To: President Donald Trump
Break Up the Big Banks: They Were “Too Big to Fail” Then, They Are Even Bigger Now
The giant Wall Street banks that We the People bailed out in 2008 because they were deemed “too big to fail” have gotten even bigger. Break them up now, before the next catastrophe.
Why is this important?
It has been five years since Lehman Brothers collapsed, bringing the house of cards known as Wall Street crashing down and catalyzing a global economic catastrophe.
While the people of Main Street have barely even begun to recover, the banks on Wall Street — after getting bailed out by the American taxpayers — are back to business, and profits, as usual.
In fact, the very banks that cried “too big to fail” have only gotten bigger. In 2008, the four biggest banks in America — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wachovia/Wells Fargo — held $6.4 trillion in assets. Today, those four banks have grown nearly 22% bigger, with $7.8 trillion in assets.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
We simply must break up these colossal institutions so that they can never again hold us hostage to their own greed and shortsightedness.