Putting Main Street first

In 2008, years of failed Republican economic policies came crashing down. Time after time, Republicans made decisions that put the short-term profits of Wall Street above the economic well-being of Main Street.

Not surprisingly, the Republicans' confidence that big financial institutions will effectively regulate themselves was misplaced. The result was a Great Recession that left hard-working American families paying the price for Wall Street's excesses with their jobs, homes, and retirement savings.

Amazingly, this ideology of greed seems to be alive and well, even amidst the economic destruction it caused. Today, with the taxpayers who bailed them out still looking for work, the bankers responsible for the recession are back to their old ways -- paying themselves multi-million dollar bonuses.

What's worse, the lobbyists for the big banks and their Republican allies in Congress are fighting any attempt to restore meaningful oversight and accountability in our financial system.

It's like they drove the economic car headlong into a tree. The passengers are in the hospital and the taxpayers are spending a fortune on repairs. Yet here come the big banks and the Republicans asking for the keys again.

I hope your answer to that request is as loud a "NO!" as mine. If it is, I hope you'll help me fight this dangerous attempt to return to the failed Bush economic policies.

Posted Feb. 02, 2010.

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