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Good news from Obama about investigating Wall St. Let’s hope it is rigorous and vigilant. Thank you to MoveOn and everyone else who applied pressure and made their voices heard.
-Shepard
Did you watch the State of the Union last night? President Obama did exactly what hundreds of thousands of us have been calling on him to do—he announced a federal investigation into Wall Street. Here’s what he said:
“I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.”
The best part is, progressive champion New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is co-chairing the investigation and will make sure it stays on track.
Just weeks ago, this investigation wasn’t even on the table, and the big banks were pushing for a broad settlement that would have made it impossible. Your work changed all that.
This is truly a huge victory for the 99% movement. Hundreds of thousands of us signed petitions, made calls, and held signs outside in the cold to make this issue something that President Obama couldn’t ignore. Here’s some of what MoveOn members and our allies did to bring about this victory:
* Over 360,000 of us signed a petition calling on President Obama to fully investigate the banks.
* We delivered that petition at over 150 events last Thursday around the country at Obama for America campaign offices.
* Our pressure on state attorneys general stopped the rush to a sweetheart deal that would have precluded this investigation.
* And we’ve called, Facebooked, and tweeted at the White House repeatedly to ask the president to launch this investigation.
Can you take a few minutes and thank President Obama for holding Wall Street accountable?
Click here to post a message of thanks on the White House Facebook wall.
Without an investigation, real accountability for the banks wouldn’t be possible. But while this is a big win, it isn’t enough all by itself. We still need to keep a close eye on the investigation, make sure top bankers don’t escape prosecution, and keep fighting for real solutions for the 11 million underwater homeowners who are still struggling to keep their homes.
And, we need to keep pushing for more wins for the 99%, including our campaigns to get big money out of politics and tax the rich fairly. That all takes resources, and for obvious reasons, MoveOn doesn’t get big checks from bank CEOs! So please click here to donate to keep the momentum going.
Progressive victories don’t come that often, and there’s so much more to do. But this is a very big one. Thank you for all you did to make it happen!
–Elena, Emily, Lenore, Robin, and the rest of the team
P.S. I just called Regina, an affected homeowner and MoveOn member, to tell her the news. She was at our rally outside President Obama’s campaign event in Harlem last Thursday, calling on the president to investigate the banks on behalf of homeowners like her. Regina shared her story in this video. She said, “The president heard the pain of the American people. Thank you, Mr. President!”
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