Washington, DC— Jim Manley, spokesman for Nevada Senator Harry Reid, released the following statement today in advance of a key Senate cloture vote to move to debate on Wall Street accountability legislation:

“Today, Republicans face a major choice: Will they stand up for the American people, and join us to hold Wall Street accountable for the reckless gambling that cost 8 million Americans their jobs and millions more their economic livelihood? Or will they follow the marching orders they’ve been getting at their secret, closed-door meetings with Wall Street executives, and continue to protect Wall Street?

“We remain eager to work with Republicans who are sincere about reforming Wall Street, and we are hopeful for bipartisan agreement on this important effort.  But there are no two ways about it: a vote against even opening debate on holding Wall Street accountable is a vote to protect Wall Street.”

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Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd sent a written response to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell today, responding to a recent letter from the Senate Republican Caucus outlining Republicans’ intent to protect Wall Street and keep the same rules in place that brought America’s economy to the brink of collapse.   In their response, Reid and Dodd call out Republicans for “mischaracterizing the legislation and protecting Wall Street,” and urge them to “reverse course and join with us to produce a strong bipartisan bill.”

Further, Reid and Dodd reminded Senate Republicans about “the stakes for America’s economy” related to Wall Street reform.  Senate Democrats are committed to passing Wall Street reform this year to help create a financial system that works for all Americans – not just the sort of Wall Street executives that Senator McConnell recently met with behind closed doors.

Excerpts of Reid and Dodd’s letter to Senator McConnell:

“As you know, Democrats have been working in a bipartisan manner for months.  Any claim to the contrary at this late stage of the process seems nothing more than a transparently partisan effort to kill Wall Street reform.”

“Based on this process, Chairman Dodd developed a bill that incorporated numerous ideas from the bipartisan working groups and his discussion with individual Republican members of the committee.  Indeed, while referring to the committee-reported bill, Senator Shelby, the ranking member, was reported to have said that ‘lawmakers are 80 percent in agreement,’ certainly not the hallmark of a partisan product.”

“Unfortunately, the Senate Republican leadership seems more interested in mischaracterizing the legislation and protecting Wall Street.  As Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman noted recently, ‘It’s a truly shameless performance…pretending to stand up for taxpayers against Wall Street while in fact doing just the opposite.’  Krugman went on to observe that Senate Republican leaders have held meetings with Wall Street lobbyists in an effort to coordinate their political strategy.”

“Given that the stakes for America’s economy and our taxpayers could not be higher, we strongly urge you to reconsider your approach and truly work with us on this much needed reform.” Read the rest of this entry »

Washington, DC— Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement this evening after the Senate voted to extend unemployment insurance benefits:

“Thousands of Nevadans and millions of Americans rely on unemployment benefits to support their families during these economic times.  Families are struggling and now more than ever they need all the assistance they can get.  That is why it was important for us to extend these benefits. We will continue to work toward a long-term extension of these benefits to ensure that middle-class Americans will have the economic certainty that they need to make ends meet.

“I was encouraged to see some of my Republican colleagues join us in extending these benefits, but I am disappointed that so many more voted to continue blocking this much-needed measure.  It is beyond reason why the same Republicans who gave tax breaks to Wall Street bankers who played Russian roulette with the economy and rich CEOs who shipped your jobs overseas now want to block assistance to unemployed Americans.  Senate Democrats remain committed to supporting Americans still looking for work, passing job-creating measures and strengthening our economy.”

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