The events of the last week have been bewildering to a lot of Americans. Talking heads on the news are screaming about a financial crisis that needs action and attention right now in order to save the country from terrible consequences. Americans grasp the outline of this, but the details are fuzzy at best. What is going on and what does it mean for people worried about their futures, their ability to keep their homes, provide for their families and put something away for retirement? Who is watching out for the interests of the people in this noisy and chaotic debate going on now?

The last thing this debate needed was an injection of partisan politics. Americans do not want to see their financial futures sacrificed for a game of political chicken that doesn't solve anything. The people want their elected representatives to do their jobs and find solutions that begin to address our problems, not posturing and finger pointing that accomplishes nothing.

Americans want to know that their interests are first and foremost in the minds of government officials. The current turmoil is not just about derivatives and credit swaps and other distant financial terms that only investment bankers and financial gurus seem to understand. This crisis directly affects millions of Americans who are worried about keeping their homes and jobs. It's about small business owners who want to make sure they are not an afterthought in this financial battle over the interests of huge banks and financial institutions.

Small business relies on access to credit. Restaurants and small shops on Main Street need access to loans and lines of credit to get their businesses started and to keep them running. The current financial crisis threatens that flow of credit.

Senator Kerry has filed legislation that would lift some of the restrictions that are preventing small businesses from using loan programs from the Small Business Administration. Credit from private banks has become too difficult to obtain for a lot of small businesses.  The new legislation aims to eliminates some fees in certain SBA programs and increase the loan size in other programs. These actions, and others in the legislation, aim to help small businesses get what they need to weather this crisis and preserve jobs.

It is vital that we look after the interests of small as well as big business in this financial crisis.  As Senator Kerry said in remarks about his new legislation:

"If we can spend $700 billion to fix Wall Street, we should be able to help our everyday entrepreneurs who employ half of America's workforce and pump almost a trillion dollars into the economy each year," Kerry said. "These owners are suffering today because of a credit crisis that is preventing them from gaining access to the capital they need to keep running - let alone to expand their firms to compete globally."

"At the root of this mess is a lack of oversight and severe deregulation of the financial industry, causing turmoil in America the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression," Kerry said. "In addition to reducing fees and regulatory burdens on programs that stimulate economic growth and job creation, and improve liquidity for small banks, my proposals also increase lender oversight." 

"My changes will fill the gap left by the private sector at a time when our nation's owners and employees on Main Street are wondering why the CEOs who created this crisis are receiving a bailout when they're struggling just to keep their doors open," Kerry said. "It's essential that we bring our economy back to life, but we must do so in a way that doesn't continue to punish America's hardworking entrepreneurs for the sins of Wall Street's titans."