It’s been one and a half years since our nation’s worst financial crisis since the depression, and Americans continue to struggle in a sluggish and uncertain economy.

Many Northwest Indiana residents have voiced their anger at the unbridled greed and gross mismanagement of Wall Street financial institutions that led to our nation’s financial collapse and deep recession.  Asking taxpayers to pay for a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street still makes me mad.

It is wrong that the American people were asked to bail out private financial institutions due to careless Wall Street risk-taking that was fueled by poor regulation, lack of oversight, and greed.

As your representative in Congress, I strongly opposed the use of taxpayer funds to bail out large mismanaged financial institutions and voted three times against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, more familiarly known as the “Wall Street bailout.” I am appalled that the United States government provided this magnitude of assistance to those who caused the financial collapse.

I am also frustrated by the inadequate oversight of the bailout funds, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  Despite over $1 trillion in taxpayer assistance, these financial institutions have failed to adequately inject new liquidity into the financial system, which has further stagnated the economy.  In a blatant act of arrogance, large institutions like AIG have also continued to grant their executives excessive compensation and bonus packages after accepting millions of dollars in bailout funds.

I have been working to make sure we have greater accountability and oversight of the bailout funds to ensure that your taxpayer dollars are used wisely and not for the enrichment of Wall Street executives.

Since the release of the bailout funds, I have consistently supported initiatives that would establish restrictions on the remaining funds and limit the practice of excessive executive compensation.  I have supported legislation that would demand greater accountability from those financial institutions receiving bailout funds by implementing stricter reporting requirements and guidelines. I have also fought for measures to recover bonuses paid to executives.

As Congress continues to reform our financial system, I need your help to fight for policies that will actually solve the financial crisis, putting the interests of Main Street, not Wall Street, the American people, and not executives of massive banks first.

The problems in our current financial system are deep-rooted and will not be resolved with a one-time infusion of taxpayer money.  You can be sure that I will continue to support sensible financial policies that will strengthen the economy and protect our tax dollars from being squandered.

With your support, I will continue to fight for the interests of Northwest Indiana residents and other hardworking Americans.  Please consider making your most generous contribution, whether it’s $5, $10, $25, $50 or more, to my campaign so I can continue this work.  Together you and I can make a difference. Thanks for your continued support - I truly appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Pete