Sanders: Financial reform bill could do more
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By BRUCE EDWARDS STAFF WRITER - Published: March 21, 2010
Vermont's junior senator calls it a step in the right direction but says it doesn't go nearly far enough to reign in the financial abuses that lead to the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.
"Dodd's bill is certainly a step forward in creating the kind of financial regulatory architecture you need to move forward," Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., said in a recent interview. "But in my mind it certainly falls short of addressing the very serious crisis we face from Wall Street activities."
Sanders was referring to the financial regulatory reform bill introduced by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Sanders ticked off a list of items that he said needed to be strengthened or added to Dodd's bill.
A 15 percent cap on credit card interest rates is one Sanders' priority. After bailing out Wall Street, Vermonters are fed up with being forced to pay as much as 30 percent interest on their credit cards, he said.
Sanders called such interest rates "immoral" and nothing less than "loan sharking."
He said if the nation's credit unions can live with a 15 percent interest rate cap, so can the banks.
Sanders also wants to see more transparency when it comes to the workings of the Federal Reserve. According to Sanders, the Fed has made trillions of dollars in no interest or very low interest loans to the largest banks, but which banks are on the receiving end of those loans remain confidential.
He said banks will turn around and use the money to invest in government bonds, making huge profits.
Sanders also took aim at what he said is the bill's
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