Congress Reacts to Obama’s Financial Reform Speech

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., issued a statement following the President's September 14, address on financial reformin New York City. Dodd noted, “The President got it right. We need ‘change and change now.’” However, Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., stated that the President “failed to put forward constructive proposals to address the lessons learned from the events of September 2008, and the solutions being offered would in many respects make matters worse.”

According to Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “President Obama is correct that we cannot afford to return to the business-as-usual, anything-goes mindset that brought our financial system to the brink of collapse ... this fall, Congress will pass comprehensive reforms of our system of financial regulation.” Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, “Missing from the President's remarks today was a clear exit strategy for the federal government's involvement in the private sector. American taxpayers have had enough of open-ended bailouts that have left them stuck with an eye-popping tab in the form of trillions in new debt.”