For Immediate Release: March 14, 2022
Contact: Ryan Hite, Communications Director
Washington, D.C.: “In the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, the government’s response is to pile bad policies on top of irresponsible actions,” said Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles. “It is abundantly clear at this point that SVB pursued investment opportunities, not because they were sound financial moves but because they followed woke ‘environmental, social, governance’ (ESG) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion’ (DEI) agendas. In the end, the bank collapsed because of these bad business and finance decisions.”
“One big question we have in all of this is — where were the regulators?” Martin asked. “Whether they were asleep on the job or just not watching this darling of woke finance, the very government agents who are paid to ensure bankers don’t engage in corruption and recklessness were asleep at the wheel.
“Rather than take the hint that we need to chuck this bureaucratic bloat altogether, the Biden Administration’s response was to simply step in and take over. Their suggestion to guarantee the entire multiple tens of billions in assets, far beyond the FDIC deposit guarantee, not only shows their disregard of what got SVB into this mess, but a disrespect for U.S. law. The FDIC limits are set by Congress, and can only be changed by lawmakers.”
Martin concluded, “Wokism and slimy bureaucrats got SVB into this mess; the solution is most certainly not to inject more government into the mix. The White House should save their breath on defending this move as ‘not a bailout.’ Don’t insult the American public with semantics! Biden’s planning to use U.S. tax dollars to dole out billions to cover losses by a woke gang of bankers. Congress and the Courts need to step up fast and check this awful bailout plan.”
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