Protesters Demand Obama to Investigate Role of Banks in Recession and Housing Crisis
MoveOn.org protesters stood outside the Bank of American in Yorktown on Thursday to collect signatures urging the President to hold banks accountable.
Photos
About a dozen area residents gathered outside the Bank of America in Yorktown to collect signatures urging President Obama to investigate the role of banks just before financial institutions were bailed out.
They accuse banks of facilitating the foreclosure crisis and demand they be held accountable.
The protesters were organized by the non-profit political activism organization Moveon.org to show up on Thursday as part of a national event called 'Yes He Can.' The event took place across the country -- a week before President Obama's State of the Union Address -- outside of campaign offices and some of the biggest banks in America.
They held signs that read "President Obama: Investigate this bank!," "Save the American Dream," "Bring Back the Middle Class," "Heal America, Tax Wall Street," "Hands Off Social Security and Medicare," as well as a sign with a quote by President Obama "Too often, we've seen Wall Street firms violating major anti-fraud laws because the penalties are too weak and there's no price for being a repeat offender."
Tim Barnes, a Lake Peekskill resident who is also the council coordinator of Moveon.org in Northern Westchester and Putnam counties, said protesters want to see President Obama stand up for the middle class, or the 99 percent, as opposed to Wall Street. Barnes said banks are responsible for the crisis and need to be held fully accountable.
"There needs to be regulations in place, otherwise this could happen again," he said.
There are three reasons, he said, that bring local political action group members to the streets:
- To tell Obama to stand up for the 99 percent of the country;
- To demand regulations and accountability of banks;
- To investigate what happened during the financial crisis.
"I think the solution is strong regulatory laws," Barnes said. "What's happened so far in [Obama's] four years is he's allowed people to push him around. We want him to know that if he want us to re-elected him, he needs to stand up for us."
Participants will deliver a petition with signatures demanding President Obama to pressure him to step-up investigation of the banks' role in the recent housing crisis and recession.
"We expect that he hears us very loud and represent us at the State of the Union on Tuesday," Barnes said.
Protestors around the country have been concerned with what they're calling a "sweetheart deal" to give immunity to institutions, including Bank of America, for their role in the housing crisis.
Debbie Canzio, a Crompond resident and a teacher aid in Yorktown, signed the protesters petitions on Thursday because she too was in the process of being foreclosed on by Chase Bank after her brother was 60 days late on the mortgage payment.
"Losing my father...losing him and now losing my house, my sense of security has been uprooted," she said and added that she stopped to sign the petition because she supports what the protesters are trying to accomplish. "And banks need to be held accountable. There is not more middle class. Either you're going to be rich or poor or homeless."
Protesters said they blame the banks for the economy and think there should be more regulations in place.
Yolanda Taormina, a Peekskill resident and floral designer, was among the group on Thursday holding signs and giving out a print out of "seven simple steps to move your checking account."
"We want to be the change for what we believe," she said and added that her husband lost his job as a security director because of the economy and they're afraid they might lose their home.
Barnes said there are too many short sales and foreclosures going on.
"I wonder where all those people are, where are they living, how are they living," he said.
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John Dickerson
8:50 am on Friday, January 20, 2012
Another George Soros funded "rent a mob". You'd think Moveon.org would be able to field more than "a dozen" demonstrating radical chic lefties with professionally printed placards to pose for cameras outside a local branch of the Bank of America.
A much better idea would be to protest and demand criminal investigations of Congressman Barney Frank (D, MA), his homosexual lover and former Fannie Mae executive Herb Moses, Senator Chris Dodd (D, CT), former Fannie Mae head Franklin Raines, the boards of directors and management of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other politicians behind the government's promoting a massive subprime loan program.
Banks don't make loans to anyone whose financial status exhibts no possibility of repayment, They do so only when pressured by government.
Brian Mac...
5:38 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Maybe you should take the time to run your mouth about something you clearly no nothing about. First of all George Soros has nothing to do with move-on it is funded by small donations from it's hard working members. Barney Frank's sexual orientation has nothing to do with a bill he co-sponsored, which by the way helps millions of Americans from being taken advatage of by big banks and credit card companies. Your just a biggot...I find it amazing how you left out the Republican party members and Bush out of your invertigations? They are the responsible party and also who gave the banks a 700 BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT. Which they received from Bush interest free, and were to lend out to avert the economic crash they caused in conjunction with Wall Stree, but of course than did'nt lend it out. Oh yeah by the way Countrywide Financial (The biggest mortgage lender in the Country) and also owned by BOA. Gave out loans to anyone with a pen. They could care less if the loans were paid. They sold them 5 minutes after the loan was made to Investment banks, who than insured them with AIG (because they knew they were garbage). Than the great folks on Wall Street bundled them together and sold them as AAA securities to teacher pension funds and many others.Thats what is well documented, and what caused our current problem. Lets not forget about all the de-regulation the great folks got pushed through whenever they were in the White House..
Don Bartolo
9:43 am on Friday, January 20, 2012
As one of the, "radical, chic lefties" that were there yesterday I'd like to say that I agree with John. Politicians shouldn't get a free ride on this and they too need to be held accountable. However, I'd like everyone to remember who was at the helm when the ship hit the sand. It was right wing conservative George Bush (R) President and his partner Vice President Dick (oops I thought you were a duck) Cheney(R) while current Presidential Hopeful Newt Gingrich (R) was employed as an "historian" for Freddie Mac. It's really not a left wing/right wing issue or even a D/R issue, it's a survival issue for both sides.
Francis T McVetty
9:51 am on Friday, January 20, 2012
Frank, if you remember it was the Bush administration that warned of the problem with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The only thing that you can blame the Bush administration in this matter was they didn't or couldn't do anything about it.
It was Barney Frank and Chris Dodd that said there was NO problem. This is what happens when you let the "government" get into private business. The government can't even run the Postal Service, Amtrak and Medicaid and yet they think they can run mortgage loans.
Jenga
11:04 am on Friday, January 20, 2012
The fact is both sides are guilty-Frank, Dodd and company used government to tell banks to loan money to people who they knew could never pay it back, the banks then did what they do best- they figured out a way to make money off of it. Both sides knew a disaster was looming-but the point is if the gov't didn't get involved in the first place it probably wouldn't have happened in the first place.
Don Bartolo
1:03 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
OK Folks, I have one more question and then that's it for me. If the economy crashed in 2007 and Dodd/Frank was signed into law in 2010, how do we arrive at the conclusion that Dodd/Frank caused the crash? Seems that whether you are for or against Dodd Frank, it is highly unlikely that it would have an impact on something before it existed.
John Dickerson
1:18 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
You must be kidding, Frank But in case you weren't, I'll give you a serious answer.
Barney Frank and Chris Dodd have been writing and ramming through wrong headed and harmful financial legislation for years. The Dodd/Frank bill only the latest in a long series of such bills and it is still in the process of being put into effect. Dodd didn't run for re-election. Frank has announced that he will not run again in 2012. The effects of their action will continue to erode US financial markets and the US economy after they're gone.
BYW, no politician withdraws from politics unless it is clear that they're not going to be elected. That alone should tell you something about the harm these two have done.
Brian Mac...
5:41 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Frank that because the GOP ignores facts and just scares people and tells them what to fear. Than they just keep repeating their message on Fox News. It's just like state-run television. They only tell them what they want them to know and never let the truth or the facts get in the way...
John Q. Public
1:55 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Blaming the banks for the mortgage crisis is like blaming trees for forest fires. The culprit are the persons who struck the match. These protesters should get a library card and read Yves Smith's "ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism." We know how it happened. They are just too lazy to read. Don't trust Washington DC to tell you what Yves Smith will. http://www.amazon.com/ECONned-Unenlightened-Undermined-Democracy-Capitalism/dp/0230114563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327085483&sr=8-1
Robert Mohr
2:25 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2012
Get a library card u r an idiot .First of all banks are at fault for changing the guidlines for excepting certain mortgages to be written. If u truely believe that then you are by no means an exceptable person to draw an opinion. I have been in a settlement confrence for 3 years offered the bank money the turned it down i have a set income and im disabled with 3 children . I am sick of the bank saying we need more paperwork so they can stall and add more charges .Now the banks lawyer stven j baum closed down for some frauduelant doings. Now the banks r like we didnot know what the lawyers were doing its bull s**t the banks r so greedy they get a bailout and still want to stick it to the people trying to stay in there homes. Enough is enough obama did almost everything he promised dont bitch now that u dont like the outcome. He did a better job than bush all u republicans know it and he will win again . My name is rcm628 deal with it.
John Dickerson
7:46 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
The changing of the guidelines (your reference) reflects the massive losses banks took -- and in some cases bailed out of -- because of the earlier lax "guidelines", set by the Democrat Congress, mandating banks lend to people who couldn't repay mortgages. I assume that you may have been one of the borrowers under those lax guidelines.
By the way, if your loan applications and other correspondence read anything like your post here, no bank would ever dream of extending you credit. Nothing personal, it just doesn't seem you know what you're talking about.
Finally, if you're really interested in having the banks investigated, I suggest you demand that the investigation focus on which politicians and which political parties received the most financial contributions from the banks, Wall Street, insurance companies, etc. I think you'll find that Obama, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and the rest of the Democrats received much more bank/Wall Street money than did the Republicans. Odd that the Democrats, including groups like Moveon.org and OccupyWallStreet have been assembling lynch mobs to go after the banks.
Cui bono?
Robert Mohr
9:17 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
ohn you seem like a very smart man who understands exactly what is going on. My rant is to let people know there are hard working people out there caught up and still fighting the banks. At the time when I re did my refi i had serious medical debt. But i had serious income coming in. I should have never been approved for a new tloan but the guy said we can fudge some numbers and hill get it to work.The payments were way to high they they said our intrest rate would be at 6.75% it was change to 8%. Shortly after that I was reinjured and my income went 50% less .They came out with a hamp loan the lawyers took our paperwork 14 times allways needing more info they were told by the ref to send it in and they didnt now it is very frustrating .The judge has all the paperwork its been6 months we have a set income .Also sorry about my spelling its hard to concentrate when your on meds..All politicians are in someones pocket.The system is broken .I do respect your opinoin though John. Thanks for the insight.
Brian Mac...
5:43 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
No Robert, I believe he's more of a moron....
peekskillman
5:05 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2012
no offense , sir, but before you start calling others an idiot, perhaps you should check your grammar and spelling. accept, not except - truly, not truely - fraudulent, not frauduelant... there are others, see if you can find them yourself
Francis T McVetty
7:05 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2012
Ok, if that's all you can criticize, his spelling, then why bother? That is a problem now a days. Don't answer the points just make fun of the grammar and spelling.
Robert Mohr
9:34 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
No offense taken thats my opinion . Does it make u feel better about yourself to put me down.If you reade the prevous comment the guy said they should get a library card . Did u have anything important to say about the topic or do you web surf looking for people to make spelling errors.
Jenga
10:43 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2012
I was not blaming the dodd/frank bill- I was blaming them and liberals like them who rammed through the nonsense that everyone in this country has the right to own a house.
Francis T McVetty
8:37 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
John,D, well said!!!
John Dickerson
9:34 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
Thank you for your reply, Robert.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation as I do think that, if the facts are as you state them, you do have cause for complaint.
I repeat my earlier premise, namely that the fault rests with the politicians who induced or coerced banks to make loans without regard to normal and prudent credit considerations. In a sense, many bankers were making such mortgage loans with a government gun to their heads. The politicians weren't doing any favors to you or to anyone else with their subprime games. It is they, not the banks or the general population who should be paying the price.
Let the markets work!
Reduce the government's footprint!
Good luck to you, Robert.