(Host) Senator Bernie Sanders says Congress needs to expand its review of the financial bailout to investigate what caused the crisis in the first place.
Congress already has a panel to oversee the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Sanders says that group should be given broader authority.
(Sanders) “People are furious. So what we need is a. an investigation to understand how this disaster occurred. And who is responsible. Who are the people who developed these exotic financial instruments. Who are the people who pushed loans to people who couldn’t pay for them. And then we have got to hold those people accountable.”
(Host) Sanders says he wants the congressional oversight panel to probe whether laws were broken as the financial system neared collapse.
He believes criminal cases will have to be filed against some of the nation’s most powerful, wealthy people.
(Sanders) “Their greed led to excesses and led to indiscretions, which has taken our financial system to the verge of collapse. And has impacted the lives of tens of millions of Americans. People are losing their jobs, their health insurance, their pensions. And these guys caused that crisis.”
(Host) Sanders proposed the investigation in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But it would probably require action by both the House and Senate before it could begin.