Staff Reports
A big group of Republican organizations is telling Congress to throw away a banking bill that would make the government have more authority over banks. They think the bill is a sneaky way for government officials to punish conservatives and control what people buy and talk about.
The main group behind this message is the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and they aren’t holding back. They say the bill would let the government fire Republican leaders at banks and snoop on folks who buy things like guns, ammo, and Bibles. That’s not okay, they argue, because it could lead to the government spying on regular Americans just for having different beliefs.
The RECOUP Act gives bank regulators massive new powers to remove bank leadership for vaguely defined ‘risk control’ failures that could include simply doing business with politically disfavored industries. Read full statement by @jberlau https://t.co/mCg3b41u7b
— Competitive Enterprise Institute (@ceidotorg) February 27, 2024
The bill, called the Recovering Executive Compensation from Unaccountable Practices Act, or RECOUP, gives a bunch of new power to government regulators. These regulators could kick out bank leaders if they think the bank is taking too much risk, even if the bank is doing really well. Plus, the bill might let them take control of banks just because they don’t like certain industries, like coal or oil. That’s not fair, says the group, because it could lead to banks being forced to support businesses that make progressive politicians happy, instead of making their own decisions.
The Republican group also pointed out a scary thing the Treasury Department did. They found out that the government was telling banks to give them info on people who shop at outdoor stores and use words like “Trump” and “MAGA” in their payments. The government claimed it was to spot extremism, but the group says it’s just a way to snoop on normal people. They’re worried that this bill would make stuff like this even worse, and they’re warning Congress not to pass it, either on its own or sneaked into other important bills.
So, in short, the Republicans are saying this banking bill gives too much power to government officials and could lead to unfair treatment of people with conservative views. They don’t want Congress to pass it, and they’re making sure everyone knows why. Sounds like there’s a big fight brewing over this one!
