Main Street

How Seven Elected Officials Are Standing Up to the Banks

“You have really been fantastic!” wrote William from Bearsville, New York, “Rarely have I been able to write that someone I voted for has actually acted as I would act…truly representative government! I love it!”

Congress is at record low approval, and distrust of government is at record highs. Occupy protesters have taken to the streets across the country to voice their anger at the current political system. In this day and age, what would possess William from Bearsville to gush over an elected official?

Turns out William was writing to Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York state. Schneiderman, elected in 2010, is one of a handful of state officials resisting a proposed “50 state settlement” with big banks that would amount to a slap on the wrist for years of unethical and sometimes illegal foreclosure practices.

The first reaction we all have to a politician doing anything we even remotely approve of is: What’s their game? What do they have to gain from this? Given what we’ve seen the last few years, it’s a fair question. Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, gave his answer in an August blog post:

I’ve known Schneiderman for a few years, back when he was a state Senator working to reform the Rockefeller drug laws. And my answer to this question is pretty simple. He wants to. That’s it. Eric Schneiderman is investigating the banks because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. So he’s doing it. This guy has thought about his politics. He wrote an article about how he sees politics in 2008 in the Nation, and in his inaugural speech as NY AG he talked about the need to restore faith in both public and private institutions. Free will still counts for something, apparently.

But the New Yorker isn’t the only one stepping up to the plate. Joining Schneiderman are Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Jack Conway of Kentucky, Beau Biden of Delaware, Kamala Harris of California, and Lori Swanson of Minnesota. “Thank goodness Lori Swanson is standing up for homeowners and holding financial companies accountable,” wrote Elizabeth from Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

It’s true that these seven AG’s happen to be Democrats. But foreclosure fraud is not – or at least it should not be – a partisan issue. Even our most conservative, rabid anti-Obama friends and relatives would probably agree that those who used dirty tactics to make a killing while millions of families lost their homes should be brought to justice.

The biggest reason that there are seven AG’s standing up to the banks instead of 50 is that the price for messing around with those large financial institutions – literally trying to extract more restitution and deny blanket legal immunity – can be very high. A bunch of these guys are up for reelection, and some of them have ambitions for higher office. In an age of Citizens United, tangling with the likes of Bank of America and Citigroup can put a huge pair of crosshairs on your political career; the banks don’t care whether there is a D or an R next to your name if you vote their way.

That’s why it’s even more important to laud these seven for standing up to the banks. Take action here and send a message to your state Attorney General that an investigation into fraud isn’t just good for our economic future – it’s the right thing to do.

Photo of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from the Office of New York Attorney General.

Tags: California, Delaware, foreclosure, foreclosure crisis, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York