Maxine Waters threatening banks is a lot of noise, no serious action: Varney
In two months Congresswoman Maxine Waters will take the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.
She has already started talking about what she intends to do.
She will resist bank regulation rollbacks.
She says: “Make no mistake, come January, the days of this committee weakening regulations will come to an end."
It was a declaration of war on Wall Street.
OK, but what actual power does this committee's chair really have?
Consider this: It has no power over the Federal Reserve, or the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Justice Department. They are the institutions which regulate banks and brokers. The committee can't get legislation passed because it wouldn't get through the Republican Senate. And even if it did, there's always the presidential veto.
Maxine waters cannot roll back deregulation that’s already in place.
So what can she do? Hold hearings, subpoena witnesses and begin investigations. In short, make a lot of noise. Embarrass Wall Street any way she can. Maxine Waters will be front and center in rehashing the financial crash 10 years ago. She may investigate Deutsche Bank: What's its connection to Donald Trump and the Russian government?
That will be very noisy indeed.
But it will not damage our financial system. It will not put in jeopardy the recovery from the crash.
Interesting that just as Ms. Waters was threatening the banks, Warren Buffet made a big investment in JPMorgan, a very big and well-known bank!
He's a smart investor: If he thought Maxine Waters could reregulate Wall Street, he wouldn't be investing billions in financial companies.
Lots of noise coming, but no serious action.