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Is America Finally Starting to Stand Up To Wall Street?
Are the American people finally starting to stand up to Wall Street?
Shareholder Revolt
Some of Goldman Sach's biggest shareholders are demanding that executive compensation be reduced. As the Wall Street Journal notes:
Their
complaints in private conversations with the company and at analyst
meetings show how anger over its big-money culture is spilling into the
ranks of investors who typically shy away from debates over Wall Street
pay.
Protests
There were the protests outside of the Bankers Association meeting in Chicago. See this, this, this, this, this and this.
If you don't think that more - bigger - protests are coming, you haven't been paying attention.
Debtor's Revolt
Debtors
are revolting against exorbitant interest rates and fees and other
aggressive tactics by the too big to fail banks. See this, this, and this.
Congresswoman Kaptur advises
her constituents facing foreclosure to demand that the original
mortgage papers be produced. She says that - if the bank can't produce
the mortgage papers - then the homeowner can stay in the house.
Portfolio manager and investment advisor Marshall Auerback argues that a debtor's revolt would be a good thing.
And even popular personal finance advisor Suze Orman is highlighting the debtors revolt phenomenon on her national tv show.
Congress Is Starting to Get the Message
The
American people are shouting so loud at their congress members and
Senators, that even some of the most pro-Wall Street congressman are
starting to get it.
For example, the Congressional Black Caucus has been hearing so much about how congress is failing to address the crisis of unemployment from their constituents, that the CBC delayed Barney Frank's proposed financial reform.
The
House Financial Services Committee received so many phone calls from
constituents that it approved the Ron Paul/Alan Grayson bill to audit
the Fed and defeated the trojan horse alternate bill written by Mel
Watt. Indeed, I have heard from congressional sources that the only
calls to support the Watt alternate bill were from the Fed itself. And
see this.
The Committee also approved Congressman Grayson's bill to rein in foreign currency swaps.
Both Geithner and Summers are coming under increasing pressure to resign due to their being in bed with Wall Street.
Even Bernanke's re-appointment is no longer certain.
And Obama's approval ratings have now dipped below 50%, largely due to his mishandling of the economic crisis.
As Congressman Peter DeFazio notes:
There were a lot of Democrats who were "upset and nervous with" the handling of the economy by the administration.
"It
is pretty embarrassing for a Democratic administration and a Democratic
Congress to be identified with total attention to Wall Street and
nothing for Main Street and jobs," he said. "There are a lot of
Democrats who... want to see something more effective done to create
employment."
DeFazio insisted that President Obama and, by
extension, the Democratic Party were hampered by Geithner's policies
for economic recovery. He pointed to the inability of the
administration to spur small business lending and the lack of effective
TARP oversight as particularly egregious examples of mismanagement.
More than anything else, the Oregon Democrat deemed it untenable for
the president to continue employing his current economic team given the
taint of Wall Street that clings to many of those advisers.
"I
have had a number of people say to me, 'I feel the same way you do but
I'm not going to say it.' People are worried it will rub off on the
president who still enjoys popularity," he said. "I tell them I still
support the president. I just think he is being poorly served by his
economic team."
"The truth of the matter," DeFazio added, "is
that we have not changed the way the money is being used. It is not
being used for the purpose it was supposed to be used for. We are not
creating jobs and we have not aggressively taken on the culture of Wall
Street"...
One of his chief concerns was that the president
appeared enamored with the lords of finance. "The administration has,
thus far, not threaded the needle here," he said. "They have taken care
of Wall Street but not the rest of the country."
Are the American people are finally starting to awaken?
We've been down this road before
Shown worse devils to the door
Throw off our chains of slavery
Now is the time to set ourselves free
And reclaim our liberty ...
They bought the politicians and the news
They've got all the weapons (which they like to use)
But they are few and we're billions strong
We are the giant ... been sleeping for too long
Time to wake up and sing our victory song
- The Voice
The
elites hate to acknowledge it, but when large numbers of ordinary
people are moved to action, it changes the narrow political world where
the elites call the shots. Inside accounts reveal the extent to which
Johnson and Nixon’s conduct of the Vietnam War was constrained by the
huge anti-war movement. It was the civil rights movement, not
compelling arguments, that convinced members of Congress to end legal
racial discrimination.
- PhD Economist Dean Baker
Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world.
- Sivananda
The power of an aroused public is unbeatable.
- Dr. Helen Caldicott
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
-Ferdinand Foch
In
times of danger large groups rise to the highest pitch of enthusiasm,
courage and sacrifice . . . Mankind will be refashioned and history
rewritten when this law is understood and obeyed.
-Helen Keller
You
let one ant stand up to us - then they all might stand up. Those puny
little ants outnumber us a 100 to one. And if they ever figure that
out, there goes our way of life.
- Hopper (a grasshopper who is the
leader of the gang of thugs who are stealing from the other bugs,
speaking to fellow grasshoppers in the Disney/Pixar movie A Bug's Life)
Is America standing up? No. (look at the stock prices)
Here's what the first step (of an orderly, by-the-book, uprising) might look like:
"Serious" people on TV and in congress talking constantly about conducting an investigation into what The Fed, Treasury, Goldman, etc. did last fall. Including testimony from and charges filed against Bernake, Paulson, Geithner, Blankfein, etc.
let the blacks start their own banks so they can serve their own anchor class. The amount of money wasted on these ingrates is STAGGERING
This is a large cycle, more than it is a conspiracy. When it starts coming apart, all those myopically driven people who have climbed to the top of that rotting ladder are going to be cannibalizing each other.
The point which needs to be broadcast is how to formulate a system of economic exchange not designed to siphon off value into the pockets of those running it. If we are going to have a publicly guaranteed currency, than the reward for this risk should be banking profits as public income. A public banking system should be bottom up with local, community banks serving as shareholders in larger state banks and these as the basis for a national bank to manage the currency.
While bankers are inclined to over-extend credit to increase profits, politicians are inclined to inflate the money supply to pay for public works. So banking would have to be a separate branch of government, similar to the judiciary.
A related problem is the system of public financing, where enormous bills, stuffed with enough goodies to gain sufficient support, are rammed through the system. That's not budgeting. The process of budgeting is to prioritize needs and desires, then decide where to draw the line between what can be afforded and what cannot. Some years ago there was a discussion about the "line item veto," where the president could delete any item he wished from spending bills. Obviously this would remove all power of the purse from the legislature and likely be unconstitutional. In the spirit of actual budgeting, a possible solution would be to break these bills down to their constituent lines and then have every legislator assign a percentage value to each line and then re-assemble them in order of preference. The president would then draw the line at what would be funded. This would divide responsibility, allowing the legislature to prioritize, while giving the president final authority over total spending. Since making the cut would be graded on a curve, there would be much less incentive to trade favors and the percentage system would allow legislators to fine tune their granting of favors to other legislators and lobbyists. Since local spending by the national government would be reduced, a local public banking system which recycled wealth back into local infrastructure would fill the hole.
The big advantage of this mess is the extent to which it will create a break from the past. If BushBernankeetc hadn't driven the bus off the cliff, we would have just taken another twenty years to reach this point.
Those who think that a "populist uprising" will not divide between Left and Right are wrong. Looking at the comments on this blog alone, it's interesting to parse to which side a commenter would fall. Most, I fear, lean to the right.
The particulars of the unfolding socioeconomic situation will have a big influence on this -- particularly on the degree to which outrage will spread and become organized.
-AnonymousZero
Are these the same people arguing that we don't want our health care system taken over by government? Hows that working, these people could careless and until we have a major financial melt down nothing will change.
Sorry, we all know it's the way it is.
PS, capyha doesn't work, I my not be the brightest bulb in the pack by I can do third grade math.
Yet more ancient, cliched quotes rolled out/ Yawn!
How about "We will win" - Wall St
Market down last three days ? - Fed Audit ? Is this ponzi gonna fail? Another 50% drop will wake up the sheeple !
excellent post. I have no doubts in my mind that the government is trying to stand. But I do not think they can potentially fight the wall street. If a push comes to shove, trust me wall street will respond and when they do it will not be in Kind. Banks can simply shut down ....systems can collapse ..
Ultimately one must understand that the world is run central banks and not by political clowns like obama. So while there can be some posturing....I do not think wall street will even be paying any attention to all this.
I think the next big crisis on the horizon is real estate defaults. The default is coming definitely. They keep postponing the inevitable. The default will not just be with bonds...but the entire banking system is at risk. I already published an article about how 1800 banks will fail in the US.
Other news
I hate this man and I think he is one of the america's largest con artists.
Warren buffet: Lets take the mask off
I hold silver so I love to see some bullish silver analysis
Week star: Gold and Silver
thos who keep whining about a bounce in dollar should take a look here:
Dollar Index Long Term
Yields have gone negative which can imply a huge crash coming.
Massive crash coming
fresbee
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778):
"People, once accustomed to masters, are not in a condition to do without them. If they attempt to shake off the yoke, they estrange themselves even more from freedom. By mistaking freedom for an unbridled license, to which it is diametrically opposed, they nearly always manage by their revolutions to hand themselves over to the seducers, who only make their chains heavier than before."
no america is not starting to stand up to wall street....it is only starting to pull down its pants and grab its ankles.....
indeed, we must observe the polite etiquette of the fight club - civil language, cultured arguments with nuance, compliance with authority, and large measures of acceptance and goodwill towards our leaders. and above all else passive behavior so as not to incite concerns or fears...
A company should be able to do what is best for them and their shareholders. Nobody from the outside should be dictating whom to pay and how much. time123 http://invetrics.com
People need to have health care, they need to have insurance. It's life and death. "A company" that has that kind of power over Americans shold not be alowed to fatten it's pockets on our suffering, especially when it's cheaper and more convenient for them when we do suffer and die.
You are such a romantic. Ain't gonna happen. Even when all the lights go out, the cars stop, and we resort to cannibalism, most of our dumb-ass citizens will be blaming it on liberals, hippies, moslems, terrorists, atheists, or conservatives. See the recent poll showing that the majority can't even do simple financial math? Dumb as a bowl of mice or a box of rocks. They will never figure out who the villians really are. Bah. Humbug.
Sold down the river on healthcare.
Oh, OK. It does not show on preview. Oops, sorry all.
People want the public option (Single Payer!) because it will break the stranglehold the insurance companies have over our lives. That's what it is, and they aren't any different than the bankers. Think about it, ok?
My fallback position is to go to college till I can go on S.S. then I'll be the best educated retiree around...It's only 11 years. By the way...What happened to my photo avatar? Bueller? Bueller?...
Anonymous: According to dems...68% of bankruptcies are caused by medical bills...Apparently the record high foreclosures are irrelevant...I lost my home after my wife died and, I lost my job. Where is the legislation encouraging job creation?
i'm sorry to hear of your losses and pray for your inner strength. unfortunately the government can't legislate jobs. these are tough times that require entepreneurial thinking. street wise thinking. individuals can create their own jobs so to speak.
Meanwhile, the dems are more concerned about capntrade and medicaid for all. Amnesty is on their list but, assisting business to create jobs for those of us not likely to work at GS, not so much...
Rent Out Your House and Get the Ability to Modify Your Mortgages in Chapter 13 or 11 ??
Contrary to some logic, owners of investment properties have more rights to modify their mortgages in chapter 13 and 11 bankruptcy than do homeowners.
http://tinyurl.com/yjwt8c7
thanks for that link anon #138417. interesting. bama ran on the promise of cram down legislation for principal residences and of course that's another broken promise. it's true that investment properties as well as second and third residences are eligible for bankruptcy cram downs. people need to wake up and avail themselves of these remedies. the banks have declared war on the middle class. the middle class has done very little other than say pass the remote.
Subsidiary of Lehman Brothers...what gives?
Aurora Loan Services is very bad
They ignore letters and give you the run around. They should be audited and investigated by the authorities who investigate mortgage and lending fraud. Companies who only takes care of themselves and does not consider others should not be in business like Aurora.
http://tinyurl.com/ycuawxn
Good article. American need a good swift kick in the ass to wake up.
This 'Revolt Against Wall Street' stuff is tolerated right now because it serves a purpose for Obama. It is a great smoke screen to deflect attention away from jamming through the most disastrous and society altering piece of legislation in our nation's history.
Everything that isn't healthcare is a blocking scheme for healthcare.
The U.S. is far too strong to be destroyed by any external force. It must be destroyed from within...that's why Obama is here.
"Everything that isn't healthcare is a blocking scheme for healthcare."
I like having health care, don't you? Wouldn't it be nice if we paid medicare rates +5% for it, and cut into the profits at the parasite insurance companies? I do agree that Obama's intent with the "health insurance reform" scam he's got going has nothing to do with our well being. He's bailing out the insurance companies with a mandate, and busy killing the public option to leave us no choice. That doesn't mean that reform is not needed. Fuck the insurance companies, Single Payer at medicare rates for all of us, men and women! Works in Canada, Europe, why not here?
I agree with all of the above! We need to get the word out now. I have turned my kids onto ZH to "clarify" the econ and poli-sci (oxymoron) that they are being taught in HS and college. My 19 year old is at the top west coast private institution and says the efforts put into creating politically correct sheeple is mind blowing! The only non-biased clases she has found are in math or computer sciences. And this at the institution that she thought would be most balanced of the top colleges. If we don't help this new generation break free from the 24/7 mind control in academia and the MSM we're doomed! Get the ZH Primer ready...I will give one to every patient that walks through my door.
"DeFazio insisted that President Obama and, by extension, the Democratic Party were hampered by Geithner's policies for economic recovery."
If Geithner's policies for economic recovery have been hampering President Obama, then the wounds are self-inflicted, trust me. The appointment of the Geithner/Summers/Bernanke Axis wasn't coerced, it was embraced enthusiastically by him. But one needn't look any further for the reasons for Obama's latest poll numbers than the kind of leadership he's exerted on the Afghan War question:
http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2009/11/20...
Consistently, in just about every area, he has been making - when he's made them - the most disasterous decisions, many, some prospective, involving the economy. The man ran the Harvard Law Review and, if you can believe it, he's used the management style learned in that experience as the model for his presidency! He seems at times pitifully incapable of getting out in front of things. And now the paper mache that has to date decorated Obama's public presentation has begun to come loose, and what is perceived underneath is the picture of the quintessential male of this era, weak, incapable of making committments, and with a moral sense courtesy of the Psychology Department. God help us.
I was thinking something similar as I was walking passed the regional commuter train stop last night. There's a lot of people getting off and on the train at given intervals. Given an hour long train ride into the city, a 1 -2 page redux that isn't too mathematically off putting, would be a great thing for educating the masses. What's more, is these people are typically employed (luckily) and would allow for "exponential" redistribution. Also, paid "flaggers" on craiglist could slow it down, however, CL gets a lot of traffic in many large population cites. Part of the problem is accomplishing this w/o seeming like a crazy individual yelling at parking meters. I think that an indirect "seeping" process might be very effective. Part of the opposition is bravado, pride, trying to "unthink" the years of propaganda and programming we've been subjected to. Examples of indirect knowledge displacement / injection could be public places that allow posting of what not. Examples like, groceries store fronts, laundromats, mass transportation centers, etc. The solution is a simple explanation, that doesn't require further clarification (aside from sources, but if one is given a seed, and wishes to grasp the fruit, due diligence is on the reader.)
Social isolation is one of the key factors that keeps this machine of greed and oneupsmanship driving down the throat of our society.
Think about the restaurants that pay people a nominal fee to put a menu on your door knob, mailbox etc.
A well written, easily understood breakdown directly "marketed" to the masses will be the quickest way to a collective "AHA!"
Also, how about some of our multi-lingual constitutions provide good translations, as English isn't the only language spoken in America, unfortunately, money is the "dialect" that is spoken universally. Let's illustrate the other side / accurate side of what's occurring in the financial word, how it effects our everyday countrymen and women. It'll be more profound than anyone can imagine, we have to employ the same tools / weapons that have been waged on US, for the people by the people.
peace love dove.
'I have heard from congressional sources that the only calls to support the Watt alternate bill were from the Fed itself.'
Hah! Priceless.
'Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things : bread and circuses' Juvenal, Satire 10.77–81
Are the American people finally starting to stand up to Wall Street?
Regrettably, we will render far better more effective results for ourselves and our nation if we choose to "lay down" rather than "stand up."
It's time for those of us who reside in Galt's Gulch to reach out and invite a remnant to retire to the homage of reason until this diabolical reign of terror on the mind and assault on reason runs its full course.
Only once the motor of the machine has been completely broken can those of us in the remnant emerge with the skills to rebuild it.
+100
we continue to feed them as we fight them. change our habits, only then we can change *this* world.
push them and they can push back 100 times harder. cease to play and ... (ghandi)
where practical, move towards a financial sit-in. pull your cash from the banks (get a safe, store it as "gold" or goods). let them earn your business again. don't just assume that's the best place for your money as most do. let them prove it. incorporate and consult, pay yourself first, write off everything but your sleep.
+100
we continue to feed them as we fight them. change our habits, only then we can change *this* world.
push them and they can push back 100 times harder. cease to play and ... (ghandi)
where practical, move towards a financial sit-in. pull your cash from the banks (get a safe, store it as "gold" or goods). let them earn your business again. don't just assume that's the best place for your money as most do. let them prove it. incorporate and consult, pay yourself first, write off everything but your sleep.
I was thinking something similar as I was walking passed the regional commuter train stop last night. There's a lot of people getting off and on the train at given intervals. Given an hour long train ride into the city, a 1 -2 page redux that isn't too mathematically off putting, would be a great thing for educating the masses. What's more, is these people are typically employed (luckily) and would allow for "exponential" redistribution. Also, paid "flaggers" on craiglist could slow it down, however, CL gets a lot of traffic in many large population cites. Part of the problem is accomplishing this w/o seeming like a crazy individual yelling at parking meters. I think that an indirect "seeping" process might be very effective. Part of the opposition is bravado, pride, trying to "unthink" the years of propaganda and programming we've been subjected to. Examples of indirect knowledge displacement / injection could be public places that allow posting of what not. Examples like, groceries store fronts, laundromats, mass transportation centers, etc. The solution is a simple explanation, that doesn't require further clarification (aside from sources, but if one is given a seed, and wishes to grasp the fruit, due diligence is on the reader.)
Social isolation is one of the key factors that keeps this machine of greed and oneupsmanship driving down the throat of our society.
Think about the restaurants that pay people a nominal fee to put a menu on your door knob, mailbox etc.
A well written, easily understood breakdown directly "marketed" to the masses will be the quickest way to a collective "AHA!"
Also, how about some of our multi-lingual constitutions provide good translations, as English isn't the only language spoken in America, unfortunately, money is the "dialect" that is spoken universally. Let's illustrate the other side / accurate side of what's occurring in the financial word, how it effects our everyday countrymen and women. It'll be more profound than anyone can imagine, we have to employ the same tools / weapons that have been waged on US, for the people by the people.
peace love dove.
How anyone can still maintain a scintilla of faith in Barak Hussein Barry Sotero Obama at this point is beyond inexcusable. He was and is and will be nothing but a Illuminati construct, a mirage of marketing, a hologram of feigned hope, stomping on our dreams and hopes like the hired hitman he is. Our federal government is totally out of control and in dire need of rectification. How and where do we start?
What about a savers revolt?
We have a bunch of homedebtor freeloaders looking for another handout.
FU
Impeachment is a joke. Good old grass roots pressure is what will stand a chance of working.
+1
perhaps a grassroots movement, where some zerohedgers in large population centers print and distribute a simple easy to understand breakdown, of whats happening. or pay out of our own pockets, to employ a few assistants, to distribute copies. walmarts senior centers colleges post online. make youtube videos inspire the disenfranchised to believe that he can be part of something, that will cause change for the better 40-50% of seniors, are not connected to the internet.
Perhaps a nice breakdown of how banks can borrow for .25% interest then invest that borrowed money into treasuries at ~4% interest....clear the spread that the taxpayers are paying the Interest on as a possible starter.
I used this quote on Facebook as my initial Status:
"You let one ant stand up to us - then they all might stand up. Those puny little ants outnumber us a 100 to one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life.
- Hopper"
Then I used COGs post (edited a smidgeon) as a comment and asked that others repost BOTH. One helluva call to action. I asked Marla to see if we can create a dummies guide to the financial crisis and post it on ZH so we can also link that in as well.
I find infuriating these constant calls by "polite" society to maintain decorum and calm, that raised voices will not be heard, that an ugly mob can't be controlled, that violence is not effective. .........
But cooler heads prevailed for after some consideration the Senators realized that if the slaves were so marked, they might suddenly realize the magnitude of their superior numbers and quickly seize the upper hand. I ask you to look around for everywhere you gaze there are fellow slaves, far outnumbering the masters. Once that understanding settles in your mind, the next step is obvious.
-Cognitive Dissonance
Posted on www.zerohedge.com
I see it going down this way. Things get worse very quickly next year. Unemployment tops 11% and the protests get louder. The next step will be crack downs by local authorities. The protests then move to DC where things get out of hand. Ultimately Obama will be pressured to declare a "state of emergency." If he does so people will get hurt ... a lot of them. Congress will then be forced to act on behalf of "the people." Things will then have to change or democracy will be suspended and Obama will become a rather obvious puppet dictator. Hopefully they will change before we get to that point.
On another thread someone posted this link to a gripping near-future story that speculates pretty much exactly what you wrote:
http://johngaltfla.com/blog3/2009/11/18/the-day-the-dollar-died/
have you read it?
The answer to the title question is "yes", America is finally starting to stand up.
The problem we have is that the majority of those pissed off do not have a firm understanding of the financial "basics" i.e. what a strong vs weak dollar means to them, what zero interest rates means to them in terms of advantages/disadvantages, what the Fed is by definition and what they are up to, etcetera.
It would be helpful if there was a way to have a "financial crisis for dummies" series to educate Americans on these basic issues.
I think people get real smart, real fast, when they have to. The problems is, "when they have to", seems unneccesarily late in the game usually. Wait for the stock market to go done, unemployment to rise, more foreclosures...if enough people are desperate things could turn real fast.
When farmers were starving in the 1800s, they were financial/monetary experts. It will happen again. Why did Rolling Stone publish Matt Taibi's piece on Goldman Sacs now...did not see them doing anything on repeal of Glass/Steagall in 1999. Just is a shame it takes too long and too much desperation before it happens.
DH - Meet me at the chat at your pleasure.
Sadly, the longer the abnormal prevails the more normal it becomes in the minds of many sheeple. Like living in Earthquake country. The "little shakes" have been so prevalent for so long they have become a normal part of everyday life. Few think about the Big One as a result.
The wary sheeple have been convinced that the Economic Big One occured a year ago and they survived bruised and battered.....now just going through a few aftershocks.
It'll take an 8.0 mag that tatters the economic foundation . Sooner than later it will come. The Big One is getting way overdue.
First, "dummies" would have to be interested enough to do something as simple as googling "Financial Crisis for Dummies" which returns an incredible amount of videos and slide presentations in seemingly simple terms.
I'm with you, if more people would educate themselves, they'd be outraged. My experience has been that no one is interested...even my family, sadly. And, so, here we are.
Hmmm...I doubt our population in general could even answer the captcha math question...
Lloyd Blankfein's Apology for God's Work? Apology NOT Accepted!
http://tinyurl.com/yggxgj8