Boozman Bows to the Big Banks

Congressman John Boozman (R-Stephens, Inc.) has sold us out again. Yesterday he voted against HR 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, which would place controls on the irresponsibe Wall Street financial giants that gambled on risky loans and complex financial products, seeking short-term profits and big bonuses with little regard for long-term economic consequences, and would bring new transparency and accountability to the nation's financial markets.

The legislations would also consolidate existing regulatory efforts into a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, with the authority to put an end to misleading and dishonest practices of banks and institutions that market financial products like credit and debit cards; mortgage, auto and payday loans. Boozman didn't like that either, because the special interest lobbyists told him it would stifle the banking industry. He seems to think his constituents prefer to be victimized by mysterious fees, changing terms, pages and pages of fine print, and risky schemes that threaten our entire economy.

Boozman swallowed the phony arguments of the Wall Street bankers and voted to kill financial reform, choosing to leave American consumers and our economy vulnerable to another meltdown. Fortunately, his vote was unimportant and wasn't needed for passage of the bill.