fjdfjkeljrlketkrkjjlkt  Madeleine Albright

In a hard hitting article Talbott says that the banks are up to their old tricks, hiding their losses and hoping to quietly rebalance their books by introducing new fees, including reinstating monthly fees for not maintaining a minimum balance in your checking account, charging for online banking transactions that are currently free, or charging to receive a paper statement or talk to a live teller. In other works, soak the consumer a little bit more to cover the losses incurred by their recklessness.

Elizabeth Warren, he says, will bring her "Oklahoma bred sense of honesty, fairness and decency" to the CFPB, turning their plan to deal with trillions in bad assets on its head. In other words, she might actually do what the Bureau is supposed to do -- protect the consumer.

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Heather Booth, Director, Americans for Financial Reform: “Passage of this legislation is a victory for Main Street over Wall Street. Nearly two years after Wall Street and the Big Banks took our economy to edge of the abyss, and cost 8 million Americans their jobs, Congress has passed and sent to the President the most sweeping banking reforms since the Great Depression.

“The legislation will take unprecedented steps to clean up Wall Street.
· It will protect consumers buying homes.
· It will create new rules of the road for credit to protect families and small businesses.
· It will rein in the casino economy and stop speculators from operating in secret.
· It will give the tools to stop future bailouts.
· It will make our economy more secure and more stable.

“Despite all the millions spent and armies of lobbyists deployed to kill this reform, Main Street has come out ahead because people organized, protested and raised their voices. Americans will long remember those in Congress who courageously stood with Main Street again the Big Banks, who have tried for two years to kill this bill.

“There is no question that the Big Banks, and their high priced lobbyists will continue to work to weaken or gut reforms and we will continue to fight to ensure that the strongest reforms are implemented.

“This is the beginning and not the end of the struggle to hold the big banks accountable. We will continue the fight to make sure the promise of the legislation is realized. Today we join tens of millions of Americans in celebrating this victory and applauding Congress for its bold action.”

Heather Booth, Director, Americans for Financial Reform: “We are pleased the Senate has passed this momentous bill that will rein in big banks’ reckless behavior and bring transparency to our financial system and protect consumers. The Wall Street used every weapon in their arsenal – $500 million to lobby against reform, millions in paid advertisements – to try to kill the bill, looking to opponents of reform in the Senate to block the bill. And when that didn’t work, they sent their army of almost 2,000 lobbyists to the Hill to attempt to dilute reform.

“The Senate has resisted these forces, standing with the 8 million who lost their jobs and countless other Americans who lost their homes to foreclosure, savings and pensions because of the irresponsible actions on Wall Street. Today they said no more, holding Wall Street accountable and taking action to prevent another financial crisis.

“The bill will begin the process of reining in the unchecked speculation of the casino economy that caused the Great Recession and protecting consumers from fraud and abuse by financial institutions that siphoned billions of dollars from the pockets of middle class families into the hands of big Wall Street banks.

“The passage of this legislation will be remembered as a historic turning point in our economic history. It ensures the financial system operates to support needs of working families, promotes business growth and economic mobility rather than the interests of the speculators who view the economy as a huge casino.

“The battle now moves to conference where the big banks will look to weaken or kill the bill behind closed doors. We cannot and will not allow this to happen. And we need to fight the big bank interests to strengthen the bill in conference. Tonight, the Senate took us to the verge of a historic reshaping of our financial system. We will now work to ensure a strong bill emerges from conference and is signed into law.”

The vote was 59 to 39, with four Republicans joining the Democratic majority in favor of the bill. Two Democrats opposed the measure, saying it was still not tough enough.

"When this bill becomes law, the joy ride on Wall Street will come to a screeching halt," Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said after the vote.

The 1,500-page measure, shepherded through the Senate by Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the banking committee, seeks to reshape both Washington and Wall Street.

In providing for the most profound remaking of financial regulations since the Great Depression, the legislation would create a new consumer-protection watchdog -- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- housed at the Federal Reserve to prevent abuse in mortgage, auto and credit card lending. It also would give the government power to wind down large failing financial firms and set up a council of federal overseers to police the financial landscape for risks to the global economy.

The legislation also establishes oversight of the vast market in derivatives, impose new restrictions on credit rating agencies and give shareholders a say in corporate affairs.

Democratic Congressional leaders and the Obama administration must now work to combine the Senate measure with a version approved by the House in December, a process that is expected to take several weeks.

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“Mother is the bank where we deposit all our hurts and worries “– unknown

Dear Senators:

We are mothers. We are engaged, every day, in providing for our families. Some of us are full time working moms, some are part-time working moms and some of us are stay at home moms who manage the family money. Regardless, we have all been affected by the economic crisis and we stand together in asking you, our representatives in Congress, to act in the best interests of families across the country -- just as your mother did for her family.

The economic crisis we are in is taking down American families, one household at a time, with job losses, a widening wave of foreclosures, and billions of lost savings. While economists talk about “the end of the recession”, for millions of families, hard times are getting harder.

But we- moms – are now doing something about it.

We will not stand by and allow big banks and financial institutions to supersede the best interests of our families. We will not jeopardize or betray our children’s futures. We are taxpayers and voters and represent the fabric of society.

Senators, we want and we will fight for comprehensive and meaningful financial reform that will put American families first before banks and corporations. Main Street families must come before Wall Street interests, which is why we are urging you to pass the bill that will establish a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). This consumer agency would put cops on the financial beat -- regulatory cops with the tools to put an end to the deceptive practices that precipitated this economic crisis and imperiled millions of families.

The bill that can provide this reform will be debated over the next few weeks on the floor of the Senate. We know the financial industry lobbyists are spending money trying to water it down. Now is the time to stand up for Main Street. We need you to say “no” to the lobbyists’ loopholes and “yes” to the Main Street moms.

We were all taught by our mothers to try and do the right thing, always. Your moment has now arrived to make that decision.

As Sarah Josepha Hale states, “No influence is so powerful than that of a mother”. We are prepared and happy to bring our message to you in person.

Sincerely,

Main Street Moms

letter is now closed for signatures

While American families have made clear that they overwhelmingly support the reforms that a new consumer financial protection agency will produce — like clear, understandable terms and conditions for consumer credit products and accountability for the big banks — the lobbyists have made equally clear their plan to kill the agency.

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Although the vote was along party lines, with all 13 Democrats voting yes and all 10 Republicans voting no, senators said the decision would give both sides more time to shape a compromise that could attract broad support on the Senate floor.

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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2010

Statement from the President on Financial Reform

It has now been well over a year since the near collapse of the
financial sector, and yet today the same failed system that brought on
this crisis remains in place. The financial crisis has resulted in more
than 8 million American workers losing their jobs, trillions in
household wealth being wiped out and hundreds of thousands of small
businesses without the credit they need to grow. We cannot wait any
longer for real financial reform that brings accountability to the
financial system and makes sure that the American taxpayer is never
again asked to bail out the irresponsibility of our largest banks and
financial institutions.

This proposal provides a strong foundation to build a safer financial
system. It creates a new consumer financial protection agency to set
and enforce clear rules of the road and establishes stronger supervision
for the largest financial firms under the Federal Reserve. It brings
transparency and oversight to derivatives and other financial markets
that were central to the crisis and separates banking from proprietary
trading and hedge funds. The proposal will also provide the government
with essential tools to respond in a financial crisis, so that we can
wind down and liquidate a large, interconnected failing financial firm.
It allows us to protect the economy and taxpayers so that we can end the
belief that any firm is "Too Big to Fail".

As the bill moves forward, I will take every opportunity to work with
Chairman Dodd and his colleagues to strengthen the bill and will fight
against efforts to weaken it.

American families deserve a strong, independent consumer financial
protection agency that is accountable for setting and enforcing clear
rules across the financial marketplace. And I will not accept attempts
to undermine the independence of the consumer protection agency, or to
exclude from its purview banks, credit card companies or nonbank firms
such as debt collectors, credit bureaus, payday lenders or auto dealers.

I will oppose any loopholes that could harm consumers or investors, or
that allow institutions to avoid oversight that is important to
financial stability.

We need to ensure the ultimate bill provides strong, clear authority for
setting and enforcing rules, limiting excessive risk taking in the
financial system, and winding down the largest financial firms when
necessary in a way that does not cause a financial panic. All
derivatives must be regulated and shareholders should have a say not
just on pay but also other compensation that rewards risk taking. We
will stand firm against any attempt by the financial sector to avoid
their responsibilities: in any future crisis the big financial companies
must pay, not taxpayers.