Thaindian News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed his intentions to protect the American consumer more than ever before through the Financial Reform.

Financial problems were sparked around two years ago when the collapse on Wall Street left more than 8 million people unemployed on Main Street. “The American people deserve strong, tough reform that will help prevent another financial crisis,” Obama said. “The bill before the Senate demands accountability from Wall Street and includes the strongest consumer protections ever.”

Obama mentioned that there have been partisan attempts to weaken the reform, as the Senate is currently considering a Republican amendment that will “gut consumer protections and is worse than the status quo.”

“I will not allow amendments like this one written by Wall Street’s lobbyists to pass for reform. This amendment will significantly weaken consumer protection oversight, includes dangerous carve outs for payday lenders, debt collectors, and other financial services operations, and hurts the ability of community and local banks to compete by creating an unlevel playing field with their non-bank competitors,” the President said.

Obama emphasized that the protection of the American people is not a partisan issue, stating that Democrats and Republicans must “work together in good faith.”

“Alternatives that gut consumer protections and do nothing to empower the American people by cracking down on unfair and predatory practices are unacceptable, and I urge the Senate to vote not on weakening consumer protections and instead stand with the American people,” he concluded.