Clinton Contradicts Obama, Tells Colbert She Would Let Big Banks Fail

Everyone knew that Hillary Clinton on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert would make headlines. But nobody could have predicted that Clinton would come out and contradict President Obama’s policy on banks. Colbert has already been capitalizing on the election cycle, and moments like this solidify his position in the elite of political commenters. Here’s the relevant exchange: Colbert: If you're president and the banks are failing, do we let them fail? Clinton: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. First of all, under Dodd-Frank, that is what will happen because we now have stress tests and I'm going to impose a risk fee on the big bank if they engage in risky behavior but they have to know, their shareholders have to know that yes, they will fail and if they're too big to fail. Then under my plan and others that have been proposed, they may have to be broken up. That’s a break from the major bailout that saved the banks in 2008 and a major vote of confidence in Dodd-Frank, a financial regulation bill passed in 2010. This is the most directly Clinton has spoken out about her plans for the banks, including a Bloomberg Op-Ed earlier this month. In the op-ed, Clinton wrote she planned to hold banks more accountable and cut down on certain kinds of high frequency trading. Clinton’s visit comes after a big week for the presidential hopeful. She went in front of an investigatory committee for 11 hours and was left largely untouched by controversy, despite Democratic fears that her past might hound her. Clinton also turned 68 yesterday. She told Colbert she celebrated by sleeping in and hanging out with her husband (some guy) and grandchildren. That’s Hillary, just your average grandma who loves sleeping in.