Toomey defends work on Wall Street

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey says work he did 25 years ago should not be connected with the recent financial scandals.

Negotiators in the United States House and Senate are working to reach an agreement over a bill that would overhaul financial regulations.  The proposal has opposition from Republicans.

Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee Pat Toomey says he has grave doubts about the bill.

Joe Sestak has been hammering Toomey over his six years spent working on Wall Street.

But Toomey says work he did 25 years ago should not be connected with the recent financial scandals. Toomey says he hasn’t yet made up his mind about the current financial overhaul bill.

“One of the problems with this legislation is an enormous amount of discretion that’s given to bureaucrats without an explanation or without guidance,” says Toomey. “One of the dangers when you give open ended regulatory power to a regulator is that they get captured by the people they are supposed to regulate.”

Toomey says some changes are necessary, among them greater regulation of complex derivatives.

Toomey fired back at Sestak’s critiques by saying that the Delaware County Congressman voted for the Wall Street bailouts while he staunchly opposed them.

“From the very time it was initially proposed,” says Toomey, “I opposed the bailouts of the Wall Street firms. I continue to oppose it. And Joe Sestak has supported it. He voted for it. And he’s voted to continue ongoing bailouts.  So who’s really on the side of Wall Street? Well, Joe Sestak is the one who voted to bail them out and I’ve opposed bailing them out.”