On every major initiative to help restore our economy, from healthcare to financial reform to the Employee Free Choice Act, banks and corporations have the same unproductive mantra--"we need to wait"..."now's not the time"...and "action now will hurt the economy." Today, another repeat performance, as reports hit the news that Congress is delaying action on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency after a series of lobbying efforts and a letter from the U.S. Chamber and big banks. SEIU's Anna Burger had this to say:

"Big banks and CEOs didn't mind quick action from Congress when they were begging for billion dollar bailouts. Now that they're flush with cash they want to stifle recovery for the rest of us and hang on to the same reckless business practices that toppled our economy in the first place.

"It's past time for the U.S. Chamber and big banks to stop thinking about their next bonus or the latest and greatest way to scam consumers and taxpayers and really commit to being a partner in our country's economic recovery."

Unfair financial products--like "exploding" mortgages with skyrocketing interest rates, and credit cards with incomprehensible and unfair terms and fees--are a large part of what caused the economic meltdown that resulted in millions of Americans losing their homes, their jobs, and their retirement savings. Which is why President Obama's plan to create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency is the next step toward stopping the dangerous and deceptive products and practices that got us into this mess.

Yet once more, Wall Street and big banks are doing their best to stand in the way of the financial reform this country needs to get back on its feet by trying to block the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by President Obama. And (surprise!), they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars to do it.

It's starting to feel as though it's never going to be a "good time" for corporate America's army of of corporations and the lobbyists they hire to push their agendas to take a hit and do what's best for working people in this country. So we'd just like to remind them one more time why it is they're still in business: taxpayer bailouts.

We have to make sure our representatives hear from us, and not just the big banks' lobbyists. Please call your member of Congress right now and ask them to support the new consumer financial protection agency.