Treasury's Wolin Addresses Chamber of Commerce on Financial Reform

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin came out swinging today in a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the Urgency of Financial Reform:

So while we can have legitimate disagreements on the details of financial reform, there can be no disagreement that reform is necessary.  And there should be no disagreement that reform is long, long overdue. 

That is why it is so puzzling that, despite the urgent and undeniable need for reform, the Chamber of Commerce has launched a $3 million advertising campaign against it.  That campaign is not designed to improve the House and Senate bills.  It is designed to defeat them.  It is designed to delay reform until the memory of the crisis fades and the political will for change dies out.

The Chamber's campaign comes on top of the $1.4 million per day already being spent on lobbying and campaign contributions by big banks and Wall Street financial firms.  There are four financial lobbyists for every member of Congress. 

All told, it is one of the most expensive special interest campaigns in history