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Hensarling: No more birthdays for Dodd-Frank

by Jesse Byrnes - 07/18/15 6:00 AM ET

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) on Saturday blasted the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, on the week of the bill’s fifth anniversary.

“When President Obama signed Dodd-Frank into law five years ago with much fanfare and celebration, we were told it would ‘lift the economy,’ ‘end too big to fail’ and ‘increase financial stability.’ It didn’t happen,” Hensarling said in the Republican weekly address.

{mosads}”If we want strong economic growth, more freedom and an end to bailouts, it’s time we commit to making sure this anniversary is Dodd-Frank’s last anniversary,” he added.

Hensarling has pushed for a series of hearings in an effort to make the case that the law should be revisited, casting it as a threat to the economy.

But he has acknowledged challenges in pursuing changes to the law, particularly in a presidential year in which a Democrat winning the presidency could make it even more difficult.

Democrats and the White House have cast efforts to rework the law and implement conservative financial policy goals as an attempt to render the financial overhaul less effective.

Hensarling described the sweeping Wall Street reform law as disastrous for small businesses, potential homeowners and those looking to plan for retirement.

“Services that we all once took for granted, like free checking, are being curtailed or eliminated because of Dodd-Frank,” he said in his address. “Before, 75 percent of banks offered free checking. Just two years after Dodd-Frank became law, that number was cut almost in half.”

“Together, we can end Wall Street bailouts, have a healthier economy, and protect consumer choice,” he added, invoking House Republican efforts.

Tags Jeb Hensarling