‘Getting stuff done’: Congressional Committee Reaches Agreement on Wall Street Reform
Members of the House and Senate came to an agreement on sweeping Wall Street reform early this morning—setting up final votes next week, with a possibility the bill could become law by the 4th of July. The final agreement puts forward a strong bill that protects Americans from abusive financial practices and sets new rules that will help prevent another financial collapse.
As Politico wrote, today's step—combined with the health care reform passed in March—"cumulatively make clear Obama and Democrats are governing in consequential ways."
The agreement to approve the conference committee's report passed with no Republican support, by a vote of 20 to 11 on the House side and 7 to 5 on the Senate panel.
In remarks this morning, President Obama noted that the bill agreed on today contains 90% of the provisions the President originally proposed:
The reforms making their way through Cheap Accutane Congress will hold Wall Street accountable so we can help prevent another financial crisis like the one that we’re still recovering from.
We’ll put in place the toughest consumer financial protections in our history, while creating an independent agency to enforce them....
Credit card companies will no longer be able to mislead you with pages and pages of fine print. You will no longer be subject to all kinds of hidden fees and penalties, or the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.
Instead, we’ll make sure that credit card companies and mortgage companies play by the rules. You’ll be empowered with easy-to-understand forms so you know what you’re agreeing to. And you’ll have the clear and concise information you need to make financial decisions that are best for you and your family.
Today's news represents progress on another major challenge that President Obama had pledged to address. As Time's Mark Halperin said this morning:
"The president said he'd do certain things when he ran, and he's getting a lot of them done. ... That is a LOT of accomplishments in half a term. And you can bet the president's going to talk about that come September, when he's trying to rally the country behind the Democratic Party, saying: We're getting stuff done."