Freedom to Succeed or Fail

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the freedom to succeed or to fail in business. After the financial crash of 2008, Congress passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, otherwise known as the Dodd-Frank bill. According to Norbert Michel, this bill did not reform Wall Street or protect consumers. It merely propped up failing businesses that were “too big to fail” and put more regulations on them.

            Heritage Action for America explains why the Dodd-Frank bill was not good for the economy or Americans. This paragraph explains why the 2008 recession lasted for so long.

Along with imposing 3,500-plus pages of new rules and regulations on the financial industry, Dodd-Frank codifies “too big to fail” policy, runs local community banks out of business, restricts access to credit for investors and home buyers, raises lending costs, and reduces access to capital for small businesses. It also created one of the most powerful and unaccountable federal agencies – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Evidence shows Dodd-Frank is one of the major factors responsible for the country’s historically slow economic recovery.

            By sending conservatives to Congress and a Republican to the White House, Americans told Washington that they wanted changes. Apparently, some of the people in Washington have been listening because Congress is now working on a bill known as the CHOICE Act. Representative Trey Hollingsworth (R. Indiana) says that under this Act, “small community banks will be able to serve their communities as they once did – without excessive burdens from regulators that stifle growth and restrict the access to capital” and “hold Washington accountable.”

            The CHOICE Act has been a long time in the making, but it sounds like it will help small businesses bring prosperity back to the United States. Through passing this Act, Congress will bring the freedom to succeed or fail back to Americans without the use of taxpayer money propping up businesses that are “to big to fail.”