The Bankers' Latest Scam.

• Author: Conniff, Ruth
• Position: Essay

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OF ALL THE DEVIOUS TRICKS practiced by the financial industry--hidden fees, usurious interest rates, and incomprehensible contracts that take advantage of consumers--the campaign strategy for 2010 has to rank right up there.

As the banks begin pouring cash into Congressional elections, they are targeting members of Congress who support consumer protections that could cut into their bottom line.

But here is the kicker: Opponents of financial reform are tarring members of Congress who want to regulate the banks as tools of Wall Street. This Orwellian tactic is designed to confuse voters. In effect, the banks are running against themselves. Look for lots of ads that tie reform legislation to "bailouts," "fat cats," "Wall Street," and "lobbyists." "The banks are going to be huge players in the

2010 elections," says Mary Bottari, director of the Center for Media and Democracy's Real Economy Project and editor of the website BanksterUSA.org. In Massachusetts, she points out, the financial services industry dumped $450,000 into Scott Brown's race for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, helping Brown to win as a crusader against Wall Street, even as he opposed such basic reforms as a tax on banks to help pay back the bailout.

In January and February she began tracking deceptive ads targeting Democrats in ten states that tie bank reform legislation to "Wall Street bailouts."

One such television ad in Montana urges voters to contact Senator Jon Tester and tell him to oppose a "$4 trillion bailout" for Wall Street.

The ad, paid for by a group called the Committee for Truth in Politics, begins with ominous music as words appear on a black screen:

"Fat cat lobbyists. Special interests. Lining their pockets at our expense. HR 4173 already passed in the U.S. House." Photos of House Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank flash past. More words appear: "Soon to be considered in the Senate." Photos of Harry Reid and Chris Dodd standing beside Frank and Pelosi pop up, followed by pictures that move almost too fast to follow: Wall Street, wads of cash, a man smoking a cigar and two men in suits shaking hands in front of the White House, scenes of people out of work, the word "foreclosure" and the figure $4,000,000,000,000. Then more words appear: "The Big Bank Bailout Bill. Lobbyists and Bureaucrats. They play. We pay." (Photos of ordinary Americans.) "More taxes. Spending. Debt." (A beleaguered-looking citizen in reading glasses, apparently doing his taxes.) "Call Your Senators" (phone numbers for Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester). "We won't be fooled again. EVER."

In the wake of the financial collapse, it's no surprise to see political ads that focus on Wall Street and bank bailouts. But wait a minute. HR 4173, also known as the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is the House bill designed to end bank bailouts and create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Watchdog Elizabeth Warren has said she is "delighted" with the bill.

And Jon Tester, the Montana Senator who is one of the ad's main targets, is the only Senate Democrat who voted against the Wall Street bailout and the auto industry bailout.

Tester also authored the Credit CARD Act, which includes such consumer-friendly features as a ban on interest rate hikes for customers who are less than sixty days late paying their credit card bills, and requirements that...