Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the Senate floor Tuesday to denounce the financial regulation reform bill Democrats have authored, saying the measure would worsen the problems that lead to the 2008 meltdown of the banking industry.
“Everybody agrees on the need to protect taxpayers from being on the hook for future Wall Street bailouts,” McConnell said. “This bill would all but guarantee that the pattern continues.”
McConnell is particularly troubled by a $50 billion fund reserved for helping financial institutions during emergencies.
“The mere existence of this fund will ensure that it gets used,” McConnell said. “And once it’s used up, taxpayers will be asked to cover the balance. This is precisely the wrong approach.”
Democrats are hoping to pass the financial reform bill by Memorial Day, but they must first win over the backing of at least one Republican in order to block a GOP filibuster.
The bill was crafted without Republicans input after talks broke down between Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd D-Conn., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
The bill would create a a consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve empowered with writing and enforcing consumer protection rules. It would also establish a Financial Stability Oversight Council that would be able to wind down companies that have collapsed and pose a threat to the nation’s economic stability.
