A growing number of people across the ideological spectrum are calling for breaking up the Big Banks — which would threaten to harm the global economy if they go under.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this year, I discussed this idea with William Temple, a Tea Party activist and colonial re-enactor from Brunswick, Georgia:
THE DAILY CHANGE: There was another thing in [Rand Paul’s] speech that I think should appeal to everyone, people who aren’t even into politics. He said it’s not conservative to bail out bankers, Big Banks.
TEMPLE: That’s right.
THE DAILY CHANGE: There’s actually a group of Republicans, David Vitter is one of them, who are saying if these banks are going to get so big that they demand bailouts we should just break them up, we shouldn’t let them run our country. What do you think about that?
TEMPLE: Ai??I agree. That we should never have any entity in this country that is propped up by our government. It also shows that our government and big corporations are in bed together. You rotate out of a big company and you go right into politics. Or you go right out ofAi??politicsAi??and into a big company. And these companies are such, there’s nothing wrong with being a big company, but when a company gets so big that they can influence legislation — and work the system to such a degree that the small mom and pop shops, the small businesses that are trying to get started can’t compete. And when you’ve got government passing legislation that makes it almost impossible for any new entity to even get started, things are out of whack […]
THE DAILY CHANGE: And you would agree with people like David Vitter that say when an institution is that big and has that much influence, it should be broken up —
TEMPLE: Well if it breaks up because it can’t function, if it was a bank that would go under if it weren’t for bailouts —
THE DAILY CHANGE: The quote unquote Too Big Too Fail banks —
TEMPLE: Too Big Too Fail, right, everything can fail. Ultimately, if it brings the country down [it should be broken up.] (laughter)
Watch it:
And as mentioned in the video, Republican Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is reportedly working with Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on legislation that would break up the big banks. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been a champion on this issue.Ai??Click here to join Warren in demanding that federal regulators hold Wall Street accountable.
ah americans from both ideologies can agree occasionally