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Feingold Praised for Opposing Bank Bill
Posted on December 30th, 2010 No commentsA letter to the editor praises former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold for his opposition to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which “was a major factor in causing our current economic climate.” Read the letter in the Wisconsin State Journal. -
Payday Loan Rules Could Restrict Other Lenders
Posted on November 15th, 2010 No commentsNew rules regulating what critics have labeled “predatory lending” by payday lenders could also restrict the ability of banks, credit unions and other lenders to make small, short term loans. The Wisconsin Financial Services Association – which represents the consumer finance industry in the state, including subprime lenders – is calling into question rules being drafted by the state Department of Financial Institutions to carry out legislation passed by the state Legislature earlier this year. Read more in Milwaukee Magazine’s New Buzz. -
U.S. Senate Passes Small Business Bill
Posted on September 14th, 2010 No commentsThe Senate passed legislation that aims to increase lending to small businesses and provide them with $12 billion in targeted tax breaks. The House passed a different version of the legislation in June, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber would quickly approve the Senate version in order to get the bill to President Barack Obama as soon as possible. Read more in the Business Journal of Milwaukee.
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‘Real Regulators or Toothless Tigers’?
Posted on August 29th, 2010 No comments“We will need more of [the truth] if we are to stand a chance in the great wrestling match over how the banking bill will be implemented — with real regulators or toothless tigers in charge of key agencies, with consumers calling the shots or lobbyists continuing to define things, with Wall Streeters forced to take responsibility for their greed or with taxpayers facing the threat of another ‘bailout’ raid on the treasury,” writes John Nichols of the Capital Times in an op-ed column about the Fighting Bob Fest and this year’s speaker, Jim Hightower.
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Column: Reform Bill Hurts Business Lending
Posted on August 20th, 2010 No comments“If small business is the foundation of our economy and community banks are the cornerstones to needed loans, one could formulate that fewer small business loans will be made and result in slower future economic growth” as a result of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform bill, writes Mike Stoetzel, a partner at Clifton Gunderson and the company’s financial institutions practice leader for Wisconsin, in the Small Business Times.
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Editorial: Feingold’s Opposition Cost Taxpayers
Posted on August 19th, 2010 No commentsDid U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s opposition make the financial reform bill more progressive? “No; it did the opposite — it shifted $19 billion of the bill’s cost from banks to taxpayers,” according to an editorial in the Tomah Journal.
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WBA: Check with Bank on Overdraft Changes
Posted on August 5th, 2010 No commentsThe Wisconsin Bankers Association advised that customers should check with their bank to see how overdraft changes will be handled come Aug. 15. Read more at Channel3000.com.
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Feingold Opposes Financial Reform Bill
Posted on July 10th, 2010 No commentsU.S. Sen. Russ Feingold is expected to be the only Senate Democrat voting against the hotly debated financial reforms backed by President Barack Obama when they are put to a final vote in the coming days. The Wisconsin senator said the bill fails to fix important problems, like financial institutions that are “too big to fail.” Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
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Feingold to Vote Against Reform Bill
Posted on June 29th, 2010 No commentsU.S. Sen Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said he will vote against the financial regulatory reform bill as now constituted. During debate on the bill, Feingold said he supported several efforts “to break up ‘too big to fail’ Wall Street banks and restore the proven safeguards established after the Great Depression separating Main Street banks from big Wall Street firms.” However, he said those proposals didn’t make it to the bill before Congress. Read more in The Business Journal of Milwaukee. -
Opinion: Financial Reform Bill is a Good Start
Posted on June 11th, 2010 No commentsOverall, the U.S. Senate’s “Restoring American Financial Stability” reform bill is a start in the right direction, writes Bob Chernow, a Milwaukee-area futurist who has worked in the financial industry for more than 40 years, in the Milwaukee Small Business Times.