"Vocal, powerful, Republican critic of Wall Street rules leaving Congress"
“Vocal, powerful, Republican critic of Wall Street rules leaving Congress”
POLITICUS USA “WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Representative Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, announced on Tuesday that he would retire from Congress at the end of 2018, marking the exit of Congress’s leading advocate for rolling back strict financial rules. Hensarling, 60, of Texas, said in a statement that he would not seek…
As expected, Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would overturn new rules intended to make sure that bank and credit card customers aren’t stripped of their right to file lawsuits in a court of law. Not surprisingly, many of the politicians pushing this pro-bank bill recently received significant financial support from the financial sector.
We mentioned in our original story, before the legislation was introduced, that the two main sponsors — Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX) and Sen. Mike Crapo (ID) — received a total of $6 million in campaign contributions from the financial sector in 2016, with $1.9 million going to Hensarling’s campaign and $4.1 million going to Crapo.
But among those supporting the legislation to roll back the new protections on bank and credit card customers, these two lawmakers aren’t even the largest beneficiaries of the financial industry.
Sen. Pat Toomey (PA) received a total of $7 million from this sector in 2016.According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Toomey was the largest recipient of funding from commercial banks last year, with $935,000 in contributions coming from that industry alone, plus another $2.55 million coming from securities and investment firms.
Other Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee, eight of whom have already co-signed this bill, have also received millions from the financial sector.
This includes Sen. Bob Corker (TN), whose campaign took in $3.7 million from this sector, including $1.09 million from securities and investment firms and $517,000 from commercial banks. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton raised $2.7 million from financial firms in 2016, including $1.23 million from investment firms and $344,000 from commercial banks.
The eight Senate sponsors of this bill received a total of $24 million — an average of $3 million each — in 2016 from the industry that would be most affected by the new rules.
Over in the House, the individual numbers aren’t as large, but they do add up, with the supporting legislators’ campaigns earning more than $22 million from financial companies in the last election cycle.
In addition to the $1.9 million received by Hensarling, other recipients of significant financial sector contributions include Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC), whose campaign took in $2.1 million from this industry in 2016, making him the #3 favorite recipient of commercial bank money.
Rep. Ed Royce (CA) is the third-highest recipient of contributions from credit unions, helping him to bring in $1.7 million in campaign money last year. Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers’ campaign took in $1.5 million; he’s a #3 favorite for the finance/credit industry in all of Congress. His fellow committee member, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MT) is the favorite of finance/credit; his campaign received a total of $1.3 million last year from the financial sector.
While Our Attention Was On James Comey, House Republicans Were Setting Us Up For Another Financial Crash (VIDEO)
While Our Attention Was On James Comey, House Republicans Were Setting Us Up For Another Financial Crash (VIDEO)
Thursday, while we were watching the shiny Comey testimony, the Republican-led House of Representatives was capitalizing on our distraction fomenting another 2008-style financial crash.
House Republicans voted Thursday to pass the “Financial CHOICE Act” that begins the repeal process for Dodd-Frank, a consequential set of Wall Street regulations President Barack Obama signed into law to help…
House GOP Bill GUTS Consumer Financial Protections (VIDEO)
House GOP Bill GUTS Consumer Financial Protections (VIDEO)
It should come as no surprise that when Republicans tell us they are protecting “freedoms,” they don’t mean ours.” When they claim to be holding Wall Street “accountable,” they’re concerned only with the “account” part.
The new “Financial CHOICE Act” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) introduced last month shouldn’t fool us either. Being sold as financial reform and Wall Street accountability, it…
Less than a week after President Trump signed a mostly symbolic executive order directing federal regulators to revise the rules established by the 2010 financial reforms, one lawmaker (whose campaign just happens to have been heavily financed by big banks) is planning to introduce legislation to scale back consumer protections and allow banks to take more risks.
Bloomberg reports that Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, plans to revise the Financial Choice Act bill he introduced last year to include provisions that would eliminate Wall Street financial stress tests and turn the head of the CFPB into an appointed position.
The Feb. 6 memo, obtained by Bloomberg, would overhaul the annual stress tests the Federal Reserve uses to determine if banks have enough capital to sustain a financial crisis.
Under the soon-to-be proposed legislation, banks would be subject to the stress tests every other year and banks that agree to dramatically increase their capital would not have to undergo the stress test at all.
Additionally, Bloomberg notes that the changes would eliminate the so-called qualitative test that evaluates a bank’s plan for managing capital and risk.
Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on the banks when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which is widely expected. While she has a wide-ranging agenda that includes President Trump's finances, her focus on bank oversight will start with the two large institutions.
Pence Is Trying to Control Republican Politics. Trump Aides Aren’t Happy.
Pence Is Trying to Control Republican Politics. Trump Aides Aren’t Happy.
Source: New York Times
Vice President Mike Pence during a rally with President Trump last week in Elkhart, Ind. While past vice presidents have played important roles maintaining the political coalitions of their ticket-mates, none wielded Mr. Pence’s independent influence over an administration’s political network and agenda.
Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas needed a favor: Before…
“I’ll miss least the people who have no discernible political principles. I’ll miss most the people who do.” —Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)
“I’ll miss least the people who have no discernible political principles. I’ll miss most the people who do.” —Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) upon deciding to retire from a hyper-partisan US Congress in 2018, Quotes for Now
