The Missed Opportunity on Financial Reform- Daily Caller Column by Sam Zamarripa

‘The Politicizing Of Bankruptcy’ – Forbes Column by Sam Zamarripa

As Congress moves to enact the Dodd bill, it appears legislation will fall short of protecting taxpayers, investors and the economy, and instead perpetuate “Too Big to Fail” financial institutions. When the dust settles on financial reform, the public may hope that the gambling done by Goldman Sachs and giant firms with derivatives will be made more transparent so taxpayers’ exposure to them will not recur.

But real reform also must put a brake on the runaway growth of financial giants that has led to a less secure global financial system, and break up those firms that have become Too Big To Fail and also to expensive to bail out. Real reform would require no extra hidden levy on investors to create a fund to unwind these destructive financial dinosaurs, as in the Dodd bill, but would unwind them before they can threaten the global economy again.

America’s small businesses, savers and retirees have suffered mightily during this recession. We won’t pay for more bailouts to fund record bonuses for Wall Street Bank Executives. We urge the Congress to amend financial reform and ensure it includes:

• Impose limits on leverage and increase margin requirements for financial institutions;
• Break up TBTF banks and institutions -quit bailing them out with tax payer money;
• Force Derivatives to be traded in the open, through a regulated market exchange – no “special designation” for some derivatives – make it all transparent;
• Hold Directors of TBTF institutions responsible for a bank’s failure, not the taxpayers;
• Reject new bailout funds – especially ones that will be financed on the backs of other investors.

Join us today. Help us Stop Too Big to Fail.