On Friday, October 30, 2009, Independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, was on The Thom Hartmann Program, on his weekly “Brunch with Bernie” segment, and stated exactly what the American people are up against in achieving financial reform. Starting at 5:31, he states:

“We need financial reform. We need to put a cap on credit card interest rates. We need to deal with this “too big to fail,” and we need to break up some of these large financial institutions, we need an audit of the Fed. We need to do all of that, and more. But most importantly, long term, this is a huge fight, because you’re taking on the most powerful people in America. They make the oil industries and the drug companies look like lightweights. But essential, that’s what this struggle is about. Do we get capital out to the productive economy, while these guys continue to live in their own world, making huge sums of money.”

Despite President Obama campaigning on a platform of “change,” where is the change so far? He received more in campaign donations from the banking sector than McCain did during the 2008 presidential campaign. Even with a theoretical filibuster-proof majority of 60 Democratic caucus members in the Senate, they still haven’t got through any of the changes that Senator Bernie Sanders is advocating.