Videographer Luke Rudkowski (#OWS) got yet another chance to question the current chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. The last time the two met, Bernanke was not in a talkative mood and since Luke only had one chance to ask one question he decided it had to be an important one. Luke asked Bernanke about the 2007 - 2010 secret trillion dollar Federal Reserve bailouts, that only recently came to light from a partial audit of the Federal Reserve. Barnanke was not happy with the question but since no one in the main stream media ever questioned Bernanke on the biggest bailout in world history, Luke had to seize the opportunity. During the inpromptu interview, Bernanke actually grabbed Luke's microphone and tried to snatch it away from him, but sadly the video did not capture his hands on the microphone.
Nearly 1,000 people marched through Charlotte's business district on Sunday, two days before the start of the Democratic National Convention in that city in protest of the influence of corporate money in politics. The crowd railed against the bailouts that big businesses received in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and carried signs that read, "Banks got bailed out. We got sold out." The marchers planned to pass by Bank of America's corporate headquarters and a Wells Fargo office. Many of the activists said they were there to protest other concerns like the government's inaction on climate change and the human rights abuses. At least two people were arrested, Charlotte police said.
One protester, 23-year-old Anna Marie Wright, was arrested for violating a law by wearing a mask, according to police. Wright was arrested at 2:25 p.m. At the time of the arrest, she had a knife, police said.
Chris Stevens, 32, was also arrested for disorderly conduct, assault on a government official and resisting arrest in the 200 block of South College street. Stevens was drunk, CMPD police chief Rodney Monroe told reporter Dianne Gallagher, and was not part of the March on Wall Street South.
Another protester was transported by Medic to a local hospital, according to The Charlotte Observer. Authorities have not said why the protester was taken to the hospital.
The protest march was peaceful, but plenty of police on hand, you know, "just in case."
Bill talks with financial expert Sheila Bair about the lawlessness of our banking system and the prognosis for meaningful reform. Bair was appointed in 2006 by President George W. Bush to chair the FDIC. During the 2008 meltdown, she argued that in some cases banks were NOT too big to fail — that instead of bailouts, they should be sold off to healthier competitors. Now a senior adviser to the Pew Charitable Trusts, Bair has organized a private group of financial experts including former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, former Senators Bill Bradley and Alan Simpson, and John Reed, once the chairman of Citicorp, to explore ways to prevent the banking industry from scuttling reforms created by the Dodd-Frank Act.
“I worry that the public is getting cynical,” Bair tells Moyers. “One of the reasons I started the Systemic Risk Council is I feel the special interest lobbying is, in a calculated way, trying to slow down reform, complicate reform, water reform down. And the public loses interest — they become cynical about if the regulators in Washington can fix any of this, and they don’t exert counter political pressure to get meaningful reforms in place.”
October 18, 2011 - Mitt Romney says don't try to stop the foreclosure crisis. It should "run its course" so investors can buy the houses homeowners can't afford and rent them out.
Nevermind those messy illegal foreclosures?
Good morning, and TGIF! Today is Friday, June 22, 2012. What's on your mind today?
What do you do when banks that took billions in taxpayer dollars foreclose on those very same taxpayers? Why, you foreclose on the banks, of course! Occupy Miami decides to move into Wells Fargo and another set of occupiers get comfy in a Bank of America. Check it out and get inspired.
Fault Lines tells the definitive history of Occupy Wall Street from its early days through the movement's rapid spread up to the brutal crackdown by city officials.
In the fall of 2011, New York's Zuccotti Park grabbed the world’s attention as the hub of Occupy Wall Street, a movement that set off a chain of rage against the country’s financial and political elite.
Even in the face of police repression and media ridicule, the movement mobilized thousands of people fed up with the deep economic divide in the US. And within two months hundreds of Occupy Wall Street camps swept across the country changing the political discourse in the US.
"People were upset about the economy, people were upset about the foreclosure crisis, people were upset about the bailouts, and about the fact that it looked like elected officials were working for big business rather than for the people who they’re supposed to be working for," says activist Max Rameau from Take Back the Land.
"You know, I can't really do this anymore ... unless those of you who are watching this in the theater want to join me. I hope you will. And please – speed it up." – Michael Moore asking audience to join him in an uprising against Wall Street at end of 2009's "Capitalism: A Love Story"
I could watch the part where Michael walks up to the bank with the empty money bags and says he's there to get our money back every single day and not get tired of it.
A revolution is coming to America.. Not Just America but the World, people are waking up and finally realising how the world works and that their rights as free human beings are slowly being taken away from them..
The 99% are rising up!
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose
sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and
those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the
people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the
Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic
power.
We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest
over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled
here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage. They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system
through monopolization. They have profited off of the torture, confinement,and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay andsafer working conditions. They have held students hostage with tens
of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers'healthcare and pay. They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
For the past two years, New York Communities for Change members have seen firsthand the damage that the foreclosure crisis has caused in our communities. Together we’ve watched vacant, boarded-up houses pop up on block after block in Southeast Queens and parts of Brooklyn. We’ve stood with homeowners as they told their stories about sending document after document to their banks in hopes of getting a mortgage modification, only to have the bank lose those documents time and time again. We’ve shared their frustration and despair as foreclosures in the community drag down the value of their homes -- making the mortgage they are struggling to pay much higher than what their home is worth.
We at NYCC have seen the real face of the foreclosure crisis; they live in the neighborhoods we organize in; they are our members and they are the family of our members. The homeowners we organize are living proof that in America, if you get sick, or hurt, or laid off through no fault of your own, you will be punished. But the big banks that caused the economic crisis will be left to collect record-breaking bonuses paid for with a bailout that was funded by our tax dollars.
That’s why, for the past 12 months, NYCC has been engaged in a fight to get JP Morgan Chase to reform its mortgage modification policies, and it’s why we’re excited to be joining Occupy Wall Street and community groups from around the country to defend brave families who are taking back homes for the community.
While shelters are overfull and thousands more rely on friends and family to house them, too many homes sit vacant at the hands of the banks. But starting tomorrow, the 99 percent is banding together to say enough is enough. I am proud that NYCC will be among the many taking part in tomorrow’s national day of actions.
Tomorrow we will gather in East New York, a neighborhood in Brooklyn that has been profoundly impacted by foreclosures, and the economic crisis at large, to welcome one brave family to the neighborhood. This family, that has struggled to keep a roof over their heads since the onset of the financial crisis, is sending a message to the big banks: You created the economic disaster that we find ourselves in, you need to fix it. And that starts by keeping families in their homes.
I hope I’ll see many friendly faces in East New York tomorrow joining NYCC, OWS and community groups from across NYC as we stand up for the 99 percent. Check out the Facebook Event Page for More Details.
[Editors Note: Readers, if any of you participate in the Occupy Homes action today, I hope you'll take a moment to share your experience either by sending us an email, or posting in the comments section. Thank-you!]
Big banks, bailouts, and secret bailouts, the defective and even fraudulent mortgages that have already led to foreclosure on millions of American's homes; finally, a mainstream media news source is asking why none of the companies involved - or their executives - have been prosecuted.
Steve Kroft and 60 Minutes talks with two whistleblowers, Eileen Foster, a former senior executive at Countrywide Financial, and Richard Bowen, a former vice president at Citigroup.
In a script note from "60 Minutes" producer, James Jacoby, begins with "It's been three years since the financial crisis crippled the American economy, and much to the consternation of the general public and the demonstrators on Wall Street,(Emphasis mine) there has not been a single prosecution of a high-ranking Wall Street executive or major financial firm even though fraud and financial misrepresentations played a significant role in the meltdown."
A significant "win" for the Occupy Wall Street movement to be mentioned in such a groundbreaking investigative report? If nothing else, perhaps the Wall Street titans will cringe a little more with each spotting of a protest sign or "mic check."
Part one of the program begins, with the second part of the video at the bottom of the page, and a link to the final portion that's contained in the 60 Minutes Overtime report:
Steve Kroft: Do you believe that there are people at Countrywide who belong behind bars?
Eileen Foster: Yes.
Kroft: Do you want to give me their names?
Foster: No.
Kroft: Would you give their names to a grand jury if you were asked?
Foster: Yes.
But Eileen Foster has never been asked - and never spoken to the Justice Department - even though she was Countrywide's executive vice president in charge of fraud investigations. At the height of the housing bubble, Countrywide Financial was the largest mortgage lender in the country and the loans it made were among the worst, a third ending up in foreclosure or default, many because of mortgage fraud.
