We Can Win the Glass-Steagall Reform, But We Can't Let Up

May 18, 2010 (LPAC)-- In Boston, Senator Kerry's office is telling callers that they have been "flooded with" calls in support of Glass-Steagall. In Washington State, Senator Patty Murray's office reports the "phone ringing off the hook" with calls demanding she support Glass-Steagall. In both cases, the Senators have not yet committed themselves publicly to vote for the McCain-Cantwell amendment, however, so there is a lot of work left to do—in addition to creating a similar fire under the rears of every other sentient Senator we can find.

In other words, our mobilization has set thousands of supporters into motion, and its impact is being felt. Yet, there is no question but that the White House is still marching to the tune played by the British drummer, with the intent to bury McCain-Cantwell, as well as other aspects of the bill which the British-Wall Street crowd want to get rid of. We have it on good authority that the White House is seeking to get supporters of the bill to "compromise." To make the point even stronger, on Monday afternoon, a passel of bankers, representing all the five major banks (Citi, Wells Fargo, Goldman, JPMorgan, and Bank of America) left standing, descended upon Washington, D.C., to lobby ferociously against Glass-Steagall etc.

As Lyndon LaRouche has emphasized, for the British, and their traitorous hangers-on in the U.S., this is a matter of life or death.

So, too, is it a matter of life or death for the American population, as more and more are beginning to realize.

We are coming to the first deadline point, as Senator Reid invoked cloture on Monday night, without having heard the McCain-Cantwell amendment. Will he try to ram the bill through without hearing the amendment, which he has twice publicly put on the agenda? We don't know, but perhaps, if he can get away with it. If he doublecrosses the sponsors, he runs a serious risk of not winning his cloture vote, for which he needs 60 votes. Wednesday thus becomes a D-Day of sorts—but it will by no means be the last.

Our job is to do everything we can to force McCain-Cantwell onto the agenda within the next 24 hours; nothing but victory is acceptable.

We made a considerable impact Monday. In addition to the mobilization into Senators' offices, we released Helga's appeal for urgent action on Glass-Steagall, which is now on the LPAC website, while its transcript is posted on the EIR site, and linked to LPAC. EIR's correspondent also put the White House perfidy on Glass-Steagall onto the national agenda at the White House press briefing, and was followed up by the dean of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas! Shockwaves have already begun to be felt.

Meanwhile, the global dimensions of the U.S. Glass-Steagall mobilization are being felt. Yesterday, Italian MEP Cristiana Muscardini introduced an interrogatory into the European Parliament, for the EU to respond to the Glass-Steagall question, which she posed in terms presented by EIR. Over the weekend, our nascent Belgian organization mass-leafleted for a Glass-Steagall solution, as has the Argentine LYM. We are seeing further breakout potential in Germany, through extraordinary coverage of the BueSo's N.R.W. campaign, and a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes impact of Lyn's ideas in Italy, with the publication of an extraordinary article on the 2007 joint appearance of LaRouche and current Italian Economics Minister Tremonti.

We are in the midst of a sea change, created by the intersection of LaRouche's solution-ideas, our mobilization, and the breakdown crisis which is inevitable if Lyn's ideas are not taken up. Fulfilling the promise of this dynamic requires that we drive through to win the Glass-Steagall, and use it to transform political-economic practice in this country, and the world—from launching mass life-saving infrastructure projects, to developing the workable program to colonize Mars.

This is no time to admire what we've done. The future depends upon our driving to win.