Current Campaigns

Challenging the Bailout

Since its inception in October of 2008, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) has expanded and evolved into an alphabet soup of programs and is now known as the Financial Stability Plan.

Most people just think of these programs as "the bailout" of the banks, insurance companies and the auto industries.  

U.S. PIRG continues to challenge Congress and the Department of Treasury to be more transparent about the bailout programs and to better protect the taxpayers who are paying for them. Read more.

Reining In Wall Street

For too long, the rules of Wall Street have been written by the bankers themselves.

This year, that has to change. Read more.

Overview

For too long, the rules of Wall Street have been written by the bankers themselves. The result? Our economy collapsed. This year, that has to change.

Our economy collapsed because of a lack of strong consumer protections. That’s why reform must include establishment of a strong, independent consumer financial product agency with the will and the authority to protect consumers from dangerous, deceptive financial practices.

We also need broad reforms to guarantee that regulators do their safety and soundness job, that systemic risk is reduced and all the players are covered.

Now that we know that a few investment firms can undermine the larger economy, we must take steps to protect taxpayers and consumers.

We need to rein in the excesses of Wall Street. No more hidden accounting practices or demanding that we invest our retirement savings blindly.  We need to protect consumers and our economic future with new rules to put a check on irresponsible banking practices and we need to make sure those rules are enforced. We need independent enforcement. No more cozy relationships between regulators and the regulated.

We also need to fix the bailout and we need to guarantee that it won’t happen again. We need a financial system that protects taxpayers, homeowners and tenants, depositors and small investors.