U.S. needs to reinstate strong bank regulations

President Barack Obama's new proposals on the size and activities of banks will ensure the safety of the system everyone relies upon. But can he really do this alone? No, it's going to take Congress.

Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress oppose anything that does not conform with their “free to plunder” ideology. A few Democrats are also recipients of large contributions from Wall Street.

Capitalism is great but it does not include the right for banks to jeopardize the entire economy of a nation. We need to reinstate the strong regulations that served us well for so many years, before they were gutted during the Bush years

Obama's proposals would ban banks with federal deposits from making risky bets and from owning or investing in hedge funds. He has also called for new caps on the size of banks, to make sure that “too big to fail” does not occur again. We cannot let Wall Street gamble with our money with their “heads we win, tails you lose” philosophy. They keep all the profits in the good times and turn the losses over to taxpayers when they lose. That must stop.

Justin Holdes

West Branch