ICYMI

ICYMI - Bonus Bonanza Edition

By tory at January 29, 2010 - 2:26pm

Heather Booth from Americans for Financial Reform gives us the State of the Financial Reform Movement and lists ways you can get involved.

SEIU makes it easy for you to contact the FCIC and ask why, when families are being forced into the street by foreclosures, are big banks giving employees the same old big bonuses?

Taxpayers in Iowa delivered a clear message to the big banks during a showdown at the statehouse: give up your bonuses to help meet our budget budget crisis. Isn't Iowa too big to fail?

Americans United for Change is petitioning Congress to support President Obama's financial reform package and put an end to Bush-style economic policies that endanger our pensions, retirement funds, and college savings.

News

In Case You Missed It - Let's Just Pretend 59>41 Edition

By tory at January 22, 2010 - 3:36pm

-The news this week has been pretty grim, but we all know when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Here are a few ways you can get going in the tough fight for financial reform:


Experts agree the Consumer Financial Protection Agency is a must to prevent another financial crisis and protect Main Street from Wall Street's excesses. Our friends at the National Council of La Raza, Campaign for America's Future, and Public Citizen all have petitions urging Congress to do the right thing and support the CFPA.
 
Wondering why Obama is (finally) taking on Wall Street? Robert Reich knows.
 
Have you moved your money yet? Learn more about the movement and how you can break up with your big bank.
 
Americans for Fairness in Lending and Americans for Financial Reform want you to give big banks (and the Senate) their final notice: we want our money back.
 
The Supreme Court released a decision this week that could have an incredibly damaging affect on our democracy. Learn more about the problem and possible solutions at http://www.freespeechforpeople.com/
 
So you say you're for financial reform? But are you a fan of financial reform?

News

In Case You Missed It - FCIC Edition

By tory at January 15, 2010 - 2:35pm

- Welcome to the inaugural "In Case You Missed It", our weekly look around for interesting happenings in the fight for financial reform. This week we mostly focus on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's first hearings:

Want to feel like you were you in the hearing room? Catch up with liveblogs from Campaign for America's Future and SEIU.

Mary Bottari at Bankster.com reminds us accountability, and an active Department of Justice, was a key component to our coming to grips with the Keating 5 and Savings & Loan scandals of the 1980s. Too big to fail doesn't mean too big for jail.

New Deal 2.0 has a great collection of posts from the FCIC hearings. They seem to think the Bankers gave flimsy excuses for their sociopathic nature (could there possibly be a good excuse?).

Public Campaign and Common Cause joined forces to give us some raw numbers about the four Wall Street CEOs that testified before the FCIC: their employees & PACS gave more than $43 million to federal candidates since 2000, and the four companies spent an astounding $109 million to lobby Congress during the same period.

Do you have a question for the fat cats that testified before the panel? Huffington Post is collecting questions from their readers and promises to deliver them to the Commission.

Lastly, this one isn't related to the FCIC, but it's nice to take a break and recognize the US Chamber of Commerce had a pretty bad 2009, and 2010 isn't really looking much better for their PR department.