[ti:Obama Seeks Limits on Banks, Condemns Campaign Finance Ruling ] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.59]Economics Report. [00:05.48]President Obama is proposing rules [00:09.27]to limit the size of banks [00:11.28]and the risks they can take. [00:14.32]He wants to prevent banks [00:16.87]from using government-insured deposits [00:19.91]to make risky investments. [00:22.46]He also wants to keep them [00:25.35]from owning hedge funds [00:27.39]or private equity funds. [00:29.94]Banks took big losses [00:32.44]as they traded mortgage-related [00:35.34]securities that went bad. [00:37.65]That helped create the financial crisis. [00:42.03]Bank shares fell after the [00:45.53]president's announcement Thursday. [00:47.28]His earlier efforts [00:49.97]at financial reform [00:51.66]have faced strong opposition [00:54.55]from financial companies [00:56.29]and some members of Congress. [00:59.33]In the Senate, [01:01.78]sixty votes are needed [01:04.02]to prevent unlimited debate on a bill. [01:07.90]But the Democrats have lost [01:10.65]their sixtieth vote. [01:12.50]On Tuesday voters in Massachusetts [01:16.53]elected a Republican to finish [01:19.22]the term of Ted Kennedy [01:21.36]who died in August. [01:23.20]Scott Brown opposes [01:26.04]the health care legislation in Congress. [01:29.08]His election could also [01:31.81]affect other areas, [01:33.72]like climate change legislation [01:36.45]and reforms in the financial system. [01:39.79]And at the same time [01:42.13]a separate development [01:44.46]could affect future elections. [01:47.31]The United States Supreme Court [01:49.97]has cleared the way [01:51.54]for independent spending [01:53.55]by businesses and labor unions [01:56.44]in political campaigns. [01:58.54]The court decided, five to four, [02:02.44]on Thursday to overturn its [02:05.23]own ruling from nineteen ninety. [02:07.93]That case let the government bar [02:10.84]corporations from using their [02:13.18]own money to pay for campaign ads [02:16.47]for or against candidates. [02:19.18]Now the court says [02:22.03]the restriction on political speech [02:24.77]violates free speech rights [02:27.41]guaranteed by the Constitution. [02:30.42]But President Obama says [02:33.61]the decision will reduce the [02:35.71]influence of average Americans. [02:38.77]He called it a "major victory" [02:41.80]for powerful interests [02:43.51]like big oil companies, [02:45.57]Wall Street banks [02:47.61]and health insurance companies. [02:50.34]He directed his administration [02:53.75]to talk with congressional leaders [02:56.14]from both parties to develop [02:58.73]a "forceful response." [03:01.06]Elections for Congress [03:04.01]are this November. [03:05.81]The next presidential election [03:08.70]is in two thousand twelve. [03:10.54]Wednesday marked Barack Obama's [03:14.59]first anniversary in office. [03:16.59]But the Republican victory [03:19.35] in liberal Massachusetts [03:21.24]was seen in large part [03:23.08]as a sign of voter anger [03:25.87]across the country about the economy. [03:28.90]Unemployment has doubled [03:31.49]in two years to ten percent. [03:34.53]Many people are angry that [03:37.51]they struggle while the government [03:39.40]rescued big banks. [03:41.41]Some banks took losses [03:44.85]but others earned record profits last year. [03:49.09]And that's the VOA Special English [03:51.92]Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.