Now Let's Hold Corporations Accountable

This article by George Goehl of National People's Action originally appeared in the Des Moines Register.

It's one of the great disasters in U.S. history, and it has left a mess so big it will take incredible resources and ingenuity to clean it up. It's an example of an industry being so focused on expanding profits that it was ill-prepared when its plan failed. Though, I could easily be talking about BP, I'm not. I'm talking about the big banks and the financial crisis.

It seems to be what we do these days - clean up messes left behind by unaccountable corporations. It's been two years since the big banks sent our economy to the brink of collapse. The good news is that the president will soon sign legislation that will begin to rein in Wall Street. The bad news is that the economic crisis the big banks created continues to pose tough challenges for tens of millions of Americans everyday.

As the recession lingers, the numbers - 11 million jobs lost, 3 million homes foreclosed on, billions in pensions wiped away - are so staggering that at times we can become numb to them. But in cities and towns across the country these numbers are all too real, representing fellow Americans struggling to find a job, save their home, or retire with dignity...

Read the entire article at the Des Moines Register.