Everyday Coloradans sick of being taken advantage of by Wall Street banks are unleashing their fury this week, exposing the greed and recklessness that put many of us on Main Street into the unemployment lines, on the foreclosure lists and in the bankruptcy courts.
In 2007-2008, more than 50,000 Coloradans were laid off from their jobs. Nationwide, we've lost eight million jobs. Entire neighborhoods sit abandoned by foreclosure, and our cities and states teeter on the edge of bankruptcy.
The six largest banks--JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley-- gave $160 billion in pay and bonuses to the very executives whose greed and recklessness did so much to cause our current financial crisis. And more, these six firms spent a combined $6.9 million on lobbying in the first three months of this year alone. Enough is enough!
The sidewalk outside the Wells Fargo Bank office at 17th & Broadway in Denver will host two Main Street actions in support of strong financial reform legislation in the U.S. Senate:
I AM NOT YOUR ATM
Tuesday April 27th at 2 PM
A Working America event outside the 17th & Broadway Wells Fargo Bank downtown office will recruit bank customers to send Wall Street the message: "I am not your ATM!"
Working America members will take pictures of willing customers in front of the Wells Fargo ATMs, and collect handwritten letters and recorded messages about strong financial reform for the executives at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley.
More than 10,000 of these photos, letters and audio messages from Colorado and across the nation will be delivered to these big banks all week and during shareholder meetings so Wall Street will hear, see and read firsthand how angry Main Street is. Some of these will be posted online for you to see and have the opportunity to join in the community action.
TOXIC WALL STREET IS POISONING MAIN STREET
Thursday, April 29th at 1:00 PM
Coloradans for Financial Reform will wrap yellow caution tape around Wells Fargo Bank at 17th & Broadway and be led by activists in Hazmat gear and respirators to send the message: "Toxic Wall Street banks are poisoning Main Street!"
Speakers will include Coloradans for Financial Reform leaders to discuss the current bill in the U.S. Senate, as well as everyday people who are struggling to find jobs in the stagnant economy, losing their homes to foreclosure, finding themselves trapped in abusive payday loan cycles and staggering under a crush of student, auto and other unfair loans.
These Coloradans join thousands of other activists across the nation exposing Wall Street bankers and their pricey K Street lobbyists as the engineers of our communities' economic devastation. We all vow to hold banks and politicians accountable here in Colorado, and in every community across the U.S. Some of the other actions this week include:
Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting in San Francisco: More than 1,000 clergy, workers, community allies to stage procession through downtown San Francisco to Wells Fargo shareholder meeting.
Bank of America Showdown in Kansas City: Hundreds of retirees, family farmers, and workers from across the heartland to march on Kansas City's financial district and demand Bank of America divest from payday lending.
Bank of America Shareholder Meeting in Charlotte, NC: Hundreds of veterans, clergy, working families to march on Bank of America shareholder meeting.
Wall Street Showdown: Thousands to stage massive march on Wall Street to hold big banks accountable for destroying the economy and demand Wall Street do its part to help our families and communities recover.
Take on K St. Lobbyists in Washington, DC (May): Thousands of workers and community allies to stage multiple demonstrations to confront and expose lobbyists working for Wall Street.
It's time for our families to break Wall Street's stranglehold on our economy and political system. Please urge Senator Michael Bennet and Senator Mark Udall to vote for strong Wall Street reform when it comes up for a floor vote in the next two weeks.