June 2, 2018- A newly-released nationwide survey by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting, publicized by Americans for Financial Reform, revealed overwhelming bi-partisan support for curbing the influence of Wall Street and the big banks over the US government.
The survey focused on likely voters in midterm elections, as well as those who often vote only in Presidential elections. One hundred battleground districts were polled, including Republican, Democratic, and tossup.
The results showed one clear message: all voters want to support candidates who will come down hard on Wall Street.
Survey questions involved the following issues:
- The revolving door between the big banks and government, making politicians beholden to Wall Street;
- Wall Street’s role in rigging the system to benefit the wealthy, citing the recently passed Republican tax bill;
- “Wall Street’s racially discriminatory lending practices” and “outsize political influence and role in exacerbating economic inequality”.
Most importantly, overwhelming support was indicated for separating commercial from investment banking (Glass-Steagall), and breaking up the biggest banks to prevent another financial crisis and government bailout.
The results:
For separating commercial from investment banking– 77% support among Democrats, 82% among Independents, and 62% among Republicans;
For breaking up the biggest banks to prevent a government bailout in the event of another financial crisis– 57% among likely voters.
In 2016, both political parties recognized this political reality, and included Glass-Steagall in their party platforms. The record of both Congress and the Trump White House since then has been to go in the opposite direction.
It is time for serious Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections to definitively break off the love affair with Wall Street, and heed this message.
Tags: Americans for Financial Reform, Democrats, Glass-Steagall
How about using this blog to create a call-in campaign to the White House asking the President to keep his campaign promise to reenact Glass-Steagall before the system blows. Set a date and then we can let the phone lines ring. Thanks
While we support Glass-Steagall, and a new National Bank, and other policies coherent with the American System, we are not a political action committee, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to do what you suggest. There are many other venues, some of which we have covered on the site. Our purpose is to provide in-depth understanding of the principles involved, which we believe is essential for the fight to be successful. We hope our readers will act on the information we provide, and believe that spreading the circulation of the blog will be helpful in goading such action.