- Target:
- House of Representatives
- Region:
- United States of America
The buying and selling of credit derivatives based on unsafe mortgages by Wall Street traders was a primary reason for the financial collapse, for which the American people had to bail out the banks.
The bad mortgages were bundled and then traders would "bet" on whether (or how soon) this or that bundle would fail.
It was clearly gambling - and it's legal. When they miscalculated on just how many bad mortgages there were, the bottom fell out. The traders lost nothing - we bailed them out.
We, the undersigned, call on the United States Congress to outlaw the sale and purchase of credit derivatives and all other similar products.
This is clearly a subtle form of gambling with the public's money for which the Wall Street traders are not held to account. If they win, they benefit. If they lose, we bail them out.
This form of gambling used to be illegal and that changed during the last days of the Clinton administration when it was permitted.
We submit it should again be illegal.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Restrict Wall Street Excesses petition to House of Representatives was written by Diane Kay and is in the category Business at GoPetition.