WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that JPMorgan Chase's $2 billion loss reinforces why the Dodd-Frank Act was necessary.
"The president fought very hard against Republicans and Wall Street lobbyists to get Wall Street reform passed and also worked very hard to ensure the protection bureau was part of it and fought hard to make sure the Volcker rule was part of it," Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One, according to a pool report.
"Ever since it was passed, there have been millions and millions of dollars spent by Wall Street lobbyists trying to water down, delay and render ineffective the rules that have been put into place. The president has fought that. This merely reinforces why the president was right to take on this fight."
Carney went on to say that while the government cannot prevent banks from making bad decisions, it can provide rules to ensure that taxpayers won't pay the price for Wall Street's mistakes.
"What's important to note here is that those suffering the losses because of what happened here are shareholders and not average Americans who had nothing to do with this," Carney said. "The president's commitment was that we couldn't have it happen again where the failure of some banks or the reckless behavior of some individuals on Wall Street could cause the kind of financial crisis we saw in 2008."
Carney also took an indirect swipe at Mitt Romney. The Republican presidential candidate has called for the repeal of Dodd-Frank, along with the enactment of what he calls a "streamlined regulatory framework."
"It is amazing that there are still those who are out there arguing we should repeal Wall Street reform," Carney said, "that we should let Wall Street write their own rules again."
The comments from the White House came a day after an appearance by Jamie Dimon on NBC's "Meet the Press," where the JPMorgan Chase CEO said the firm was "sloppy" and "stupid" in making the trades that led to the $2 billion loss.
