August 5, 2013
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
It is time the Federal Reserve is run by a Chairperson, not another Chairman.
I'm writing to urge you to abandon Secretary Larry Summers as your choice as next Chairman of the Federal Reserve. We don’t need another member of the Old Boys’ network pulling the financial levers of government.
As a legislator who for years has stood up to big banks and the insurance industry on Beacon Hill, I know first hand what happens when there is a cozy relationship between regulators and industry. I’ve won many of those battles, but I have the scars to prove how tough it can be.
Secretary Summers has benefited from the revolving door between government and Wall Street. Each time he has left government or public service, he has rushed into the arms of the giants of the financial industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, he is currently being paid millions as a consultant for Citibank and the hedge fund D.E. Shaw.
We need autonomy from the Fed. We need a Fed that demonstrates its independence from Wall Street, not a Fed that curries favor with the powers that be in the financial industry. We need a Fed that cares more about the middle-class American worker, consumer and homeowner instead of one that caters to banks “too big to fail.” Larry Summers will disappoint time and again.
Fortunately, there is a superb choice available in Janet Yellen. She is highly qualified, free from the Old Boys’ network and has a clear vision for the way the Fed should be run. She is not tainted by her ties to Wall Street and she has more than demonstrated her abilities as a respected Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board.
I join Senator Elizabeth Warren and many others in urging you to pick Janet Yellen to be the next head of the Federal Reserve.
Sincerely,
Karen Spilka
Massachusetts State Senator
Candidate for Massachusetts’ Fifth Congressional District