The "bailout" smear

The "bailout" smear
Sent to us by Brad Woodhouse (Note: Opposing views respectfully submitted will be reposted. Dave)
GOP leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are smearing Wall Street reform as a "bailout" -- which is about as dishonest as you'd expect from the inventors of the "death panel" myth.

But it's no surprise. While they put on a populist front for the tea partiers, Republicans are locking arms with the same big banks that drove the economy into recession.

In a private meeting last week, McConnell even huddled with Wall Street executives about how to kill reform -- and cynically brought along one of the GOP's chief fundraisers.

Debate over reform is about to begin, so we're going up with ads to expose the mistruths and hypocrisy.

Democrats are working to pass a bill to hold big banks accountable, protect consumers from dishonest lenders, and put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts forever.

But those facts don't seem to matter for Republicans. In interviews, on TV, and even on the floor of the Senate, GOP leaders keep repeating the same "reform is a bailout" falsehood. They're promising to oppose or water down legislation, while Wall Street lobbyists scurry around Capitol Hill, trying to carve out new loopholes and exemptions.

We learned from the health reform fight that we can overcome even the fiercest efforts by Republicans and their special-interest allies -- but only if we push back early, stand strong, and have the resources needed to fight.