Washington: US President Barack Obama Saturday accused opposition Republicans of spreading misinformation about a Democratic bill that aims to tighten oversight of Wall Street banks and their practices.
After successfully shepherding his health care overhaul through Congress, Obama is now pushing hard for a legislative victory on financial regulatory reform, a popular issue with voters ahead of congressional elections in November.
The Senate is expected to vote within weeks on the reform bill, which Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address would "hold Wall Street accountable" and put in place rules to ensure US taxpayers would never again be called upon to bail out companies in financial trouble.
"Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed ‘too big to fail'," Obama said.
Regulatory powers
Under the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Programme launched under the Bush administration, $700 billion (Dh2.57 trillion) was set aside to help banks and carmakers.
But Republicans insist the Democratic bill will lead to more taxpayer-funded bail-outs and say it establishes new regulatory powers that will stifle small businesses and community banks.
Obama said he still hoped to win Republican support for the bill, but he lashed out at Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, accusing him of making a "cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bail-outs — when he knows that it would do just the opposite."
