Alexis Goldstein, Occupy Wall Street Activist, Debates Rep. Jim Himes Over Deregulatory Bill On Twitter

Prominent Occupy Wall Street activist Alexis Goldstein engaged Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Twitter on Wednesday over the legislator's sponsorship of a bill to deregulate derivatives and provide taxpayer backing for the complex financial products.

The bill, H.R. 992, passed the House Agriculture Committee in March with the strong support of Wall Street banks. It repeals a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill that requires banks to push some of their derivatives operations outside of bank divisions that receive explicit government backing. Some forms of derivatives were at the heart of the 2008 financial meltdown. Banks prefer to keep derivatives in their taxpayer-insured units because they receive better credit ratings with government backing.

HuffPost reporter Zach Carter interviewed Himes on the bill in March, which can be viewed above.

Read the full exchange between Goldstein and Himes below: