Chris Dodd's Big Kiss (Off)

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and its 533 new rules, is now law (in contrast, Sarbanes-Oxley had 16). The firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell notes the SEC will write 95 new rules. The new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will write 24, and the Financial Stability Oversight Council will write 56.

The fact that it was sponsored by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank tells you all you need to know about the legislation’s effectiveness. The two politicians most responsible for getting us into our current mess are now claiming to have saved us from it by passing laws meant to further restrict everyone but themselves. Barney Frank was busy crafting new legislation to fix problems with the bill before it was even passed. As the Wall Street Journal wryly notes, if you’re pre-occupied with new legislation to fix the original legislation when the original legislation hasn’t yet passed, well…it says a lot about the quality of the original legislation.