Pawlenty: Glass-Steagall revival ‘isn’t realistic’

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) said Wednesday that re-implementing Glass-Steagall, a law designed to break up big banks is “probably not realistic.”

The head of the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington and a 2012 presidential contender’s comments made his comments in response to former Gov. Rick Perry’s (R-Texas) seeming support for implementing Glass-Steagall.

{mosads}”Look, let’s agree — no more too big to fail, no more bailouts, no more subsidies, no more too big to jail, and if you don’t think Dodd-Frank did it — then what’s your proposal?

“Let’s see what [Perry] has to say in specifics. Going back to Glass-Steagall probably isn’t realistic at this point,” Pawlenty said on Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto Coast to Coast.”

Glass-Steagall is a Depression-era law that then-President Bill Clinton repealed in 1999. It would require banks to split their commercial and investment banking operations. It’s popular amongst progressives, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), but has also been championed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Perry, who is running for the 2016 GOP nomination, said in New York earlier Wednesday that “we could once again require banks to separate their traditional commercial lending and investment banking and related practices.”