Member Corner

Recently, Democrats have claimed in speeches and media interviews that the Dodd-Frank Act ended “too big to fail” and the bailouts. However, the facts show the Dodd-Frank Act sets up a permanent bailout authority that will continue to privatize profits, and socialize losses. The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) released a report in January 2011 in… Read more »

John Solomon, a former Associated Press reporter who is now at the Center for Public Integrity, recently wrote about an issue for the Daily Beast that deserves more attention than it gets:   Over the last two years, the Obama administration has approved a whopping $34.4 million in compensation to the top six executives of the financially troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac… Read more »

“If we create a prohibitively expensive and rigid climate for the use and trading of derivatives in the United States, the market could very well shift overseas, and once markets leave they will not return.  Undoubtedly, foreign markets are closely examining how U.S. regulators are implementing Dodd-Frank and stand ready to create a… Read more »

In order to get our economy growing, Congress must reduce government spending.  Our nation faces a record-breaking deficit of $1.4 trillion dollars and a record-breaking debt of more than $14 trillion.  We must get America’s fiscal house in order and stop spending money we don’t have. Republicans on the Financial Services Committee understand this fact and have worked since… Read more »

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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… Read more »