Stand with Warren and Sanders: Tell the Senate Bailout Caucus to stop helping Trump
Meet the “Bailout Caucus:” the 12 members of the Senate Democratic caucus helping Donald Trump in his mission to give a regulatory bailout to Wall Street.
One of Trump’s top priorities for 2018 is to slash the Dodd-Frank protections that safeguard against the risky gambling and speculation that led to the Wall Street economic crash and the bank bailouts. He has help from 11 corporate Democrats and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, who have co-sponsored a horrendous bill undermining rules on Wall Street.
The American people have made clear their opposition to the #TrumpTaxScam and repeatedly supported candidates who promise to resist Trump. But these Democrats seem to have learned nothing from the financial crash and instead think currying favor with Wall Street is smart politics. We need an instant outcry to show that Americans stand with the Warren-Sanders base of the Democratic party and oppose this Wall Street bailout.
Republicans have spent years attacking the Dodd-Frank protections on behalf of their big bank benefactors. Trump has made letting Wall Street go back to greedy and dangerous speculation one of his top priorities. Now, 12 members of the Senate Democratic caucus have lined up behind Trump’s plans: Sens. Michael Bennet, Tom Carper, Christopher Coons, Joe Donnelly, Heidi Heitkamp, Tim Kaine, Joe Manchin, Claire McCaskill, Gary Peters, Jon Tester, Mark Warner and Angus King.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has blasted the deal in no uncertain terms:
“This bill weakens consumer protections, helps out the country’s biggest banks and encourages them to swallow up even more community banks. This bill shows once again how Washington values short-term profits for big banks ahead of the interests of consumers or the safety of the financial system.”
The deal would let some banks sell high-risk mortgages once again, exempt many from the Volcker Rule that prevents risky gambling with depositor money and let speculative hedge funds hide behind the branding of major banks. Worst of all, it would exempt dozens of major, well-known banks from strict, too-big-to-fail oversight to prevent another massive crash. We need to show that the Warren-Sanders base of the party opposes Wall Street bailouts no matter who pushes them.
Despite what some corporate Democrats say, there is no excuse for supporting this bill. Instead of colluding with an unpopular Trump White House, they could have put Republicans on the defensive with a bold agenda. Instead of echoing Republican talking points about protecting small banks, they could point to statistics that show that small banks are more profitable now than they were when Dodd-Frank was passed. They decided they would rather add their name to a Wall Street regulatory bailout the Trump administration has been pushing.
There is still time to kill the formal legislation, especially with Democrats wary after the backlash from their surrender to Trump and abandonment of the Dreamers. We need to let every Democratic senator know that this deal is simply unacceptable and pressure them to side with the Warren-Sanders base of the party instead.
Originally published at act.credoaction.com.