One of the GOP's great political triumphs was to carry water for Wall Street in the financial regulation debate, raise enormous sums from Wall Street in return for doing so, and still win votes from people who blame Wall Street for the economy. Now John Boehner is promising to go another step:
On the financial regulation front, Republicans did not threaten to repeal the law, but they said they would use the leverage of their new House majority to conduct careful oversight, which could include hearings and the use of subpoena power.
“When it comes to the financial services bill and the 358 regulatory filings required under that bill,” Mr. Boehner said, “it’s going to require a significant amount of oversight — so that not only will the Congress understand, but the American people will understand, just what this bill will do to our financial services industry.” The Republicans will also most likely seek changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which they believe was given too much power.
Does he really think this will make people more sympathetic? The Republicans won by portraying the administration as tied in with the big banks. Do they think a bunch of hearings with sobbing bankers telling their tales of being forced to curtail their business practices by the nasty overbearing Democrats is going to help?