Anger, At Last

In a brightly lit basement room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago tonight, Angel Seda was leading seven hundred people in a chant. "Tell me what you want, what you really want," he called. Hundreds of voices shouted back, "Our homes back!" "Tell me what you need, what you really need." "CFPA!"

CFPA?

Yep, you heard right, hundreds of people were chanting for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency,  a new oversight body Barack Obama has proposed that could ban such disastrous practices as no-doc mortgages, payday loans, and no-warning overdraft fees on checking accounts. (A bill to create the agency made it through the House Financial Services Committee last week).  Wonky, sure, but vital, too, and it was both hilarious and inspiring to see a roomful of Iowa farmers and Kansas retirees and preachers and teachers and utility workers jumping to their feet at the sound of those magic letters. One woman from Wichita, Arnetta Jefferson, told me she herself was facing the loss of her home and described "house after house after house empty" in her community, all from foreclosures. "I'm tired of it," she said. CFPA! CFPA! CFPA!

It's been a year since the stock market crashed and Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for the very banks that made it happen, but populist anger has finally found its expression this week in Chicago.

"We had this image of big bankers sipping martinis and saying, 'Did we really get away with this?'" said lead organizer George Goehl, director of National People's Action. "Then two months ago we found out the American Bankers Association was having its annual meeting here in Chicago." The ABA, not so incidentally, has fiercely fought against new regulations on the banking industry, and is lobbying hard now against the CFPA. But National People's Action has been fighting predatory lending for decades, mostly recently busing in 400 people to ABA headquarters in Washington. Once NPA called the protest, dubbed The Showdown in Chicago, the labor movement quickly got on board, including rival factions Change to Win and the AFL-CIO. For the centerpiece action, a Tuesday march, Goehl says he's expecting at least 5,000. (Monday the protesters have planned a visit to Goldman Sachs.)

Rev. Eugene Barnes of Bloomington, Illinois, offered an emotional prayer against "money changers" and for the "ragtag band" before him. Farmer activist Larry Ginter of Des Moines, Iowa, got the crowd back on its feet with, "I know you can't raise corn on the streets of Chicago--but can you raise a little hell?" Even Senator Dick Durban stirred the crowd as he railed against loans with "tricks and traps that even a Wall Street lawyer can't explain." And the crowd clearly moved him, too. "One of the newsmen asked, 'Why are you here?'" he said quietly. "And I told him, 'I'm here because they're here.'"

Across the Chicago River at the Sheraton, the cocktails were flowing, but the mood was a little edgy. Security guards were checking badges with an ultraviolet light before letting anyone upstairs to the opening reception; imposing men from a private security firm roamed the lobby and the bar. John Hall, an ABA spokesman, told me the association's president had received death threats. I wandered about a bit with a Nation photographer, approaching a few bankers at the bar for a chat, reporters' notebook in hand, as we waited around for a rumored protest. Suddenly, we were surrounded by three large guards and an officer with the Chicago Police Department. Taking notes, they said, was a "suspicious activity." We might be scouting their security system for the activists or planning to "throw paint." We were held on one of the Sheraton's artfully upholstered couches until our press registration with the ABA was confirmed; the police officer demanded our IDs for an incident report. What, exactly, we wondered, was the incident?

Suddenly, outside, the sound of whistles. It was the protesters from the Hyatt, who'd showed up en masse, just outside the Sheraton entrance, holding up oversized effigies of Jamie Dimon (the CEO of JPMorgan Chase), John Stumpf (Wells Fargo) and Ken Lewis (Bank of America). While bankers and their wives drifted out of the hotel to waiting Lincoln Town Cars and the protesters boomed out more spirited and acronym-laden rhymes, I sidled up to one conference participant, Steve Mattingly of Wichita, Kansas, who makes and sells loans to small community banks. He was watching the festivities, cocktail glass in hand. "They told us to hide our badges when we went outside," he said, shrugging. "They're protesting the wrong people. Ninety percent of the banks in there are worth less than $500 million. These folks haven't been bailed out." But when I asked if these small bankers resented the too-big-to-fail banks and their high-flying CEOs, he demurred. The ABA represents large and small alike. Solidarity forever.

Read more of Esther's reporting from the Showdown in Chicago from Day 2 and Day 3.

Comments (21)

1. Anyone concerned about consumer finance, need to visit Fox Business and read up......Reality, straight ahead.....enjoy the Change!

   October 26, 2009 09:59 AM EDT by Elizabeth MacDonald

   Is the U.S. Now In a Lost Decade?

   Is the U.S. now trapped in a zombie decade much like what Japan endured in the ‘90s?

   Posted by Happy at 10/26/2009 @ 11:20am

2. Naturally, Happy doesn't want to get TOO into this story.

   As a right-winger he must oppose the bail-outs...but he also must oppose "a bunch of lib'ruls protesting decent, hard-working capitalists".

   So he's in a bit of a quandry that only a change in topic to a "Fox Business" story can fix.

   Posted by Mask at 10/26/2009 @ 12:03pm

3. Bingo, Mask. Pretty soon the little banksters will be singing in unison, "It wasn't US! It wasn't US.....!!" Just like the GOP is now claiming to have ALWAYS supported the unions and the working man...... And like Saddam had WMDs, Scooter Libby wasn't protecting anyone, Abu Ghraib was only a few rogue soldiers, Obama's a socialist, the Israelis were there first, Reagan brought down the wall, the rooster who crows at dawn causes the sun to rise, yadda yadda......

   Posted by DejaVu at 10/26/2009 @ 12:12pm

4. Posted by DejaVu at 10/26/2009 @ 12:12pm

   Actually, I like the fact that to oppose health care reform, you have Republicans out there saying they promise to "protect Medciare from cuts" and want to "shore it up".

   A program that their rhetoric says they should call for its elimination and that Saint Ronald himself decried as "socialized medicine" 48 years ago.

   Maybe they're evolving????......LOL

   BTW, of course they'll come up with a way to BOTH be opposed to bank bail-outs AND support the bankers against them "Commie protestors".

   They always do.

   Posted by Mask at 10/26/2009 @ 12:16pm

5. 'Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for the very banks that made it happen' -- Esther Kaplan

   'It would be difficult to concoct a Washington fantasy more delicious than this one' -- John Nichols -- The Nation -- 23 October, 2009 -- ttp://www.then ation.com/blogs/thebeat/48759 3/roger_ailes_for_president_er_mayb e_not_so_much

   Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/26/2009 @ 12:48pm

6. So he's in a bit of a quandry that only a change in topic to a "Fox Business" story can fix.

   Posted by Mask at 10/26/2009 @ 12:03pm

   http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news? pid=20601039&sid=aY6fyCTnmgh0

   BLOOMBERG GOES NUTS!

   Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Forty years ago, the U.S. government said the $100 bill would be the highest-denomination note. With the Federal Reserve now trying to print its way out of the financial crisis, it may be time to revisit that decision.

   Reinstating $10,000 or $100,000 notes -- which existed in limited fashion years ago -- won't cut it. In today's, "Brother, can you spare a trillion dollars?" economy, we need to think bigger -- a $1 million bill may be in order.

   And picking a person to grace this bill offers a unique opportunity to single out someone who has played a key role in the dollar's downfall. More in a moment on the many candidates who deserve the ignominy of putting their face on this bill.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/26/2009 @ 1:07pm

7. "...the protesters boomed out more spirited and acronym-laden rhymes..."

   I am shocked... shocked!

   Posted by ttr at 10/26/2009 @ 1:43pm

8. Were Barney Frank and Dobbs at the meeting and if not, WHY?

   Posted by BigPasture at 10/26/2009 @ 2:30pm

9. Posted by BigPasture at 10/26/2009 @ 2:30pm

   Lou Dobbs caused the housing crises?!?!??!

   I mean, I know it's dogma with you guys that Barney Frank did...somehow in the minority in 2003-2006...

   but a CNN talk show host did it too?!?!?!??

   ((BTW, yes...I know who he meant...heheh))

   Posted by Mask at 10/26/2009 @ 2:59pm

10. sted by frosty zoom at 10/26/2009 @ 1:07pm

    I vote Phil Gramm!!!!

    Posted by !immutable at 10/26/2009 @ 4:36pm

11. not a bad choice.

    i say reagan's ass.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 10/26/2009 @ 5:09pm

12. The Nation and other leftists are whipping up the people in what seems reminiscent of another time and place

    <The Bolsheviks viewed themselves as representing an alliance of workers and peasants and memorialized that understanding with the Hammer and Sickle on the flag and coat of arms of the Soviet Union.

    Other decrees:

    All Russian banks were nationalized. Control of the factories was given to the soviets.

    Private bank accounts were confiscated.

    The Church's properties (including bank accounts) were seized.

    Wages were fixed at higher rates than during the war, and a shorter, eight-hour working day was introduced.

    All foreign debts were repudiated.>

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution

    Posted by antisocialist at 10/26/2009 @ 6:02pm

13. Actually, the nationalization of the banking system would be a good place to start, if your purpose is to use the banking and insurance systems to rebuild the country and stabilize the economy. The banking system should be viewed and managed as an economic utility, an operating system, if you will, Unfortunately the purpose of this exercise is essentially to find a way to re-establish the status-quo ante without stirring up an angry mob. Something like a mild wrist slap from the government, but will appear to the rubes on main street as something real and significant, while allowing the players to continue playing their games with our money.

    Posted by JackCanuck at 10/26/2009 @ 10:52pm

14. Their dream causes our leftist friends to wake up in "night sweats" until they realized to late they will be among the disenfranchised and any disent results in their deaths, but too late will they realize that.

    Posted by BigPasture at 10/26/2009 @ 10:54pm

15. antisocialist/glenn beck

    bigpasture/joe mccarthy

    happy/happy

    Posted by darladoon at 10/27/2009 @ 12:48am

16. for antisocialist, the "october revolution" (of which he clearly knows nothing) is the equivalent of obama making extraordinarily tepid adjustments to the failed policies of his predecessor.

    Posted by darladoon at 10/27/2009 @ 12:53am

17. The average interchange fee in the U.S. is seven times the interchange fee set by Visa and MasterCard in countries throughout the rest of the world. Using 2008 figures, if the interchange fee charged by credit card issuers was decreased (via comprehensive credit card reform legislation) from the current 2.10% to 0.60%, the result would be an annual savings of approximately $34.3 billion for U.S. merchants and consumers. Credit card issuers could retain 0.3% as a processing fee, the remaining 0.3% could be a "tax" used to fund a Natural Disaster Trust Fund (NDTF). In 2008, this would have generated $6.86 billion in funding for a NDTF.

    Let's be clear. The interchange fee is a hidden tax, just not a tax subject to political control or for which there is any discernible social benefit. Decreasing, and imposing a transparent tax on, the interchange fee would have the same stimulus effect of a tax break, but without an impact on the federal budget.

    The following article discusses how comprehensive, standardized, simplified, and transparent credit card reform legislation may fund a Natural Disaster Trust Fund.

    http://www.csnews.com/csnews/images/pdf/creditcardreform.pdf

    Posted by BrianJDonovan at 10/27/2009 @ 05:31am

18. The Nation and other leftists are whipping up the people in what seems reminiscent of another time and place Posted by antisocialist at 10/26/2009 @ 6:02pm

    Oh just wait, it'll be more like 'the best of times and the worst of times', storming the Bankstilles and 'off with their heads'-- in no time.

    Posted by hsuBfools at 10/27/2009 @ 08:28am

19. Actually, the nationalization of the banking system would be a good place to start

    Posted by JackCanuck at 10/26/2009 @ 10:52pm

    Of course, simply writing big checks to the financial institutions so they won't go bankrupt and the people on top don't lose their bonuses isn't really nationaliwing anything. It IS a method of subverting capitalism, since the closing of badly managed enterprises is one of the way capitalism works (or is supposed to work), but not the method Georges Marchais or Ramsay MacDonald would have used.

    Posted by Mistral at 10/27/2009 @ 08:35am

20. BTW, new con repubs going weewee, won't be for speaking French...!

    New con repubs already picked a side and it wasn't for the USA - 'We the people'.

    Posted by hsuBfools at 10/27/2009 @ 08:38am

21. Sounds a lot like Germany in the 1930-1940`s. I think the anger of those people on main street is going to get hotter! With the economy still in trouble and the dollar falling, if you have any money, you better get a wheelbarrow. Disaster Capitalism is at work.

    Posted by Berneredfeathers at 10/28/2009 @ 10:14pm