Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - HR 4173

What Does The Newest Government Expansion "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act" Program Mean to Americans?

Congress' latest brainchild is a protective offspring for their previous "babies", 'The Community Reinvestment Act' and the 'Fannie Mae'/'Freddie Mac' twins that set up the financial debacle of 2008.

(See Voting Records for supporters of this program for government-expansion at the expense-of-the-people.)

The Cost to America for This New Legislation?

According to The Wall Street Journal analysis of the Wall Street Reform bill, companies involved directly or indirectly with financial activities would come under control of a newly created government expansion agency called the "Consumer Financial Protection Agency". This agency would have control over ["financial companies," a term broadly defined to include any corporation involved "in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in financial activities"](WSJ).

Legally, initially, the regulation and control would be over the activities of all large companies. Expansion of that control would be determined at the discretion of the newly created government agency.

The name of the bill "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009" was specifically chosen to appeal to ordinary Americans like us who are happy to see the greedy millionaires on Wall Street have their 'wings clipped'. As is the typical case with government legislation, the title and the meaning are not necessarily the same.

This bill appears, on the surface to affect financial firms responsible for the financial meltdown of 2008. Unfortunately, the legislation is significantly more expansive than that and affects us ordinary "Joes" far more than the implied targets.

Why would a bill targeting business affect us?

Just as Congress passes legislation to insure that their salaries, staff, and pet projects continue to expand; those in positions of control in private industry protect their interests. Businesses will simply raise prices to the consumer in order to pay the cost of complying with the hoop-jumping and box-checking in the new regulations. If businesses find that they cannot increase prices sufficiently to cover the new regulation costs, they will cut spending on capital investments (resulting in reducing or not expanding workforce).

So, in a time of 10% unemployment, a majority of the royalty in the House of Representatives has decided to increase prices for goods and services to the consumer AND snuff business expansion and employment potential. The "silver lining" in this impending storm cloud is an increase in government employment to staff the shiny new department.

The simple answer to begin correction of the financial system problems would have been:

• Stop forcing banks to make substandard loans based upon racial or regional profiling.
• Outlaw derivative trading on loan risks.

(Derivatives are an insider trading (or outsider betting) method used bolster wealth at the expense of ordinary investors. They are the reason for the inter-connectivity that compromised our entire financial system when the housing market bubble burst.)

Congress refused to do the right thing because:

• Substandard loan assurances are one of the vote buying methods currently utilized to garner large voting blocks of people who do not understand the ramifications of the policy.
• Big winners in derivative trading finance re-election campaigns.

Simplify Government - Shrink Government

Eliminate the Aristocracy Supporting Bad Legislation

See Voting Records to identify legislators voting against the interests of the people