Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are reintroducing legislation to revive the Glass-Steagall Act, which would force big banks to split their investment and commercial banking practices.
Glass-Steagall was first passed in 1933 but repealed during the Clinton administration, leading many progressives to argue that it contributed to the 2008 financial collapse.
Warren and McCain, along with their cosponsors, Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said in a statement that the legislation would make big banks that are “too big to fail” smaller and safer and minimize the likelihood of a government bailout.
The bill, which they first introduced in the last Congress, would separate traditional banking with checking and savings accounts from financial institutions that offer services such as investment banking, which are riskier.
“Despite the progress we’ve made since 2008, the biggest banks continue to threaten our economy,” said Warren, an ardent Wall Street critic, in a statement. “The biggest banks are collectively much larger than they were before the crisis, and they continue to engage in dangerous practices that could once again crash our economy.”
McCain said the repeal of Glass-Steagall led to “a culture of dangerous greed and excessive risk-taking” in the banking industry.
“Big Wall Street institutions should be free to engage in transactions with significant risk, but not with federally insured deposits,” McCain said in a statement.
6 thoughts on “Sens. Warren, McCain to introduce bipartisan legislation to reinstate Glass-Steagall Act”
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It probably won’t pass (which is unconscionable), but it’s nice to see a bipartisan effort to restore it.
Sen. Warren has also introduced legislation to make two year community college free in the US. It’s nice to see a Democratic Senator actually trying to pass progressive legislation.
Sorry, it was actually our own Tammy Baldwin who has introduced it, along with Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia. My bad.
The political collaboration is refreshing and hopeful, but long overdue.
A question for those better informed than I – what is McCain’s interest in this? I never know what he’s thinking.
I’m not sure. Maybe he’s trying to restore some of his tarnished legacy a bit before he retires?
His Pres run really messed with what was once a respectable legacy. This is the guy that teamed up with Feingold to pass sweeping campaign finance reform, only to see it dismantled by SCOTUS. A lot of people still respect Senator McCain, as long as we never again have to witness Candidate McCain. Personally, I sorta miss the McCain 2000, back before he had to pander for the GOP nomination.