House Passes Two Bills Favored By Wall Street, Harmful to the Public

U.S. PIRG

Statement of Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski on House passage of HR 37, the so-called “Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act” and HR 185, the so-called “Regulatory Accountability Act:”

“House passage of two awful bills at the behest of Wall Street and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce takes us a step backwards toward the unregulated marketplaces that led, in 2008, to a spectacular financial system collapse and, earlier, to cars without safety glass or airbags and hazards posed by drugs, food and toys that had not been tested for safety.

“What is most outrageous about the House jumping to do Wall Street’s bidding is that the public, on a broadly bi-partisan basis, strongly supports robust and continued Wall Street regulation. But, with Wall Street and other financial interests spending close to $2 million/day on campaign donations and other influence-peddling, it makes it easier for a majority of the House to forget that their constituents back home are still suffering from the Wall Street-induced 2008 financial collapse that caused millions to lose homes or jobs or both and caused millions more to lose trillions in retirement savings.

“HR 37, the so-called “Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act,” weakens many of the important 2010 financial system reforms designed to prevent another financial system collapse like that one in 2008 (passed 271-154; Public Interest vote is NOE). It takes the consumer cops at the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission off most of their corporate crime beats and unwisely further delays full implementation of the Volcker rule designed to protect taxpayer-backed deposits from risky bank casino betting.

“HR 185, the so-called Regulatory Accountability Act, places 74 new roadblocks in front of any regulator, from the FDA and EPA to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seeking to protect our health, safety or wallets (U.S. PIRG opposition letter; Passed 250-175; Public Interest vote is NOE).

“The 2014 elections did not give corporate wrongdoers a license to dismantle public protections. We will seek to block these bills in the Senate and at the White House and prevent similar bills from coming to the House floor.”

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