A month after Alan Witt retired, the economy crashed and he and his wife Melinda lost a substantial amount of their savings, which they'll never be able to recover. Sadly, Wall Street is still playing by its own rules (as evidenced by JP Morgan’s $2 billion loss), and little has changed since the economy crashed.
In Congress, I will fight back for working families to hold Wall Street accountable. We need to break up the Wall Street-Washington romance.
Today, I’m proud to become the first congressional candidate in the nation to air a TV ad that stands for a simple, principled idea: Wall Street bankers who broke the law belong in jail.
If you want Democrats who will stand strong on these issues, I encourage you to stay in the loop with my campaign here. (You can also help put our new ad on TV here.)
In this race for Congress in New Mexico’s First District, I am the one Democrat with a long, consistent record of taking on the status quo and powerful corporate interests. I’ve taken on predatory lenders, created an Inspector General’s office, and fought to get corporate money out of Albuquerque elections.
I’m proud of my record of taking on the status quo, even in my own party, to change the system.
Here’s what I would do in Congress to hold Wall Street accountable:
- Fight to increase 20-fold the number of investigators for the financial crimes federal task force led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Right now, this task force only has 55 investigators and prosecutors. The Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s was staffed with over 1000 investigators, experts, and prosecutors. That effort yielded more than 600 convictions and $130,000,000 for taxpayers. One of the first bills I offer will be to increase the funding and staffing for this financial crimes task force.
- Push the U.S. Justice Department to more aggressively prosecute white-collar crimes by Wall Street bankers. To this day, not one Wall Street banker who broke the law, tanked the economy, and took away people’s homes and savings are in jail.
- Strengthen the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and close the loophole in the legislation’s “Volcker Rule” that was exploited by JPMorgan.
- Pass legislation restoring the intent and powers of the Glass-Steagall Act to separate commercial banking from investment banking.
Watch my new television ad here – and sign up to join my campaign if you would like to support my efforts.