Wall Street reform makes sense to grown-ups

By Dian Vujovich

Turns out, a lot of folks over the age of 50 think that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act makes good sense. Perhaps that’s because Aunt Ruth and Uncle Max are tired of being scammed.

Once you get past a certain age, it becomes pretty obvious that money isn’t merely a tool for living. Nope, in today’s wide income-and-wage-gap America where living is expensive, it has become such an overly precious commodity that cleverly cheating and bilking others for the benefit of your company have become more popular asset gathering techniques than say honest and fair business practices. And that’s a bummer for all.

So, after the financial crisis that began a handful of years ago, in an effort to divert another financial disaster the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was created and signed into law in 2010. Like all legislation, it is way too complicated, has many parts and is hundreds of pages in length. The purpose of the Act, however, is to do things like promote the financial stability within our markets, improve accountability and transparency in the financial system, end taxpayer bailouts, protect abusive financial services, etc., etc.

But, since becoming law, not a lot has happened. Even so that didn’t stop AARP from conducting a survey to find out how those over the age of 50 feel about the Act. In a nutshell, here are some of the findings from the 1003 individuals who participated in the survey:

-95 percent believe it is important that people be protected from predatory lending practices.

-94 % favor requiring that banks and other financial institutions provide full disclosure of all terms and conditions of their products in plain English and a simple format

-88% favor establishing a way to monitor the financial system for early signs of trouble

-86% favor ensuring Wall Street banks have a way to go out of business rather than relying on taxpayer bailouts.

-58% believes the reforms contained in the law should be allowed to take effect.

-20 percent are in favor of Congress repealing the law.

According to AARP Senior Vice President Joyce A. Rogers, “This survey clearly confirms that Americans are supportive of the individual provisions of Wall Street Reform and want to move forward with protections for consumers and investors.”

Huh. Wouldn’t it be nice if that will happened soon.