Main Street Calls for Wall Street Reform

Though elected officials in Washington struggled to get Wall Street reform legislation to the Senate floor for debate, rallies across the country this week attracted tens of thousands of supporters for the bill.

A march through San Francisco’s financial district drew thousands, and hundreds of people rallied outside of a Bank of America in Kansas City, Iowa.  An AFL-CIO and National People’s Action rally in New York City, dubbed “Showdown on Wall Street,” drew more than 10,000 people, with 16,000 more participating online.

“Americans are counting pennies, while bankers are counting their billions.  This is just not right,” said Jack Ahern, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, at the New York rally. “Main Street needs jobs, consumer protection and trust in our financial institutions.  So, it cannot be back to business as usual for Wall Street.  We are here to say Americans have had enough, and we mean business.  It is time for Wall Street to be held accountable.  It is time to put people over profits!” 

Civil rights groups are supporting the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with broad regulatory powers to protect consumers from abusive lending practices that contributed to the current economic meltdown.  The bureau would include a civil rights office focused exclusively on fighting discriminatory lending.

“We will not back down against the big banks that have already poured millions of dollars into advertising and congressional lobbying to fight reform, water down legislation, and maintain the status quo,” said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference.  “We are committed to ensuring that the bill the Senate passes is the strongest possible bill – with the most robust consumer protections it can have.”

Read The Leadership Conference’s “Six Goals of Financial Reform.”