Business

House Passes Bill Easing Rules Regulating Wall Street

Published

11 years ago

January 14, 2015

Oakland Post

Former Sen. Chris Dodd, center, with President Barack Obama and former Rep. Barney Frank. (AP Photo)

Former Sen. Chris Dodd, center, with President Barack Obama and former Rep. Barney Frank in 2010. (AP Photo)

MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a bill Wednesday to ease the landmark law reining in banks and Wall Street, advancing a key Republican priority more than six years after a financial crisis brought on the Great Recession.

The vote was 271-154 on legislation pushed by the newly bulked-up Republican majority in the House. Approval of the bill came swiftly in the second week of the new Congress despite a veto threat from the Obama White House. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it will likely pass despite strong opposition from liberal Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The bill alters sections of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. That law had tightened government oversight of banks and financial markets with an eye toward preventing another crisis and taxpayer bailout of banks. At the height of the financial crisis in late 2008, the government stepped in to rescue crippled banks — including the largest Wall Street institutions — with hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money.

Most notably, the measure passed Wednesday would give U.S. banks two extra years — until 2019 — to ensure that their holdings of certain complex and risky securities don’t put them out of compliance with a new banking rule.

With the Republican push, the legislation in the House bypassed the customary legislative slog of committee work and revisions. It wouldn’t appear likely to sail through the Senate nearly as quickly. While the Republicans now control the Senate as a result of November’s elections, GOP senators would be more likely to work on compromises with their Democratic colleagues and to put the legislation through a process of hearings and debate.

In debate Tuesday night, Democratic lawmakers denounced the move as a giveaway to the largest U.S. banks, which hold the bulk of the securities in question.

Rep. Maxine Waters of California, senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, called it “this gift to a handful of the biggest Wall Street banks.”

The bill’s author, Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., insisted it makes “smart, technical reforms.” It would have the effect of “reining in out-of-control Washington regulators” and helping small businesses create jobs by reducing their compliance burden, he said.

The Democrats objected to the measure being whisked through the House in the first days of the new Congress without an opportunity for discussion or changes at the committee level. But they were thwarted late Monday in their attempt to bring about a dozen amendments to a floor vote.

Republicans insisted that because most of the provisions of the bill already had been voted on by the House in the last Congress as separate measures, ample opportunity was provided to consider them.

The bill would revise the so-called Volcker rule, a key part of the financial overhaul law, which would limit banks’ riskiest trading bets. That kind of risk-taking on Wall Street helped trigger the 2008 crisis.

The bill won a 276-146 majority in the House a week ago — only the second day of the new Congress — but failed under fast-track rules that required a two-thirds vote.

Republicans in the House have been trying for years to chip away at the Dodd-Frank law, which Congress enacted with mostly Democratic support to tighten regulation. The aim was to prevent another crisis. Republicans have denounced the law as an excessive expansion of regulatory authority that’s stifling the competitiveness of the financial industry.

The Obama White House issued a veto threat Monday, saying the bill “would weaken and undermine” the Dodd-Frank law. Referring to the proposed two-year delay for certain securities under the Volcker rule, the White House said in a statement, “taxpayers should not have to wait that long to have limits in place that protect them from risky practices.”

The Federal Reserve in April gave banks until July 2017 to sell off their holdings of so-called collateralized loan obligations, which are mainly backed by commercial loans to higher-risk companies. That came atop a previous one-year extension by the Federal Reserve, to July 2015.

The rule is named for Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve Board chairman who was an adviser to President Barack Obama during the financial crisis. Volcker urged a ban on high-risk trading by big banks to diminish the likelihood that taxpayers might have to rescue them again.

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EBMUD Enshrines the Legacy of its First Black Board Member William ‘Bill’ Patterson

Patterson, who died in 2025 at the age of 94, was remembered as a tireless advocate, mentor, and public servant whose influence shaped generations across the East Bay.

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

William “Bill” Patterson, Jr. Courtesy Peralta College District

By Carla Thomas

On Tuesday, May 12, Oakland honored a towering community figure, William “Bill” Patterson, with the unveiling of a bronze plaque and the renaming of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) boardroom in downtown Oakland.

Board members, family, colleagues, and mentees gathered to reflect on Patterson’s enduring legacy at the meeting.

Patterson, who died in 2025 at the age of 94, was remembered as a tireless advocate, mentor, and public servant whose influence shaped generations across the East Bay.

“This is well deserved,” said Patterson’s cousin, Maria Simon. “He was such a big part of the Oakland community. It’s heartwarming to know he was known by so many people.

“So many credit him with helping them get their first job. It was especially meaningful when he held the Bible for Mayor Barbara Lee’s swearing-in. He truly believed in the goodness of people, in possibilities, and in the power to bring things to fruition.”

Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams described Patterson as a father figure. “He took me under his wing,” she said. “This recognition is a very special moment.”

Fellow NAACP member Robert “Bob” Harris echoed that sentiment, recalling Patterson as “a great member of the NAACP and a proud Kappa Alpha Psi man.”

Patterson’s son, William Patterson Jr., reflected on his father’s professional life.

“My father loved his community, and he loved working with EBMUD and spoke highly of his colleagues,” he said, standing alongside cousin Rise Jones Pichon, a former Santa Clara County Superior Court judge.

EBMUD Board President Luz Gómez praised Patterson’s resilience and dedication.

“As his health declined, he would spend half the day in the hospital and still come to our meetings,” she said. “There will never be another like him.”

Activist Cheryl Sudduth highlighted Patterson’s commitment to workforce development and youth empowerment. “He had the vision to bring water careers to students and the next generation,” she said, noting that participants in one of his initiatives received $2,000 stipends.

Sudduth also summed up one of Patterson’s guiding philosophies: “He told me it’s not enough to have a seat at the table. You need to have access to quality resources, the tools to build the table, and the skills to ensure everyone there can contribute. We should be more than a representation; we should reflect determination.”

EBMUD Board Member Andy Katz emphasized the importance of remembrance.

“When you die, you die twice, physically, and then when people stop saying your name,” he said. “By honoring him this way, his name will continue to be spoken for years to come.”

Others in attendance reflected on Patterson’s broad impact.

“It was a joy to watch him accomplish so much,” said EBMUD Board Member Marguerite Young.

Business leader, Delane Sims added that Patterson became a trusted advisor to multiple Oakland mayors.

“We need young people to learn about him so they can become leaders capable of creating meaningful change,” Sims said.

Following public comments, attendees witnessed the unveiling of the bronze plaque in the boardroom foyer, along with signage officially renaming the space in Patterson’s honor.

Born in 1931, Patterson devoted more than seven decades to public service in Oakland and the broader East Bay. Appointed to the EBMUD Board in 1997, he served for 27 years and became its first African American board president. His leadership extended beyond water governance into civil rights, education, and community development.

A three-term president of the Oakland NAACP, Patterson also advised Oakland’s first Black mayor, Lionel Wilson, and played a key role in advancing equity, public health, and environmental justice. He served on the Urban Strategies Council and the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, further shaping public policy.

In 1971, Patterson was a founding director of the Peralta Colleges Foundation, which provides financial assistance and support to students across Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College.

In addition, Patterson mentored countless young people through Oakland’s recreation programs, helping guide future leaders and even professional athletes. Though slight in stature, Patterson will always be remembered as a giant of a man.

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Arts and Culture

Against All Odds: Mary Jackson’s Journey to NASA Engineer

Jackson’s life took a significant turn when she was offered the opportunity to work in a wind tunnel, a facility used to test the effects of air moving over aircraft structures. It was here that her passion for engineering truly took flight. However, there was a challenge: to become an engineer, she needed to take advanced courses that were only offered at a segregated high school.

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Mary Jackson. Public domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

When we talk about breaking barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the name Mary Jackson deserves a place at the top of the list.

Jackson was born in 1921 in Hampton, Virginia, a place that would later become central to her groundbreaking work. From an early age, she showed a strong aptitude for math and science—subjects that, at the time, were not widely encouraged for African American women. But Jackson was not one to be limited by expectations. She earned degrees in mathematics and physical science from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), setting the foundation for a career that would change history.

Before joining NASA, Jackson worked as a teacher and later as a research mathematician at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that eventually became NASA. Like many African American women of her time, she began her career as a “human computer,” performing complex calculations by hand. It was in this environment that she worked alongside brilliant minds like Katherine Johnson, forming part of a powerful group of African American women whose calculations helped launch America into space.

Jackson did something truly remarkable. She petitioned the city of Hampton for permission to attend those classes. She didn’t accept “no” as an answer. And she won.

In 1958, Jackson became NASA’s first African American female engineer.

But Jackson’s impact didn’t stop there.

Later in her career, she chose to step away from her engineering position—not because she couldn’t continue, but because she wanted to make a difference. She moved into roles focused on equal opportunity, working to ensure that women and minorities had access to the same opportunities she fought so hard to get.

Jackson’s story gained wider recognition through the book and film Hidden Figures, which highlighted the contributions of African American women at NASA. But long before the spotlight found her, Jackson was doing the work—quietly, persistently, and brilliantly.

Jackson retired from Langley in 1985. Among her many honors were an Apollo Group Achievement Award and being named Langley’s Volunteer of the Year in 1976. She served as the chair of one of the center’s annual United Way campaigns and a member of the National Technical Association (the oldest African American technical organization in the United States).

She and her husband Levi had an open-door policy for young Langley recruits trying to gain their footing in a new town and a new career. A 1976 Langley Researcher profile might have done the best job capturing Mary’s spirit and character, calling her a “gentlelady, wife and mother, humanitarian and scientist.”

For Jackson, science and service went hand in hand.

She died on Feb. 11, 2005, at age 83, at a convalescent home in Hampton, Virginia.

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Alameda County

The Marin City Flea Market Is Back

The Marin City Flea Market returns on May 23, offering arts, crafts, vintage items, and collectibles. The market aims to uplift local vendors and celebrate cultural diversity.

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Customers shopping in Marin City Flea Market. Photo courtesy of marincityflea.org.

By Godfrey Lee

After a long absence, Marin City will once again hold its flea market. The market will have its grand opening on Saturday, May 23, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church parking lot on 101 Donahue St. It will be held every fourth Saturday of the month

The market will be free to the public

There will be arts, crafts, vintage, collectibles, and other items on sale at the market. Interested vendors can contact info@marincityflea.org or text (415) 484-2984 for more information.

“The Marin City Flea Market’s mission is to uplift local vendors, celebrate cultural diversity, and provide an accessible community space where creativity, entrepreneurship, and connection can thrive,” says their website, marincityflea.org.

The flea market is sponsored and run by the Rotary Club of Marin City.

For more information, contact info@marincityflea.org. Or text to (415) 484-2984