Dear Mr. President

Dear President Obama,

I am writing you today to express my concerns over our country’s financial policies. As your first term is ending, I believe the current situation is far from satisfactory.

            It is clear that the recession we know today is a more result of the previous administration than yours. The economical crisis culminated in 2008 shortly after you were sworn into office. For 8 years, George W. Bush led policies of deregulation in Wall Street accompanied by excessive spending and tax cuts. As vice president Joe Biden reminded us in his speech at the Justice Center: “Federal debt doubled in just 8 years”. Although I do not believe in the responsibility of the government elected in 2008, I am disappointed to realize how you made some of the same mistakes as the previous administration.

In 2008, you campaigned under the slogan of “Change”. Your promises to reform Wall Street and Washington appealed to me, my family as well as many around us. We are part of the middle class you sought to reach. After you won the presidential elections in November, voters impatiently waited for the new administration to take action. However, little change has been made among the people responsible for the United States’ financial policies. For example, I wonder why you chose Timothy Geithner as Secretary of Treasury. Geithner had been president of the New York Federal Reserve for 5 years in 2008. Nevertheless, when he testified to be confirmed Secretary of Treasury, Geithner claimed: “I have never been a regulator”. Geithner’s failure to understand the task previously assigned to him, as President of the New York Fed, should have been seen as proof of his incompetence. The new head of the New York Federal Reserve is the former chief economist of Goldman Sachs, William C. Dudley.

I know a republican House of Representatives can be held responsible for the undermining of certain reforms under your first term. This said, if reelected, I urge your administration to pursue the promises you made in 2008. As an integral part of your campaign for financial reform, you should promote the creation of independent regulatory agencies. In Washington, laws should prohibit any form of financial lobbying. Corporate fortunes should not be allowed to govern the country by corrupting representatives and congressmen. Banks’ control over Washington led us to the economical crisis in 2008. This is why I believe that today, the separation between banks and state has become as important as the separation between church and state.