How Engel helped to deregulate the banks

(Page 2 of 3)

He said he voted for the bill, which he noted had bipartisan support, because many of the restrictions from Depression-era America needed to be lifted (the bill was also named the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999). But, he said, there was too much deregulation. 

“I think that if I knew then what I know now I would not have voted to repeal it. I would not have voted for it,” he said. “Sometimes I vote and I look back years later and I say, ‘Well that vote didn’t turn out that well.’”

In the end, lobbyists representing financial companies spent more than $300 million in a 25-year period to have Glass-Steagall repealed.

Now, Glass-Steagall, named after two long-dead legislators from Depression-era America, has re-emerged in the debate over how to dig the country out of financial crisis. Around the country and in Riverdale, people have been talking about restoring Glass-Steagall.

The bill to restore Glass-Steagall is stalled in Congress. Vocal advocates include the now-national Occupy Wall Street movement. Some Occupy Wall Street protesters created a “99% Declaration,” with a list of 21 demands, which is being circulated online. Among those demands is the immediate restoration of the act.

On Nov. 7, some of those who marched 11 miles to Wall Street with state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, who represents a large chunk of Riverdale, held signs calling for the restoration of Glass-Steagall. 

A political extremist group led by Lyndon LaRouche has also been handing out flyers in the Riverdale area in favor of restoring Glass-Steagall, including at a town hall meeting in October, but the fringe group also equates President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. 

In terms of political support for the restoration of Glass-Steagall, several politicians have changed their positions over the years. 

Rep. Charlie Rangel in 1998 voted in favor of its repeal by supporting the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act. He is currently a co-sponsor of legislation to restore Glass-Steagall. He  wrote a recent article in The Huffington Post  blaming an unregulated banking industry for the economic collapse in 2008, comparing it to 1929. 

President Bill Clinton, Glass-Steagall Act, Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, Merrill Lynch, Rep. Eliot Engel, campaign contributions
Page 2 / 3

Comments