June 15, 2017—Some Glass-Steagall advocates just won’t take `no’ for an answer. Among them are former Reagan Administration Assistant Treasury Secretary Paul Craig Roberts, and Democratic Representatives Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii).
On June 8 Roberts posted an article under the title “Without Glass-Steagall America Will Fail.” Roberts notes: “What we can say about the repeal of Glass-Steagall is that it turned a somewhat egalitarian democracy with a large middle class into the One Percent vs. the 99 percent. The repeal resulted in the destruction of the United States as an open, prosperous society. The electorate is very much aware of the decline in their economic situation, and this awareness expressed itself in the last presidential election.” Roberts also pointed out the danger of a new implosion of the speculative bubble.
“The question before Congress today,” Roberts writes, “is whether they will take the country down for the sake of campaign contributions … or will they take personal risks to save the country.”
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a tireless fighter for the reinstitution of Glass-Steagall for years, is one of those prepared to take risks. As the author of H.R. 790, the Return to Prudent Banking Act, she has recently taken the fight to a new level in the House of Representatives, and also to the public. On June 12 she used her appearance on the online TV-streaming channel Cheddar on Monday to press for stopping Wall Street “chicanery” with the return of Glass-Steagall. “The promise was written” in the Republican Party platform, she argued, and it must be kept.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a cosponsor of H.R. 790, is also mobilizing citizen support for Glass-Steagall. She has issued a petition which calls for the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall “to break up the banks that are currently considered too big to fail.”
Tags: Glass-Steagall, Marcy Kaptur