Richard Trumka: Happy 5th Birthday, Dodd-Frank

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 was meant to protect our economy from Wall Street greed. The legislation was passed into law in response to the 2008 financial crisis, which caused home foreclosures for millions of families and long-term unemployment for tens of millions of workers.

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The time has come to finalize the Dodd-Frank Act's rules. We must also reject Congressional efforts to weaken the Dodd-Frank Act -- most of which are thinly disguised efforts to help the wealthiest people and institutions in our country. And finally, we must finish the job of financial reform by implementing a modest tax on financial speculation, breaking up too-big-to-fail banks, and passing the "21st Century Glass-Steagall Act" to ensure that commercial banks cannot play speculative games that lead to financial meltdown.

The Dodd-Frank Act improved economic stability in many ways, but the biggest banks are still allowed to gamble with taxpayer-backed funds. This means they still have the power to hold the nation's economy hostage, leaving taxpayers on the hook for another bank bailout.

Now is the time to change the rules and close loopholes that enable the big Wall Street banks to benefit themselves and increase their political power with no regard for protecting customers' or taxpayers' money. Working people should not have to suffer for the mistakes of unscrupulous financial institutions, and workers demand that this broken system be fixed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-trumka/happy-5th-birthday-dodd-f_b_7840500.html

It's time to change the rules & close loopholes enabling Wall Street to benefit themselves w/out protecting taxpayers