In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act to regulate the banksters on Wall Street, who crashed our economy in 2008, and many people believe the law doesn't go far enough. But Republican lawmakers have spent the past two years working to undercut and water-down the legislation, and Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama thinks the banksters shouldn't be burdened with those pesky regulations at all.

Instead of working to prevent Wall Street's high-stakes betting from causing another economic disaster, Sen. Shelby plans to introduce legislation that would require a cost-benefit analysis on any new financial regulations before they can be enacted. This is more than just the typical watering-down of legislation we see from Republicans...this is an attempt to block Wall Street regulation all together, and an effort to put bankster greed ahead of the needs of our nation. According to Shelby, “if a regulation's cost outweighs its benefits, it should be thrown out.”

Wouldn't it have been great if Wall Street had done a societal cost-benefit analysis before gambling with our economy? Or if they had to prove that their greed couldn't take down our entire financial system again. Seems to me like Wall Street, which hit a record high yesterday, is doing just fine under the current regulations.

The Dodd-Frank Act doesn't go far enough. It's time to strengthen regulations, and implement a financial transaction tax to make Wall Street banksters pay for the risky bets they make with our economy.