Heather Booth asks "Is the Senate Afraid of Ghosts?

Heather Booth, from Americans for Financial Reform, has posted a new entry on the Huffington Post in which she wonders if the Senate is worried after this ghostly comment made by Paul Volker at a  recent Banking Committee hearing:

“I tell you sure as I am sitting here, that if banking institutions are protected by the taxpayer and they are given free rein to speculate, I may not live long enough to see the crisis, but my soul is going to come back and haunt you [when it happens].”

Heather’s full post is about the link between unemployment and the need for financial reform, especially considering the current rate of unemployment in the country (9.7%) and the amount of money big bank CEOs have been awarding themselves in bonuses this year ($100 million at AIG alone).

The Senate is working on financial reform legislation and a parallel financial reform bill (HR 4173) passed the House late last year.  That bill included a proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, something consumer advocates and activists are fighting to have included in the Senate version.  Click here to sign a petition asking your Senators to support the CFPA!

(Photo: peasap)