Romney Dodd-Franks & Business Comments

On October 3, 2012 Romney said regulations are necessary but in some places they’re excessive; his example was the Dodd-Franks Act that he says includes a provision for banks that are too big to fail and they’re guaranteed by the federal government and were given a kiss while 122 community and small banks closed because of it; he also said we were giving loans to people who weren’t qualified but goes on to say it’s been 2 years and we don’t know what a qualified mortgage is and that’s why banks are reluctant to give a mortgage. Romney has never said regulation is necessary and this was the first time he said he’d repeal and replace Dodd-Franks Act. This like ObamaCare has things he likes and I’m assuming the ‘kiss’ he mentioned - while saying it as a negative thing - was the bank bailout in which the government disbursed $245 billion to the banks; as of September the government had received $264 billion ($19 billion profit) and the bailout was still making money for taxpayers. In his other dig at Dodd-Franks Romney’s declares (means he knew) banks were giving unqualified loans (therefore he knew what a qualified loan should be). But he says that the reason banks are reluctant to give a mortgage loan is because they don’t know what a qualified loan is. What? This is just more double talk. Dodd-Franks stopped the bad practice of giving unqualified loans. I believe the reduction in bank loans is due to unemployment, lower wages and perhaps an uncertainty in job status or length of time on a job. Banks are loaning but just in case you, like Romney, don’t know what a qualified loan is - it’s suggested that about 29-35% of your income should be spent on your house payment (including the mortgage, property taxes, mortgage insurance and hazard insurance). Bottom line - companies drive mortgage loans; the number and amounts.  

Romney also said he would champion small business – new business start ups are at a 30 year low – the top 3% of businesses employ half the small businesses and a quarter of the American workers and they’re taxed at 35% - 97% are taxed at a lower rate - the President’s plan would raise the tax of the 3% to 40% and the National Federal of Businesses (NFIB) said Obama’s policy would kill 700,000 jobs. I did find a fact checker article that said business startups were low but they used data going back to 1977 which is 35 years ago. In looking for information for 30 years as Romney stated I found the latest US Small Business Administration’s, Small Business Trends, article that said – Furthermore, the small business sector is growing rapidly. While corporate America has been "downsizing", the rate of small business "start-ups" has grown, and the rate for small business failures has declined - The number of small businesses in the US has increased 49% since 1982 and Since 1990, as big business eliminated 4 million jobs, small businesses added 8 million new jobs; I did find several reports that confirmed this information through 2010. I looked at the August 22 and 2 September 2012 NFIB reports and found no mention of job losses due to Obama’s policies. Romney should get a Liar, Liar-Pants on Fire award.