On Monday, President Bush requested the Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion TARP bank bailout program. And, this time, we cannot approve the bailout without guaranteeing real accountability and conditions – no more blank check bailouts!
That's why today Tom Geoghegan is launching a petition telling Congress to do exactly that – ensure that the bailout money is directed towards those who really need it and that the interests of working Americans are protected. Click here to sign the petition.
We'll deliver the petition to the House and Senate leadership. And we'll show that we're not going to sit idly by while hundreds-of-billions of our money gets shipped to banks without any real accountability and oversight.
Many observers now say we wasted the first $350 billion, and we still don’t know where the money went. We need accountability and a serious plan for how to emerge out of this dangerous economic contraction.
So, before we approve another penny, our petition demands that the following three conditions must be met:
- Give priority – directly if possible – to help people keep their homes.
- Get public interest representatives or directors on bank boards in all of the banks receiving money.
- Penalize any bank that has been hoarding money from the first bailout.
And, before we start handing out any more money, we need to take a careful look at which banks should receive the money – we need to seriously consider whether banks which are insolvent should be saved. After all, we can’t spend taxpayer money to save every single banker when we have to worry about the solvency of Social Security and Medicare as well. The economic security of working Americans has to come before a federal guarantee of profit to every single banker.
Let's make sure Congress hears us, that they know we are not going to accept another blank check bailout. We demand real accountability, serious oversight, and reasonable, mandatory conditions.
Tom's been fighting for economic security for working Americans for the last 30 years. Sign the petition and join Tom in fighting to end the era of blank check bailouts.
~Julie Sweet, Campaign Manager
www.geogheganforcongress.com