Rickie Coleman from Sunflower Community Action in Kansas loudly and raucously led the audience through this People's Commission. The audience was the jury. The defendants were the banksters. The plaintiffs were the American taxpayers who had been defrauded. The banksters were not surprisingly found guilty and accountability was demanded.
Rev. Tony Pierce then stepped up to explain "there is cause for hope" despite all this. And he delivered a fiery speech that essentially laid out the reforms that the Showdown in Chicago will be pushing throughout the next couple of days.
Pierce explained "where there is a demand from the community for affordable financing, the banks must do it. We need at least $1 billion and we expect to cash that check.
He continued, "When the American Bankers Association (ABA) is a roadblock they will need to get out of the way. And, the ABA must stop opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
"When they are doing the wrong thing, they must stop, Pierce said, "We need new regulations to make bank and capital work for us rather than the other way around.
Finally, "We will see a stronger Community Reinvestment Act. And, "our last achievement will be to break up the banks.
A call to action was delivered and then a few individuals sang a gospel song as those who had been at the opening round marched out of the hotel and headed over to an ABA party being held at the Sheraton Hotel.
The banksters party was a Roaring Twenties Big Band gala. Either the American Bankers Association unintentionally made this tone deaf decision or they are completely insensitive to the plight of the common man.
That the banksters would evoke memories of a period when banks created an economic climate similar to the one we live in today shows that they see poor, lower class, and working class Americans as a bewildered herd of consumers that can be exploited however they choose to regardless of laws or regulations.
A small group crashed the party but, in an instance ripe for civil disobedience action, the group left the hotel after being confronted by police instead.
The Showdown continues tomorrow. I do not know what all of this will amount to. That's what interests me the most.
There is a possibility for this populism to turn into a rising tide. This will create a "Which Side Are You On? moment like George Goehl wants as long as they do not let reform be determined by a bank-owned Congress.
Tomorrow, I will go out and speak with ordinary folks who have come in to Chicago for this event.
Stay tuned. I will have more for you from the Showdown in Chicago.
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