Dear MoveOn member,

Right now, there are three excellent appointees to the Federal Reserve
Board who are waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. The Federal Reserve
is arguably the most powerful economic institution in the world, affecting
everything from jobs to financial regulation to climate and racial
equity.^1 The Fed oversees massive banks like J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Bank
of America, and Goldman Sachs, with the responsibility to ensure Wall
Street greed and recklessness don’t crash the economy ever again.^2

The Fed has a history of being too cozy with the big Wall Street banks it
is supposed to oversee—including letting them get away with abuses that
caused the 2008 financial crisis.^3 With Trump appointees dominating its
leadership, it has doubled down on that approach, loosening rules in the
interest of the financial industry in ways that put the rest of us at
risk.^4

Now, the Senate has a chance to remake the Federal Reserve by confirming
President Biden’s nominees: Sarah Bloom Raskin, Lisa Cook, and Philip
Jefferson. A new lineup at the Fed can help prevent catastrophes, put
working families and communities at the center of policymaking, confront
systemic racism, and get serious about the systemic risk caused by climate
change.

Can you take a minute and share our social media graphic urging the U.S.
Senate to confirm President Biden's Fed Nominee slate? [ [link removed] ]Click here to
see and retweet our message on Twitter, and [ [link removed] ]click here to check it out
on Facebook!

[ [link removed] ][IMG]These highly qualified people will bring experience, diversity,
and expertise on key economic issues to the Fed, a welcome step forward
towards a better-regulated Wall Street, protecting financial stability,
and building a more just economy.

The current all-white, almost all-male Republican majority on the board
has regularly voted to deregulate Wall Street, boosting bank profits while
raising the risks of disaster for the rest of us.

Now imagine the confirmation of Sarah Bloom Raskin to Vice Chairwoman of
Supervision, the government’s most influential direct overseer of the U.S.
banking system.

Ms. Bloom Raskin has blamed the 2008 crisis on “a deregulatory fervor”
that was “brought upon us through a combination of greed, weak regulation
and weak enforcement.”^5 When she previously served four years as a Fed
governor, she was directly involved in writing the rules aimed at
preventing another 2008-style crisis. Perhaps, most importantly, Ms. Bloom
Raskin understands the need for federal financial regulators to
proactively address growing threats to financial stability from the
climate crisis.

Share MoveOn's graphic demanding that the Senate vote to confirm this
slate of nominees—[ [link removed] ]here it is on Twitter, and [ [link removed] ]here it is on Facebook!

In the 108-year history of the Fed, there have been only three Black board
members—all of them men. There hasn’t been even one Black board member for
over 15 years.^6

With the confirmations of Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson, they won’t just
bring their years of work experience and their understanding and advocacy
of progressive policy reforms to the table. As Black Americans, they will
provide absolutely critical diversity in life experience and lived
perspective to the currently all-white board.

Dr. Cook formerly served as a senior economist in the Obama White House.
She has a Ph.D. in economics from UC Berkeley and is a professor of
economics and international relations at Michigan State University.^7

Dr. Jefferson is an expert on labor markets and poverty, including
promoting the benefits of policies that promote an economy's expanding
fast enough to raise the income of Black and brown workers. His work has
included in-depth examination of the economic volatility faced by African
American families and female-headed households.^8

With these three nominees, President Biden will make sure the Fed
prioritizes racial and economic equity, gets tough on Wall Street
regulation, puts people and communities first, and takes up its
responsibilities to address the climate crisis—but it won’t matter if they
aren’t confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Share MoveOn's message, that the Senate must vote to confirm Pres. Biden's
slate of Fed Board nominees! Share it on [ [link removed] ]Twitter and [ [link removed] ]Facebook.

Thanks for all you do.

–Arvin, Emma, Sara, Jaira, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "2. The Fed takes on climate and race," Axios, April 3, 2021
[link removed]

2. "Banking Supervision," Federal Reserve Education, accessed February 14,
2022
[link removed]

3."Pressured Fed reviews of 'cozy' relations with banks," Yahoo, November
20, 2014
[link removed]

4. "How Trump’s Attacks on the Fed Have Made Its Job Harder," The New York
Times, March 19, 2020
[link removed]

5. "Biden makes final Fed board picks," The Hill, January 13, 2022
[link removed]

6. "Diversity within the Federal Reserve System," Brookings Institute,
April 13, 2021
[link removed]

7. "MSU economist Lisa Cook nominated for Fed board: Here's how she could
have an impact," Detroit Free Press, January 14, 2022
[link removed]

8. "President Biden nominates Davidson College economics professor to
powerful Fed board," The Charlotte Observer, January 14, 2022
[link removed]


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