James Hairston
Essay #4
The Securities and Exchange Commission, The federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Social Security Act were all components of FDR’s New Deal, which still exists today. These programs have stood the test of time and continue to be necessary because they make sure that incidents like the Stock Market Crash don’t happen again. Also they help insure the American people that they will be able to withdraw money from the bank without problems and lastly it set a minimum standard of living.
The Security and Exchange Commission was established by the United States Congress in 1934 as an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory agency during the Great Depression that followed the Crash of 1929. The main reason for the creation of the SEC was to regulate the stock market and prevent corporate abuses relating to the offering and sale of securities and corporate reporting. The SEC was given the power to license and regulate stock exchanges, the companies whose securities traded on them, and the brokers and dealers who conducted the trading. Currently, the SEC is responsible for administering seven major laws that govern the securities industry. They are: the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and most recently, the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006. The enforcement authority given by Congress allows the SEC to bring civil enforcement actions against individuals or companies alleged to committed accounting fraud, provided false information, or engaged I insider trading or other violations of the securities law. The SEC also works with criminal law enforcement agencies to prosecute individuals and companies alike for offenses which include a criminal violation.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. The FDIC insures deposits at 8,195 institutions. The FDIC also examines and supervises certain financial institutions for safety and soundness, performs certain consumer-protection functions, and manages banks in receiverships. Insured institutions are required to place signs at their place of business stating that “deposits are backed by the full faith credit of the United States Government.” Since the start of FDIC insurance on January 1, 1934, no depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds as a result of a failure.
Social Security in the United States currently refers to the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs. The larger and better known programs are OASDI; Unemployment benefits; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled (Medicare); Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs (Medicaid); State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
The Social Security Act was drafted by Gov. Robert Moran Jr’s committee on economic security, under Frances Perkins, and passed by Congress as part of the New Deal. The act was an attempt to limit what were seen as dangers in the modern American life, including old age, poverty, unemployment, and the burdens of widows and fatherless children. By signing this act on August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt became the first president to advocate the protection of the ederly.