On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted, largely along party lines, to repeal a set of financial regulations commonly known as Dodd-Frank. These regulations were put in place following the 2008 financial crisis, in an effort to prevent future crashes.
Congressman Dan Kildee (D-Flint) voted against the repeal. He says the repeal of one particular rule, the so-called "Volcker Rule," could lead to problems for average Americans.
"It could mean that their deposits, that they are expecting to have safeguarded by the bank they put their money in, could actually be used as money to be used for speculative investments that banks could engage in," Kildee said. "And, of course, if the bank succeeds and does really well, it is the bank and their stock holders that benefit, not the investors. However, if that bank, because of those speculative investments, gets itself into trouble, then the depositors are on the hook, they lose their money. But the federal government would guarantee up to $250,000 of those deposits, so it's really the taxpayer that's on the hook."
Listen: Full interview with Rep. Dan Kildee
Kildee is also concerned about efforts to rollback the regulatory authority of the Consumer Protection Bureau. He says the Consumer Protection Bureau has already proven its worth.
"Wells-Fargo, for example... was caught creating millions of phony accounts just in order to charge fees to their customers, and increase their profits," said Kildee. "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stepped in, did the investigation, held Wells-Fargo accountable, and made them pay back that money."
"Now if they weren't there, perhaps that would still be going on," Kildee said, "and that's what we intended to try to stop. And they've done a good job of stopping it."
Russia Investigation
Kildee also reflected on Thursday's appearance by former FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Comey explained to lawmakers exactly what happened during his meetings with President Donald Trump, prior to his dismissal as FBI Director.
"It was somewhat stunning to see a person who was the former director of the FBI openly saying that his biggest concern is that the president would lie about the substance of their meetings," Kildee said. "It just kind of gave me a sense of how far we have fallen as a country, when there's open discussions about the extent to which the president is willing to lie."
"That made me kind of sad, not just as a member of Congress, but as an American," he said.
