Thanks to massive bailout funding from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury, Wall Street survived the financial crash it created. This year, its titans are enjoying record share prices, corporate profits, and executive bonuses. The financial assets of America's billionaires and the idle cash reserves of the most profitable corporations are at historic highs. Their biggest challenge is figuring out where to park all their cash.

Meanwhile, the Great Recession is still raging on Main Street. The unemployment rate is too high, new jobs aren't appearing despite the supposed economic recovery, and the unprecedented crush of foreclosures isn't letting up. Small businesses are starved for credit. Politicians tell us that the government is broke and debate whether we can afford health care, old age security benefits, and student loans.

America is awash in money. But the cash is in the wrong pockets and it's being used for the wrong purposes.

During the Great Depression, the American people benefited greatly from new rules that created a powerful and accountable system of credit unions, mutual savings and loans, and community banks. This system financed the U.S. victory in WWII, built the nation's middle class, and made the United States the world leader in manufacturing and technology. It served us well until Wall Street used its political clout to dismantle the rules that made it work.

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