I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A Wall Street reform bill designed to rein in the problem of firms that are “too big to fail,” passed the U.S. House today 223-202. The vote was mostly on party lines, with no Republicans voting for the bill and just 27 Democrats voting against it.
The New Mexico delegation was split, with Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan voting for the bill and Harry Teague voting against the bill. All three are Democrats.
The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 was sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. It would, among other things, create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency which would regulate mortgages, credit cards and car loans.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Congressional Black Caucus included $4 billion in TARP (commonly known as the bailout) funds for emergency housing relief.
The bill would also allow the Treasury Department to put non-bank financial firms, such as insurance companies, into receivership and also allows the Department to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives market.
Republicans opposed the bill as a “permanent bailout” and a “job-killer.”
Luján said the bill was a way to fix the problems of the George W. Bush administration and a lack of accountability.
“Today, we are taking important steps to reform our system and hold Wall Street accountable,” Luján said in a statement. “It’s time to fix the problems that got us here and protect taxpayers.”
A statement from Heinrich’s office said, “Once signed into law, this package of reforms will work together to address the myriad causes – from predatory lending to unregulated derivatives – that led to last year’s meltdown.”
More details of the legislation are available in Heinrich’s statement.
The bill will now move to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
Update: 5:05 p.m.
Teague send along a statement where he says that he does believe that the regulatory system is outdated but, “As written, the bill created a new government agency run by one administrator that will have the power to regulate trillions of dollars of financial products and transactions. I think it makes more sense to create a powerful council of regulators called the Consumer Financial Protection Council to promote consumer protection for customers of financial institutions.”
Teague “worked with a bi-partisan group to craft an amendment to do just that and the amendment received broad bi-partisan support, but it ultimately failed to pass the House.”
