House GOP Releases Video of Dodd-Frank "Failures"

In observance of the fifth anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Republican leadership of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) has released a video titled “Dodd-Frank–Five Years of Failure.”

“Just like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank has left consumers with fewer choices, higher costs and less freedom,” said an unattributed statement released by the HFSC. “Heeding the admonition of former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington’s ‘Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste’ Democrats seized on a false narrative of the financial crisis to craft ‘a political response’ that does not address the real causes of the crisis. Dodd-Frank did nothing to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were at the epicenter of the crisis. It enshrined taxpayer-funded bailouts and ‘too big to fail’ into law. And the burden of its inefficient rules, regulations and mandates hurts jobs and economic growth.”

The Committee’s statement added that thanks to Dodd-Frank, “the big banks have gotten bigger, the small banks are now fewer, and economic growth is weak and halting.”

Separately, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), a senior member of the committee, released his own statement that criticized the Dodd-Frank track record.

“Five years later, the government dominates an unstable secondary mortgage with taxpayers at risk of being tapped for a bailout should we see another downturn. The legacy of Dodd-Frank should be judged not just by what was included in it, but also what was left out of it. Policymakers owe it to the American people to wind down the GSEs before recent history repeats itself."

As of this morning, the GOP-run Senate Banking Committee made no mention of the fifth anniversary of Dodd-Frank on its Web site, but ranking Committee member Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) released a statement praising the legislation.

“Five years after Wall Street reform became law, our economy is getting stronger and we have a financial system that is safer, more stable, and works better for taxpayers, investors, and consumers,” said Brown. “We’ve come too far to allow special interests and their allies in Congress to undermine reform and leave the American people exposed to the abusive lending and reckless Wall Street gambling that almost destroyed our economy. Now we need to make sure more Americans feel the benefits of the recovery, without going back to the days of AIG, Countrywide, and Lehman Brothers.”