Before heading to California, President Biden delivered remarks on the economy Monday morning after two banks failed since Friday — the biggest failures since the financial crisis of 2008.
Seeking to reassure American workers and businesses, Biden declared that "Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe" and said small businesses can "breathe easier knowing they'll be able to pay their workers and pay their bills."
Explaining that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen "and a team of banking regulators have taken immediate action," Biden's remarks sounded something like Reagan's quip about the nine most terrifying words: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Customers of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank "can rest assured," Biden said, and will have access to their deposits on Monday. He also stated that "no losses will be borne by the taxpayers" as "the money will come from fees the banks pay into the deposit insurance fund."
Again, Biden reiterated that "every American should feel confident" in the banking system before saying that the "management of these banks will be fired" because anyone running a bank that has its assets seized by the FDIC "should not work there anymore." In addition, the president said "investors in the banks will not be protected" in the pseudo bailout because "they knowingly took a risk."
President Biden called for a "full accounting of what happened" with both banks in order to "reduce the risks of this happening again."
In a twist of irony, Biden cited the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, named after former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and former Rep. Barney Frank (D-NY), and said it was passed "to make sure the crisis we saw in 2008 would not happen again."
BIDEN: "During the Obama/Biden administration, we put in place tough requirements on banks...to make sure that the crisis we saw in 2008 would not happen again. Unfortunately, the last administration rolled back some of these requirements." pic.twitter.com/BHz4gzOQxy
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 13, 2023
As luck would have it, that same Barney Frank is a member of the board of now-failed Signature Bank.
And, despite President Biden's statement on Monday that former President Donald Trump "rolled back" some of the regulations on banks signed into law by President Obama, Barney Frank denied at the time a 2018 law signed by Trump would lead to the banking system's downfall.
Here’s a story I wrote 5yes ago about Barney Frank — earning +$1 million on Signature Bank’s board — using his name as author of Dodd-Frank to push a bipartisan bill to deregulate Signature
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 13, 2023
Signature failed yesterday & the FDIC will cover its depositorshttps://t.co/VJf0KrTrzm
As Townhall reported on Friday, Silicon Valley Bank was failed by state regulators and its assets were acquired by the FDIC. Then, over the weekend, Signature Bank failed as well. The two banks constitute the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, respectively, and their closures sent economic waves rippling through Wall Street and markets around the world.
In Friday's White House press briefing, the chair of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, Cecilia Rouse, said that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is "closely tracking" the situation and insisted "our banking system is in a fundamentally different place" from 2008.
The White House's dismissive attitude on Friday was mirrored by President Biden on Monday who, in typical fashion, refused to take questions from reporters following his remarks and headed for a quick exit.
Joe Biden darts for the door, taking no questions from reporters. pic.twitter.com/rPmB8S4hd2
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 13, 2023