As families across the country continue to struggle with unemployment rates above 10%, mortgages that cost more than the homes they pay for are worth, and the anxiety of lost retirement and college savings, the biggest banks and Wall Street firms have been announcing bonus and compensation pools rivaling record breaking 2007 levels. The 6 largest firms alone – Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley – whose greed and recklessness did so much to cause the financial crisis – have planned to pay out between $140 and $150 billion. JP Morgan, for example, announced on January 15th that it is setting aside $26.9 billion in compensation this year. On a per employee basis that is up 38 percent from 2008 and 20 percent from the 2007 pre-crisis numbers. Citigroup will pay $24.9 billion.

This reveals more than simply hubris. It shows that Wall Street believes that nothing has changed. The terrible truth is that so far, thanks to their own continued success in lobbying for their narrow interests, even as they have benefited from trillions in public support, they are right. As it stands now, they are free to continue the heads they win, tails we lose gouging and gambling that brought on the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And free to pay their senior executives obscene sums to continue in that direction.

There is a way to change this. President Obama is calling for financial reform, and last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that took steps in the right direction. But the financial industry is opposing real change every step of the way. They weakened the House bill in key areas, for example undermining rules to bring the trading of derivatives – key sources of the financial meltdown (and of billions of dollars in profits for the very largest Wall Street banks) – out into the open. The financial services industry spent $344 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2009, and they have more than 1,500 lobbyists registered to protect their interests.

Now it’s the U.S. Senate’s turn to act, and the industry is redoubling their efforts to prevent or fatally water down the change we need. Because Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed has a key position on the Senate Banking Committee, he can play a major role in ensuring that the Senate passes strong reform that truly protects consumers and changes the rules of the game for the industry. Senator Reed has made very strong statements in support of a bank tax and a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, but to pass meaningful reform, he will also have to convince some of his colleagues – who seem less inclined to challenge the banks – to take a strong stand.

We need financial reform to rein in the greedy and reckless behavior of big banks on Wall Street that cost millions of jobs, and to crack down on abuses committed by credit card companies and the mortgage lending industry. These reforms will strengthen our financial system and will help to prevent another financial crisis.

The banks were rescued in order to restore the health to the financial system. Sadly, the financial system remains in trouble with record banks failures and a continuing dearth of lending, while the bailed out big banks shower themselves with subsidy-enriched bonuses and fund an army of lobbyists to work against the interests of the American public.

People are angry – and rightly so – about these outsize bonuses, and about the impunity and lack of accountability they represent in the wake of the financial crisis and the bailout of the biggest banks.

Rhode Islanders who want Senator Reed to stand with them and hold the financial industry accountable should call his office at 401-943-3100 and let him know. There is no doubt they are hearing quite a bit from the banks.

Peter Asen is the Executive Director of Ocean State Action.