President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the real reason why banks need to be regulated is because they exist to make profits.
On an appearance on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, Obama spoke about some of the regulations his administration has supported and enacted, insisting “smart regulations” are needed because “these financial institutions are in it to make money.”
“But, look, these financial institutions are in to make money and that’s why we need some smart regulations and this is an example of the difference in this campaign because my opponent says he wants to roll back all those regulations,” Obama said. “These folks are not going to do it just out of a sense of guilt of what happened previously or because suddenly they feel charitable.”
Obama is right in this regard; this worldview is an example of the difference between his campaign and Romney’s. The Massachusetts Governor does not believe making a profit is a bad thing government needs to regulate.
Further, what Obama does not understand is that such regulations — like Dodd-Frank — have actually hurt small and community banks that do not have the resources of the larger financial institutions to deal with the burdens such laws impose.