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A day after House and Senate negotiators agreed on a final Wall Street reform bill, President Obama today issued another challenge to lawmakers: Impose a $90 billion, ten year tax on banks.
In his weekly address, the president said the tax would go toward recovery taxpayer money from the bailouts that began in late 2008 at the peak of the financial crisis.
The “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” was first proposed by Obama in January and would be imposed on banks with at least $50 billion in assets.
But critics of such a “fee” argue that most of the major banks have repaid their part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.
Republicans have said a bigger priority is the overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage financing companies in U.S. conservatorship. Fannie and Freddie have siphoned $145 billion in bailouts – and that amount will likely exceed $300 billion by next year.
On Friday, a House-Senate conference committee finalized the largest overhaul of financial system oversight since the Great Depression.
“Beyond these reforms, we also need to address another piece of unfinished business,” the president said. “We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis – so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money.”
The president is in Canada to attend gatherings with leaders of the world’s largest economies.
Obama also urged Congress to quickly pass this coming week the negotiated final regulatory reform bill. It creates a new consumer protection agency over loan products; an oversight council to monitor systemic risk; curbs on derivatives and proprietary trading by banks, and first-time regulation over debit card fees that banks charge merchants through payment networks.
“Getting this far on Wall Street reform hasn’t been easy,” Obama said. “There are those who’ve fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo… But because we refused to back down, and kept fighting, we now stand on the verge of victory,” the president said.
Also Read:
Obama: Tax Banks to Recover ?Every Dime? from Bailouts | ecreditdaily.com
In his weekly address, the president said the tax would go toward recovery taxpayer money from the bailouts that began in late 2008 at the peak of the financial crisis.
The “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” was first proposed by Obama in January and would be imposed on banks with at least $50 billion in assets.
But critics of such a “fee” argue that most of the major banks have repaid their part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.
Republicans have said a bigger priority is the overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage financing companies in U.S. conservatorship. Fannie and Freddie have siphoned $145 billion in bailouts – and that amount will likely exceed $300 billion by next year.
On Friday, a House-Senate conference committee finalized the largest overhaul of financial system oversight since the Great Depression.
“Beyond these reforms, we also need to address another piece of unfinished business,” the president said. “We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis – so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money.”
The president is in Canada to attend gatherings with leaders of the world’s largest economies.
Obama also urged Congress to quickly pass this coming week the negotiated final regulatory reform bill. It creates a new consumer protection agency over loan products; an oversight council to monitor systemic risk; curbs on derivatives and proprietary trading by banks, and first-time regulation over debit card fees that banks charge merchants through payment networks.
“Getting this far on Wall Street reform hasn’t been easy,” Obama said. “There are those who’ve fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo… But because we refused to back down, and kept fighting, we now stand on the verge of victory,” the president said.
Also Read:
Obama: Tax Banks to Recover ?Every Dime? from Bailouts | ecreditdaily.com
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