Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:14 pm
Senator Elizabeth Warren joined President Obama to celebrate the July 21 five year anniversary of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which protects consumers from abuses, and the six year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
President Obama and Senator Warren pointed out that regulating big banks isn’t bad for business and didn’t harm the economy and yet Republicans want to dismantle the rules put into place to protect consumers.
Watch here:
POTUS: Before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, you didn’t have a strong ally to turn to if your bank took advantage of you, or you were being harassed or charged inappropriate fees. Now you do.
WARREN: The Bureau is also there to help you make better-informed decisions. Before you take out a mortgage, or a loan for college or a new car, check out the agency’s website – CFPB.gov. It can help you sift through the confusing but important details.
President Obama made the point that Republicans were wrong when they fear-mongered that these reforms would hurt the economy and business:
POTUS: Republicans and big banks who opposed these commonsense rules claimed they’d hurt the economy. But we’ve seen what happened to the economy when we didn’t have these rules. And despite their claims, our economy is stronger today than it was before the crisis. Since we dug out from the worst of it, our businesses have added almost 15 million new jobs. Corporate profits are up, lending to businesses is up, and the stock market has hit an all-time high. So the idea this was bad for business just doesn’t hold water. Now our task should be making sure we build on those gains, and make sure they’re felt by everybody.
Sen. Warren said every year big banks and their Republican allies try to roll back these protections, and Donald Trump threatened to dismantle all of the protections the Democrats managed to get in (which are far from perfect but are a good start):
WARREN: But every year, like clockwork, big banks and their Republican allies in Congress try to roll back these protections and undermine the consumer watchdog, whose only job is to look out for you. Their nominee for President promises to dismantle all of it. They may have forgotten about the crisis, but working families sure haven’t. We haven’t either. And that’s why we’re not going to let them give Wall Street the ability to threaten our economy all over again.
Obama and Warren made the argument that these reforms are about basic fairness for everyone, no matter your ideology:
POTUS: Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent, if you’re a hardworking American who plays by the rules, you should expect Wall Street to play by the rules, too. That’s what we’re fighting for.
WARREN: It’s about basic fairness for everyone.
POTUS: And it’s about responsibility from everyone. Thanks to leaders like Senator Warren, our country, our economy, and our families are better off. Let’s keep it that way.
Senator Warren is a committed fighter for justice for the middle class and working families. She’s fought every step of the way to get reforms into place that will help give working people a bit of protection from rampant greed and destruction to the collective good caused by the out of control, unchecked profit motive.
This is no small thing, though if you don’t remember 2008 or didn’t lose your pension or savings, you might not realize just how important these reforms are.
Image: Screengrab from White House Weekly Address
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