Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has made another push for an economic system that benefits the middle class in a New York Times op-ed published Monday.
Clinton has attempted to clarify her stance on financial institutions in recent months after she faced criticism for her ties to Wall Street. Despite calling for the dismantling of big banks, she has accepted donations from some of Wall Street's top executives.
The economy has rebounded since the Great Recession in 2008 that "sent our economy into a tailspin," she wrote.
Yet Clinton maintained that some are threatening economic progress. "Republicans, both in Congress and on the campaign trail, are dead-set on rolling back critical financial protections," she wrote. Those in Congress, she specified, are busy rolling back "common-sense efforts to prevent conflicts of interest by financial managers."
She outlines her own plan to combat added risks to the financial sector. "As president, I would not only veto any legislation that would weaken financial reform, but I would also fight for tough new rules, stronger enforcement and more accountability that go well beyond Dodd-Frank," she wrote.
First, Clinton proposes controls on the large financial institutions. She envisions imposing a "risk fee" on banks with over $50 billion in assets. The former Secretary of State also seeks to strengthen the Volcker Rule by "closing the loopholes that still allow banks to make speculative gambles with taxpayer-backed deposits."
The plan would encompass the entire financial sector, not just big banks, Clinton said. Equally important would be greater oversight over broker-dealers and short-term borrowing.
Next, Clinton wants to limit the amount of political meddling. She calls for independent regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She also urges taxation on "harmful high-frequency trading" and increased transparency in the stock market.
The third pillar of her plan is that "no one should be too big to jail." Clinton wants to extend the statute of limitations for financial crimes to 10 years and increase transparency in settlement terms and fines owed to the government.
Executives must bear responsibility for the wrongdoings of their firms, Clinton insisted. Any fines that a firm owes will cut into bonuses -- and she will fight to get rid of executive tax breaks.
"Republicans may have decided to forget about the financial crisis that caused so much devastation — but I haven’t," Clinton concluded. Her ultimate aim is the creation of a financial system that benefits the middle class.
The former first lady wrote a similar op-ed for Bloomberg View in October. She also emphatically told Stephen Colbert that she is prepared to let big banks fail.
Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s primary rival in the Democratic presidential field, also came out forcefully against tax breaks for the wealthy in a June blog for The Huffington Post.
Clinton is ahead of Sanders by 25 percent in the latest HuffPost/Pollster poll.
Read The New York Times article in full here.
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