The House of Representatives has advanced an overhaul of financial regulations. More than a year after the catastrophic near-collapse of Wall Street, the House, on a largely partisan 223-202 vote, approved the most sweeping overhaul of the nation’s financial regulatory system since the Great Depression.
“What we’ve done is to insure that these institutions that were considered too big to fail, will be allowed to fail in the future, if they make bad bets, if they over extend themselves, if they speculate, if they make bad decisions,” said La Crosse Democrat, Rep. Ron Kind. Kind said that those institutions could be broken up – but that the economic well being of average citizens would be protected.
Among other things, the bill creates a new federal agency dedicated to consumer protection. Kind says most financial institutions here in Wisconsin will remain under state oversight. Kind says the bill makes a distinction between those institutions and the so called “too big to fail” financial firms, although House Republicans, who mostly voted against the bill, claim it will fail to rid the nation of those firms. The bill will still need to be approved by the Senate.
Bob Hague (1:10) AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:10 MP3)