.R. 1573, which is designed to address the very same concern... Read More »
That’s the conclusion of Michael Cembalest, the Chief Investment Officer of JP Morgan Chase. In a May 3 “Eye on the Market” report, he revised his 2009 account of what caused the financial crisis. Under the general heading of “Retractions,” Cembalest writes: “In January 2009, I wrote that the housing crisis was mostly a consequence of the private sector…However, over the last 2 years, analysts have dissected the housing crisis in greater detail. What emerges from new research is something quite different: government agencies now look to have guaranteed, originated or underwritten 60% of all ‘n... Read More »
Today at The Bottom Line we welcome a guest blogger, Phillip Swagel. Phillip is a Professor of International Economic Policy at the University of Maryland and a former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department. His blog post is on the importance of Treasury continuing to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make dividend payments to taxpayers. A reduction in the dividend payments that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make to the federal government would serve no policy purpose and amount to a gift from taxpayers to the investors who owned Fannie and Freddie when the firms r... Read More »
WASHINGTON – Attacks from Democrats claiming a bipartisan commission to oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is somehow “anti-consumer” ring hollow in light of the record. Until recently, many of these same Democrats supported, proposed and voted for exactly such a commission. Below is a timeline showing the evolution of Democratic support for a commission to lead the CFPB. This timeline shows that even Ranking Member Barney Frank introduced legislation less than two years ago to put the CFPB under the direction of a five-member commission. This is perhaps the greatest polit... Read More »
Earlier today, a coalition of liberals groups released a letter claiming a bill (H.R. 1121) putting a bipartisan commission in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is bad for consumers. It cannot escape notice that these same liberal groups endorsed proposals by Democrats and the Obama Administration in 2009 to put a bipartisan commission in charge of the CFPB. THAT WAS THEN: June 24, 2009: “Our organizations have strongly endorsed two complementary proposals regarding what should be the agency’s jurisdiction, responsibilities, rule-writing authority, enforcement powers an... Read More »
The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, approved three bills to improve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on April 4th. On Thursday of this week, the Financial Services Committee is scheduled to markup all three of these bills, which are: The Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2011, sponsored by Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act, sponsored by Representative Sean Duffy The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Transfer Clarificat... Read More »
Source: AFIP and AIG: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11476t.pdf GSEs: http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/19846/FNMandFRECapital4Q10.pdf AFIP: Automotive Industry Financing Program (Contains bailouts for GM, Chrysler and GMAC/Ally Financial) Read More »
Watch video of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, Chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, discuss legislation to bring greater accountability and oversight to the powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000020286 Read More »
