Courtesy of Pam Martens.
Bill Huizenga, U.S. Representative from Michigan
Some of the Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee sounded more like Wall Street lobbyists than legislators yesterday as they whined and moaned about the Volcker Rule, a provision of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; financial reform legislation that was enacted into law in 2010 by a duly held vote of their august body following the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression. The Volcker Rule bans proprietary trading – trading for the house – unless it is a legitimate market making activity or a specifically aligned hedge.
While Wall Street On Parade is no fan of the revolving door executives at some of the key regulators, it has to be said that the patience exhibited by the regulators yesterday to suffer fools on this Congressional panel was, at least, a testament to their professionalism when appearing before the American public.
The regulators were regularly insulted by arrogant, self-serving questions showing fealty to the political campaign funders on Wall Street by a number of Republicans on the panel.
Setting the low mark for both arrogance and cluelessness was Congressman Bill Huizenga, a Republican from Michigan who, according to NPR, was elected to the House in 2010 with support from the Tea Party.
Huizenga lectured the regulators at length on his position that the Volcker Rule puts the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage globally. Huizenga made the incredibly uninformed statement that “there hasn’t been a problem with it here in the United States. I heard someone brought up the London Whale; alright, that’s a completely separate issue from what we’re dealing with here in the United States…”
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