A Plea from Ralph Nader

"For the first time in all the years I've done this, I'm hearing things mentioned like: 'He lost his job.' 'She lost her house.' 'We're in foreclosure.'"

Friend,

The quote above is from a Minnesota medical examiner, talking about rising suicides. This is how Wall Street folly translates into real-world tragedy.



News reports and the cable business shows may prefer rhetorical debate about abstract concepts like credit default swaps.

But what ultimately matters most is this: Wall Street's reckless speculation with "other people's money" has millions of identifiable victims, some so desperate that they lose hope and commit suicide.

You may not know anyone who has committed suicide in connection with the financial implosion.

But you almost certainly know someone who has been deeply affected.

Odds are good that you've been affected, too.

We all need defenders against the Wall Street predators.

You have a defender: Public Citizen, an organization I founded nearly 40 years ago to be a permanent representative of the people in Washington, D.C.

I am writing today to urge you to make a contribution before the end of the year to support Public Citizen's Campaign to Rein in Wall Street.

Please make your contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500, $1,000 - or whatever you can afford.

Contribute before midnight, December 31, and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a small group of committed Public Citizen donors - up to $100,000! Please help Public Citizen reach this target, so they can elevate their Campaign to Rein in Wall Street.

Since 1971, Public Citizen has shown that the people can go toe-to-toe with corporate power. And win.

Now they are in thick of a congressional maelstrom over financial re-regulation.

Thanks in no small part to the work of Public Citizen, the financial re-regulation bill that recently passed the House of Representatives would set up a consumer financial watchdog agency.

But the bill fails utterly to address the structural problems that led to the financial crisis.

Now, it's on to the Senate.

Public Citizen is ready to organize the populist rage needed to impose new rules on Wall Street.

But to win, they need your help. Help them defend all of us from the Wall Street titans.



For the better part of two decades, Wall Street spent countless millions spreading the idea that the stock market would deliver retirement security.

See something you want?

Take out a new mortgage on your house.

"Live richly," said Citigroup.

They forgot to mention a few things.

Namely that Wall Street's accounting maneuvers, conflicts of interest, sham credit ratings and reckless gambling were paving the way for a financial crash.

And so, Reuters reported earlier this year, 71-year old Miriam Gorman continues to work more than a year after she had hoped to retire. "I really don't know when I'll be able to retire," said the Bethesda, Maryland, bookkeeper.

Her story is shared by millions, who lost trillions in retirement savings in the avoidable financial collapse.

They were in the grip of Wall Street casino capitalists.

Millions more have lost their homes.

And millions more will follow, losing their homes or struggling desperately to stay in them, victims of predatory loans.

Millions of others have found themselves trapped by deceptive and onerous credit card terms.

Michael Polemeni told Business Week that he missed a single payment on his credit card.

And then watched Providian jack up his rates from 9% to 30%.

Polemeni was able to pay off his full balance immediately thereafter, but that's not the norm.

For millions, a credit card has gone from a convenience to a financial noose drawing ever tighter.

Wall Street titans did this.

And the worst thing is: They will do it again. Unless we stop them.

With your help, Public Citizen is ready to act.

They will work to ensure that the Senate joins the House in creating an even stronger consumer watchdog agency that will help deter future banking rip-offs.

But Public Citizen knows that no regulatory agency can keep up with Wall Street.

Wall Street itself must be changed.

It must shrink.

The financial goliaths must be broken up.

Not just made to adhere to tougher regulatory standards. But broken up!

Commercial banks must be prohibited from engaging in investment bank-style speculation by hard-and-fast legislated rules.

Dangerous financial derivatives must be banned outright.

Public Citizen is ready to push a winning and far-reaching populist agenda. They know how to maneuver in the corridors of power. They know how to translate public anger into policy victories. And to call out members of Congress who stand with Wall Street and against Main Street.

But to offset the tens of millions of dollars that Wall Street is throwing around, Public Citizen needs your help.

Can you contribute $25, $50, $100, $500, $1,000 - or whatever you can afford - right now, so Public Citizen can have more impact?

With the House of Representatives finally passing its financial reform bill earlier this month, the whole legislative package moves to the Senate.

Where it will very quickly move to the front burner in early 2010.

So, there's no time to delay.

Together, we do have the power to stop Wall Street, which is, to say the least, already very low in public esteem.

Onward to economic justice.

Ralph Nader

P.S. Please make your donation today, before the end of the year, so a refueled Public Citizen can come out of the blocks roaring in January 2010. Remember, your contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar if you make it before midnight, December 31!