Banking Regulations....The New Deal

Let's create banking regulations for the entire Global Banking Industry....much like air traffic control! There are very few global standards in the world, but air traffic control has to be global to prevent crashes. In the financial banking industry, we've had the equivalent of a mid-air collusion...so let's regulate the banking industry so there are no more global mishaps!

The banks, especially after receiving taxpayer monies, have a responsiblity to be part of the solution, as well. There has been very modest, if any, increase in lending (NOT to small businesses or individuals) and now the banks are defensive about putting any new regulations in place that would prevent a future financial crisis. Banks would rather pay millions of dollar to lobbyists to make certain there are NO new regulations.

A quick background of the banking industry helps us to understand just how much the industry has gained:

• The federal government started chartering and regulating banks during the Civil War. These national banks were subjedct to state and laws unless they received an exemption from the federal regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
• Beginning in the 1980s (Reagan Administration), as the government allowed national banks to expand across state lines, the banks began pressing the government (through lobbyists and other influential powers) for more exemptions--more often.
• The banks used the expansion of exemptions as a further need to efficiency, which was supposed to result in lower prices for customers.
• And...the rise of the federal pre-exemptions were gradual.
• In 1999 (Clinton Administration), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) ruled that national banks did not need to comply with a California law limiting the fees banks could charge for ATM withdrawals.
• In 2000, it lifted a Rhode Island law limiting changes in the interest rates on credit cards.
• Finally, in 2002 (Bush Administration), the OCC lifted a Texas law that barred banks from charging check-cashing fees.
• And, then--in 2004, the OCC issued a blanket exemption, asserting sole authority to police natinoal banks. That stance has since been upheld by federal courts. The National Association of Realtors, in testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, on January 28, 2004, sharply criticized the preemption rules as twisting legal precedent, maximizing the value of the federal bankcharter at the expense of the state bank charter, and diluting consumer protections, with worsening implications if bankers are permitted to be real estate brokers and managers.

Bring back the regulations--create a new era for the banking industry in a Global Way! Let's enact a new policy much like the air traffic controllers...and by the way, let's pay the bankers the same wages as air traffic controllers make with NO bonuses, while keeping air traffic and bank traffic safe!