[Occupymendocino] [ Urgent Action: Stop the Republicans' Wall Street giveaway]

[agnes at mcn.org]

 People are frustrated with Congress. Part of the reason, of course, is
gridlock. But mostly it's because they see a Congress that works just
fine for the big guys but won't lift a finger to help them.

 And now the House of Representatives is about to show us the worst of
government for the rich and powerful.

The House is about to vote on a budget deal  negotiated behind closed
doors that slips in a provision that would let derivatives traders on Wall
Street gamble with taxpayer money, and once again get bailed out by the
government when their risky bets threaten to blow up our financial system.

 These are the same banks that nearly broke this economy in 2008 and
destroyed millions of jobs. The same banks that got bailed out by
taxpayers and are now raking in record profits. The same banks that are
spending a whole lot of time and money trying to influence Congress to
bend the rules in their favor.

I'm urgently calling on Congress to withhold support of the deal today
until this dangerous giveaway is removed from the legislation. Join me
right now to stand up to Wall Street.

 You will hear a lot of folks say that the rule that will be repealed in
the Omnibus is technical and complicated, and that you shouldn't worry
about it because smart people who know more than you about financial
issues say that it's no big deal. Don't believe them.

 Actually, the rule is pretty simple. Here's what it's called  the rule
that the House is about to repeal and I'm quoting from the text of
Dodd-Frank PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS OF SWAPS
ENTITIES.

 We put this rule in place after the collapse of the financial system
because we wanted to reduce the risk that reckless gambling on Wall
Street could ever again threaten jobs and livelihoods on Main Street. We
put this rule in place because people of all political persuasions were
disgusted at the prospects of future bailouts.

 And now, no debate, no discussion, Republicans in the House of
Representatives are threatening to shut down the government if they don't
get a chance to repeal it.

 That raises a simple question why? If this rule brings more stability to
our financial system, if this rule prevents future government bailouts,
why in the world would anyone want to repeal it, let alone hold the
entire government hostage in order to ram through the repeal?

 The reason, unfortunately, is simple. It's about money, and it's about
power. Because while this legal change could pose serious risks to our
entire economy, it'll also make a lot of money for Wall Street banks.

 Wall Street isn't subtle about this one according to documents reviewed
by the New York Times, the original bill that is being incorporated into
the House' spending legislation today was literally written by Citigroup
lobbyists, who redrafted the legislation, striking out certain phrases
and inserting others.

 I know that House and Senate negotiators from both parties have worked
long and hard to come to an agreement on the omnibus spending
legislation. And Senate leaders deserve great credit for preventing the
House from carrying out some of their more aggressive fantasies about
dismantling even more pieces of financial reform.

 But this provision goes too far. Citigroup is large, and it is powerful.
But it is a single, private company. It shouldn't get to hold the entire
government hostage to threaten a government shutdown in order to roll
back important protections that keep our economy safe.

 This is a democracy, and the American people didn't elect us to stand up
for Citigroup. They elected us to stand up for all of the people.

We all need to stand and fight this giveaway to the most powerful banks in
the country. Join me in calling on Congress to withhold support of this
package until this risky giveaway is removed from the legislation.

 Thank you for being a part of this,

 Elizabeth Warren


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