Wall Street Pays Many Millions In Bribes To Get What It Wants From The House Financial Services Committee

While everyone was preoccupied with the Republican circus around TrumpCare yesterday, Congress' most corrupt committee, House Financial Services, took another step toward gutting the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In fact, what they did yesterday would even gut some protections that were in placer before the Great Recession. The votes were basically along party lines to send Hensarling's Wall Street lobbyist-written legislation to the full House. Georgia Blue Dog and notorious Wall Street whore David Scott voted with the Republicans on one provision. (He works hard for the money.)

Allied Progress has been covering the Republican jihad against Dodd-Frank and after the committee vote yesterday they went after the members for taking what amounts to massive bribes from the industry they're supposed to be regulating and overseeing. Hensarling's bill, they correctly assert "guts protections established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis caused by Wall Street fraud and recklessness. Hensarling suggested his Wall Street giveaway soon will be scheduled for a full vote by the House. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Republican members of the committee have received at least $32,211,535 from the financial industry.

“The ‘Financial CHOICE Act’ is a deceptively named Wall Street giveaway that rewards the bankers and hedge fund managers who have showered Rep. Hensarling and other members of the House Financial Services Committee with tens of millions of dollars in campaign cash. Wall Street is getting what they paid for and it is hard-working Americans who will be left holding the bag,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress.

He continued, “Rep. Hensarling’s ‘Financial CHOICE Act’ is so extreme it even erases protections that predate the financial crisis, allowing Wall Street and predatory lenders to once again prey on consumers without repercussion. This legislation almost entirely eliminates the powers of the Consumer Bureau to act forcefully against unfair, abusive, and predatory practices in consumer lending. It is clear the ‘Financial CHOICE Act’ is the wrong choice for working families.”

Hensarling’s deceptively titled “Financial CHOICE Act” rolls back fundamental consumer and market protections established by Dodd-Frank, including eliminating the Volcker Rule that stops banks from gambling with taxpayer money; repealing the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) ability to detect signs of another potential financial crisis; and gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) authority to hold credit card companies, banks, payday lenders, debt collectors, and other predatory financial industries accountable. The legislation even goes so far as to roll back important protections that predate the financial crisis.

The introduction of the “Financial CHOICE Act” comes as part of a larger campaign by Wall Street-aligned special interests, industry-backed members of Congress, and the billionaire-centric Trump administration to roll back laws and regulations that safeguard hard-working American families from Wall Street greed and deception.

These are the half dozen most egregiously bankster-bribed Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee:

• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)- $7,372,690
• Ed Royce (R-TX)- $6,931,797
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $4,192,037
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $3,949,286
• Peter King (R-NY)- $2,761,274
• Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $2,371,565

Do you think that members of Congress-- obviously regardless of party-- who take money from special interests while serving on committees that are supposed to be regulating that industry/interest should be seen as guilty of taking bribery? Do you think long (like in over 10 years) mandatory prison sentences would be appropriate?