Senator Warren and Senator Merkley need your help. It’s important!

Two Federal Reserve Board seats are open, and the President will soon decide who should fill them.

In addition to setting monetary policy, the Fed is the single most important  financial regulator and has a hugely important role in determining how the financial system works and who it works for.

The makeup of the Fed’s Board of Governors will be felt in countless decisions about whether or not we will have a fairer, simpler, and more stable banking system.

Tell the White House now: nominate Fed Governors with a deep commitment to reform and a hard-nosed understanding of Wall Street’s dangerous ways.

Senators Warren and Merkley put it clearly in a letter to the White House:  “It is critical that the two remaining nominees for the Board be leaders who possess expertise in financial regulation and have demonstrated a strong commitment to financial reform.”

We agree.  So let’s add as many voices as we can to the delivery of this crucial message.

America is still living with the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Tens of millions of families have suffered the loss of jobs, homes, and massive amounts of household wealth as a result of Wall Street abuses enabled by a generation of bank-coddling regulators. The Fed was a huge culprit, failing to do its job to crack down on predatory lending or high-risk gambling.

Today, the big Wall Street banks are bigger than ever and remain a source of tremendous risk to the economy. Too many of the reforms mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 have yet to be implemented, and the financial industry is working overtime to derail the process permanently. That makes it more crucial than ever to have Fed governors with a record of standing up for reform.

When the position of Fed Chair was open earlier this year, Senator Warren, Senator Merkley, and countless people like us spoke up, and we knew we had made a tremendous difference when President Obama nominated Janet Yellen instead of Larry Summer.   We can make that kind of difference again.

Tell President Obama to nominate Fed candidates who will stand up for everyday Americans and against Wall Street’s risky behavior.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Jim Lardner
Americans for Financial Reform