May 21, 2010 11:32 PM UTC

An Open Letter to Senator Feingold (RE: support of Michael Bennet)

• 14 Comments
• by: StrykerK2

I received an email from Senator Feingold’s campaign today, a man I have always respected and supported.  A few months ago the Bennet campaign sent an email expressing Feingold’s support, and those two actions combined made me decide to respond.

Senator Feingold,

I received your email today and I couldn’t agree more about how disappointed I was in yesterday’s vote on financial reform.  I agree that the bill that passed lacked the teeth it needed and that we missed a great opportunity for real reform.

It is in that light that I hope you will reconsider your support for Senator Michael Bennet in his primary against former Speaker Andrew Romanoff.

Senator Feingold I want you to know that I have always supported you and your “progressive patriots” program.  In a Senate that lacks many voices for true reform, you have been a consistent voice for people — not corporations.

You have crossed the aisle to work with Senator McCain against special interests.  You have stood up to the big banks and told them that people are more important than corporate profits.

I know the Senate is a place of formality and respect, even across the aisle where it rarely exists.  I understand if you have put faith in Senator Michael Bennet to do the right thing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the DSCC asked you if Bennet’s campaign could use your name to lend him credibility.

Regardless, Bennet is not the champion for working people that he claims, and his recent votes show that.  While he supports bills like the one that passed last night, he continually votes against or ignores the amendments that would make those bills strong.

Senator Feingold: you supported the Kauffman-Brown amendment.  Senator Bennet opposed it.  Senator Bennet sat by and did nothing to actually make sure this bill had the teeth it needed to be real reform.  Senator Bennet has sat by instead of supporting actions that would result in actually holding Wall Street accountable for their actions.

After the Supreme Court gave corporations power to spend money in elections, the Bennet campaign said this in your voice:

Right this minute, Michael and I, along with other concerned legislators, are reviewing our options to return our democracy to the American people instead of handing it over to corporations. I know Michael shares my strong belief in the importance of “We the people.” I consider Michael a great partner in this fight. We can’t afford to waste a minute building the grassroots movement that will lead to a solution to this terrible ruling by the Court.

I thought that maybe Bennet was actually going to be one of the good guys.  Instead, he turned out to be yet another Senator that sides with corporations over people.  Today you said this:

People are struggling to recover and they needed Washington to get this right by eliminating the risk to our economy posed by “too big to fail” financial firms and by restoring the proven safeguards established after the Great Depression, which separated Main Street banks from big Wall Street firms.

But Washington wasn’t tough enough in protecting taxpayers and consumers from another financial crisis.

You’re right — Senator Bennet wasn’t tough enough to stand up to the corporate interests that fund his campaign.  Senator Bennet wasn’t strong enough to stand up for Colorado, and people across the country, to say that people — not corporations — should be the priority of the Senate.

Senator Feingold: I hope you’ll reconsider your support for Michael Bennet, a man who does not live up to the promises he makes and who falls short of being the true champion for people that you are.

If Andrew Romanoff is in the Senate next year, he will be the partner you need.  Romanoff supports the real financial reform and won’t be beholden to special interests like Michael Bennet.  Romanoff has taken stances similar to those you took in your first election — he is refusing PAC money and is running a Colorado based campaign — not a campaign full of Rahm Emmanuel cronies.

Senator I know I am not alone in supporting the work you do; you are a true reformer in this nation.  I hope next year you will have an ally in Andrew Romanoff.