Bankers Warn of Cost of New Regulations

Oy.

Wisconsin’s top bank leaders warn that the biggest rewrite of banking laws since the Great Depression will raise the cost of financial services for the public without addressing the root causes of the financial crisis. Bankers completing the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) semiannual Bank CEO Economic Conditions Survey also report that demand for commercial and other benchmark loan categories remains weak throughout the state.

When asked how the soon-to-be enacted federal financial regulatory reform bill – commonly referred to as the Dodd-Frank Bill – will affect their bank, the 114 survey respondents overwhelmingly said it will increase compliance costs, limit revenue opportunities and may force them to charge for services that are currently free.

Bankers also expressed concern that the increased capital requirements in Dodd-Frank may reduce lending and slow the economic recovery.

Bankers further take issue with claims that consumers will be better protected as a result of Dodd-Frank. According to one banker, “[The] reform should have been directed at those who caused … the problems.” Another said Dodd-Frank will “generate a negative impact on both the bank and our customers.”

In stark contrast to how President Obama and federal lawmakers sold the regulatory reform package, Wisconsin bankers believe “Main Street” community banks will be hit harder by Dodd-Frank than the mega “Wall Street” firms. It will “place us on the endangered industry list,” a banker warned. Another said “larger organizations are better able to absorb the costs of compliance.”

Two Non-Stories

Major Walker contributor got no-bid contract

and…

Mark Neumann, candidate for Wisconsin governor, improperly avoided paying real-estate transfer fees

That is all…

Group Supporting Illegal Immigration Complains About Enforcement

Argh.

But these days Calderon-Gonzalez and many other illegal immigrants find themselves in deportation proceedings for traffic and various other infractions, says Christine Neumann-Ortiz, director of Voces de la Frontera, a low-wage worker and immigrant advocacy group.

“In the past few years, we have seen a disturbing trend of escalated arrests of non-criminal immigrants who, through collaboration of local law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), end up in deportation proceedings,” she wrote in a letter to Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway and other county supervisors.

Voces has “documented dozens of cases in the past 12 months in which immigrants, arrested for traffic violations or crime for which they were later found innocent, are now facing deportation,” she wrote.

Why is this disturbing?  They are here illegally and are being deported once they were discovered.  Who cares what prompted them to come to the attention of immigration authorities?