What is the link between fat Wall Street bonuses and your dwindling retirement account? Our skewed financial system rewards people who gamble with borrowed money and make big paper profits, while sidelining those who stick by the old values of thrift, personal responsibility and fair play.
High-risk investments, misleading contracts, cheating, and the quick profit mentality are all seriously flawed banking strategies. They created the recession, and are not sustainable or fair.
For more than a year our leaders have promised to fix the financial system -- yet still nothing has changed. Your outrage can help us return common sense to irresponsible financial strategies. Please sign our petition today and ask your senators why a year has passed with no banking reform.
Dear [Senator],
What happened to getting a straight-forward home loan, a fair credit card, and respect for the value of the money? From what I can tell, bankers are back to getting huge bonuses, while the things they did that caused our nation's economic crisis are still legal.
Booking quick profits on loans doomed to fail, passing the risk on to someone else, gambling with borrowed money, are not acceptable practices and must change. Bankers seem to have forgotten personal responsibility, fair play and thrift, and you need to get serious about bringing those values back.
Reform legislation should accomplish these core principles:
* No more bailouts: No bank should ever again be bailed out by taxpayers, so make sure no bank is "too big to fail."
* Reduce family debt: Make sure minimum loan payments cover some principle as well as interest, so people can actually pay down their debts.
* Stop misleading contracts: Require mortgages, loan contracts and credit card terms be written simply and clearly so you don't need to be a lawyer to understand your rights and responsibilities.
* End the 'quick profit' mentality: Pay brokers and bankers based on the long-term performance and quality of the loans they make. End 'keep the fee, pass on the risk.'
* Curb the gambling: Limit the bets that banks can make, including the private side-bets that are not even reported.
* Don't leave consumer protection in the hands of those who failed to do it.
I urge you to focus on the market problems that caused the crisis and fix them. Bring back values that will strengthen our financial system and the financial standing of every American family.
