Millions of Jobs… Billions in Bailouts… Trillions in Lost Pensions
We Want Our Money Back!
The financial meltdown of 2008 caused much suffering and strife for working families in America. The reckless behavior of Wall Street, big banks, mortgage companies, and credit card companies cost America millions of lost jobs being, hundreds of billions of dollars in government bailouts, and trillions of dollars lost in the stock market.
It’s time to get our money back.
The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, will hold accountable the large institutions in the banking and financial industry that are largely responsible for the economic meltdown of 2008. While the legislation does many important things, there are three main components of the bill:
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Safeguarding consumers in arenas ranging from mortgage loans to credit cards, the new bureau would protect American consumers from predatory practices, and will be given the power to enforce rules.
- Derivatives: The $6 Trillion derivatives industry – where investors trade bets on the value of assets in order to seek profits – is currently un-regulated. This bill safeguards America from another financial crisis by requiring such transactions to occur over a public exchange, much like the Dow Jones, or the NASDAQ.
- Too Big to Fail: A phrase that should never be used again, this bill will prevent financial institutions from becoming too big to fail by limiting the size of any one institution, limiting the interconnectedness of any one institution, and setting up a “funeral fund,” paid for by large institutions, that accounts for any future failures, similar to the FDIC.
Public opinion is overwhelmingly on our side, but, the opposition has spent more than $400 million in lobbying to weaken and dismantle the protections in the bill. The bill passed through the Senate Banking Committee on a party-line vote and is expected to make it to the Senate floor over the next few weeks. The Big Banks are pushing hard to weaken the bill when it comes to the Senate floor, and we need to push back. You can take action by sending a message to your Senator here or by calling your Senators at 202-244-3121.