Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to make banking boring again. Yesterday, the freshman senator introduced the 21st Century Glass Steagall Act, which would break up the big banks, and rebuild the wall between traditional banking and Wall Street gambling. In a statement, Senator Warren said, “Despite the progress we've made since 2008, the biggest banks continue to threaten the economy.”
Senators John McCain and Maria Cantwell, the pair who attempted a similar bill back in 2009, joined Senator Warren as she introduced her new legislation. Of course, taking on the “too-big-to-fail” banks won't be an easy challenge. Previous attempts to reign in bank size and power were met with huge resistance from the banksters, who railed against proposals to break up the banks.
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, said the so-called “universal banking system” is the “most important” model there is. He argued that banks “can't be competitive if [they] can't provide all those services to [their] customers.” And, JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon has even tried to make the case that “too-big-to-fail” banks are a good thing. Last year, he told the New Yorker magazine, “There are huge benefits to size” and “that's what capitalism is.” But, Senator Elizabeth Warren isn't buying any of their talking points.
Since the day she was elected, Senator Warren has worked hard to hold banksters accountable for wrecking our economy, and proposed rules to prevent it from happening again. When she introduced the 21st Century Glass Steagall Act yesterday, she said, “The four biggest banks are now 30% larger than they were just five years ago, and they have continued to engage in dangerous, high-risk practices that could once again put our economy at risk.” We know the banksters won't give up their power easily, but Senator Elizabeth Warren isn't backing down without a fight.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren says banking should be boring!
By Thom Hartmann A...