Public Citizen

We Need Comprehensive Financial Reform Now!

courtesy of our friends at BanksterUSA.org

While it may be a wonderful life on Wall Street, here on Main Street too many of us are struggling this holiday season. A financial sector run wild has collapsed the economy -- gifting us with layoffs, debt and foreclosures. We need aggressive banking reform to prevent another catastrophic meltdown. A package of financial reform measures may come to the House in December. We need reform now, and we need it done right. Tell your members of Congress to stand up for Main Street and pass strong financial reform!

Take action now below and learn more here.

March 21, 2019

Subject:

1) Warren Buffett called derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction," and they need to be forcefully regulated. Right now, the two House bills dealing with derivatives contain loopholes big enough to detonate an economy. Derivatives that are essentially insurance contracts should be regulated as insurance; derivatives that are purely speculative should be subject to state gambling laws. All standardized derivatives should be traded on an open exchange, no exceptions.
2) HR 3996 creates a process for dismantling "too big to fail" financial institutions, but only if they pose a "grave threat" to the economy. These firms should be prevented from growing too big to harm the economy in the first place and the too big to fail institutions that now exist should be broken up. We need a flat size cap (such as 5% of all assets in the system), and Main Street banks must be separated from Wall Street gambling at all times, everywhere.
3) The secretive and powerful Federal Reserve should not be chosen as the nation's "systemic risk regulator." They missed the dot.com stock bubble of the 1990s. They missed the housing bubble. Why should they be given another chance? But the Fed should be audited and democratized so the public can better understand who has benefited from the $2 trillion Fed bailout. All people in policy-making positions should be appointed by the President, subject to congressional approval, not by the banks which the Fed regulates.
4) To truly protect consumers, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency created in HR 3126 must be able to regulate all consumer products and the institutions that sell them. There should not be loopholes for auto dealers, credit life insurance, private educational lenders or small banks. States must not be prevented from legislating or enforcing consumer protection laws.
 
We know that the financial services industry is putting a lot of pressure on you -- they have spent millions to defeat reform -- but I ask you to use this opportunity to show that you stand with the citizens, not with the big banks and their lobbyists.
 
Thank you for listening to a constituent. I look forward to your reply.

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