Congressional Omnibus-Bill would gut Wall St. Reform, allow for more Special Interest Spending

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Statement: Peter Skopec, WISPIRG Campaigns Director

WISPIRG

The omnibus appropriations bill nearing a vote on the floor of Congress contains “riders” that would repeal a key section of the 2010 Wall Street Reform bill and further increase the influence of Big Money in elections by raising contribution limits to party committees. Statement of Peter Skopec, WISPIRG Campaigns Director:

“This backdoor, backroom effort will repeal protections for taxpayers and Main Street, and further empower billionaire megadonors in our elections.

“In 2008, the riskiest derivatives swaps led directly to a global financial collapse, a taxpayer bailout for banks and a recession for everyone else. Now Congress wants to let Wall Street take us back to a casino economy, where banks gamble with insured deposits and other taxpayer subsidies and guarantees. At the same time, Congress is about to give the wealthiest donors an even bigger megaphone. Most Wisconsinites find it hard to afford giving even one or two hundred dollars to candidates and causes they believe in, but these revisions to campaign finance law would allow big donors to give over $200,000 a year to party committees. After the most expensive Midterms in history, we should be advancing common-sense reforms that empower ordinary Americans instead.”

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WISPIRG, the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, is a statewide non-partisan non-profit group that stands up to powerful interests on behalf of the public interest.

www.wispirg.org