With a sense of urgency, President Obama has announced a host of new financial regulations. His stated goals are to protect retirement accounts, make big corporations pay their taxes, and bolster organized labor. Business interests and Republicans call it a "regulatory rampage" -- but disappointed progressives say he's waited too long. Stakes include the legacy of the Obama Administration.
In this week's address to the people, the President highlighted two of the new regulations he's imposed to make financial advisors responsible to their clients and to stop corporations from merging with foreign companies to avoid US taxes. During a news conference last week, he explained, "When companies exploit loopholes like this it makes it harder to invest in the things that make the economy work for future generations. It sticks the rest of us with the tab and makes hard working Americans feel like the deck is stacked against them"