financial reform

They said we couldn’t do it, but they were wrong.  JwJ and our partners out-organized the big banks!

On Thursday, two years after the financial meltdown that has spiraled into the worst economic crisis in a generation, the Senate finally voted to approve the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act.  This financial reform bill takes some key steps towards breaking the control that Wall Street has over our country.

This important victory is just the beginning.  We will continue organizing to hold the big banks accountable and work to ensure that the banks who profit from our money benefit our communities.

Last night the Senate passed their version of the financial reform bill, bringing the U.S. to the brink of passing the biggest overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression.  The New York Times says:

The bill seeks to curb abusive lending, particularly in the mortgage industry, and to ensure that troubled companies, no matter how big or complex, can be liquidated at no cost to taxpayers. And it would create a “financial stability oversight council” to coordinate efforts to identify risks to the financial system. It would also establish new rules on the trading of derivatives and require hedge funds and most other private equity companies to register for regulation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Although this bill is far from perfect, it is a big move in the right direction, and it would not have happened without people like you taking action.  Wall Street has fought this bill every step of the way, spending $1.4 million a day on lobbying.  It was your voices: in the streets, on the phone, and in the mailboxes of your Senators that made it impossible for the banks to kill this legislation.

We are closer than ever to winning meaningful reform of Wall Street.  The work of Jobs with Justice members, activists, and allies is starting to add up to a national movement that is changing the debate in Washington, and our momentum is building. 

The Senate is close to finalizing a banking reform bill, and the big banks are trying desperately to weaken or kill banking reforms that might prevent another meltdown, even threatening to filibuster.

Click here to take action and then CALL YOUR SENATORS at 1-888-854-1978

Today, Jobs with Justice and allies will join National People's Action,  SEIU, and the AFL-CIO for a "Showdown on K Street" in Washington, DC, ground zero for Wall Street's corporate lobbyists, as the Senate is voting on important amendments to the banking reform bill. 

Maybe we'll finally see who got the trillions

Under pressure from Jobs with Justice coalitions and their partners like NPA and PICO, the US Senate adopted the Sanders amendment to the banking reform bill (S3217), 96-0, that would bring about an audit of the Federal Reserve.

This is a major step towards accountability, as Fed Head Ben Bernanke has repeatedly refused to tell even members of Congress which financial institutions received trillions of dollars in low or no cost loans from several "special" programs.  Despite being broadly popular with voters (like breaking up the big banks and an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency), Wall Street's grip on Congress made the audit an uphill battle.  But Sanders agreed to compromise language that limited the audit to a one-time examination of the "special" loan programs.  Similar language is already in the House version of banking reform.

The Senate is continuing to take up other amendments, to strengthen and weaken the reform bill.  Even the New York Times editorialized, "They Have to Do Better" on financial reform.

We are building a movement.

Since January, Jobs with Justice has been working with labor and community partners to send a message to Congress:  Rein in Wall Street.  We need good jobs, now.

The work of Jobs with Justice members, activists, and allies is starting to add up to a national movement that is changing the debate in Washington, and our momentum is building.  Just last week, the Senate overcame a threatened Republican filibuster and brought us closer to meaningful reform of Wall Street.  Senator Durbin, the #2 Democrat, spoke out in favor of an amendment to cut down the size of "too-big-to-fail" banks.  We also learned that the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs.

As the Senate takes up its banking reform bill (the House passed its bill 5 months ago), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the number 2 Democrat, spoke in favor of an amendment to cut down the size of "too-big-to-fail" banks.  JwJ mobilized thousands of letters to Senators last week in support of this amendment, known as the "Safe Banking Act," sponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown (OH) and Ted Kaufman (DE).

For 2 years, Jobs with Justice coalitions have been calling for a break-up of the big banks, a tax on the Wall Street speculators that drove our economy into ruin, and a major federal program to save and create millions of good jobs.

We're generating pressure, but Senate leaders have not yet agreed to even allow a vote on the amendment to limit the size of the banks.

Three things you can do:

1)  Send a letter to the Senate to break up the banks

2) May 17:  Showdown on K street in DC, the political center of Wall street and corporate greed

Just a few days after Jobs with Justice joined Rep. Marcy Kaptur's campaign for a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs -- the kind that can lead to jail time, not just 'slap-on-the-wrist' fines -- and another week of nationwide mobilizations demanding bank reform and good jobs, the Obama Justice Department has agreed to open a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs.

This investigation is overdue, like the payment Wall Street owes America for wrecking our economy and pushing people out of homes and jobs.

Let's keep the momentum going!

Tens of thousands of people were out on the streets this week to demand:  Good Jobs Now! Wall Street Must Pay!

The AFL-CIO, National People’s Action, SEIU, and other groups spearheaded actions this week in a half-dozen cities across the country to demand strong financial reform and job creation.  JwJ coalitions in San Francisco, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, New York, and Buffalo joined the actions.

“People are angry -- and for good reason,” said Jobs with Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta.  “Corporate greed and recklessness have driven our economy into a crisis, and leaders in Washington, DC have yet to offer any real solutions.  It’s time to hold Wall Street accountable.”

Led by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, thousands of union members and activists from National People’s Action (NPA), NAACP, Move On, JwJ activists from New York and Buffalo, and more took over Wall Street in New York City during the afternoon rush hour yesterday.