March, 06 2018, 10:30am EDT
Devastating CBO Report Ends the Bank Lobbyist Act's "Community Bank Charade"
WASHINGTON
Statement attributable to Kurt Walters, campaign director at Demand Progress's grassroots anti-corruption wing, Rootstrikers:
"The CBO's report just destroyed any case that this bill is "community banking" legislation. A neutral arbiter just confirmed that this bill would increase the risk of future bank bailouts and gave even odds that it would let Wall Street giants CitiBank and JPMorgan pile on more risk.
"In what universe does this make sense as policy? In what universe is this what voters are clamoring for?
"You can picture the TV ads now: Senator X voted for more bank bailouts courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.
"The charade is over. At this point, any Democrat voting to advance this bill ought to just retire and start working directly as a lobbyist for the big banks."
The full CBO report on S.2155 is accessible here: https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/economic-growth-regulatory-relief-and-consumer-protection-act/2799/
Rootstrikers has been a centerpiece to grassroots activism efforts against the Bank Lobbyist Act and branding its supporters as the #BailoutCaucus. Allied groups have now driven more than 500,000 petition signatures, phone calls, and emails to the Senate in opposition to the bill.
Rootstrikers previous statement about the "Citigroup Carveout" (the aforementioned relaxation of leverage rules, which was first reported by The Intercept) is accessible here: https://mailchi.mp/rootstrikers/citigroup-carveout
Rootstrikers is a project of Demand Progress dedicated to reclaiming our government so it works for everyone and not just the wealthy and the well-connected.
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