(Photo above courtesy of Charisee Marcella)

A few Saturdays ago I was elated to see a protest in front of Bank of America in Silver Lake. Even though most of my bad experiences have been with CitiBank, this action was directed at multiple banks.

This weekly demonstration has been going on almost uninterrupted since spring of last year. When it has been postponed it has been because the core group has participated in other events. For example, they had a contingent in the antiwar march of March 19 and the workers' march of March 26. The weekly demonstrations resume Saturday, April 2 at its usual time: 1:30pm to 3 at the Bank of America on 2420 Glendale Boulevard (at Silver Lake Boulevard), 90039.

The action is organized by the Silver Lake-Echo Park chapter of The Coffee Party. This is the only branch engaged in this activity. (In fact, when I participated, there was a couple who had traveled some 90 miles to be there.) Hopefully these types of demonstrations will become more widespread.

Organizer Heather Meyer explained the origin of this endeavor. “We were trying to figure out a way to get The People interested in supporting the financial reform effort. We thought the main reason why people weren't talking about it was because they thought it had nothing to do with them or their daily lives. That's why we chose a focus on the foreclosure crisis--the economic collapse was caused by banks and financial institutions gambling on mortgages via Wall Street. Everything else is connected to that one problem (massive taxpayer-funded bailouts for the banksters, lack of oversight on financial institutions and banks, etc.) and obviously, the people are still getting the sh*t end of the stick.

“As we were watching the financial reform take shape in Congress we believed that the root cause of the economic collapse was not being properly addressed (no real curb on the gambling, no serious regulations on mortgages, no real oversight on the home modification programs, etc.); therefore, we also believe there is going to be a second market crash via foreclosures. We also do presentations to educate the public and sometimes for local officials too. We also have a door-knocking campaign where we reach out to our neighbors and we offer resources for refinancing and so people know their rights (as homeowners and tenants).

“It's true that we are the only chapter of the Coffee Party holding a weekly vigil/demo, but we have proposed that every chapter and other organizations (like our coalition partners) hold their own in front of one of the 'big four' (Wells Fargo, B of A, CitiBank, Chase) on the 2nd Saturday of every month. We hope to see it grow across the city and hopefully even across the nation! Thanks to US Uncut it is starting to spread; we join them and we have been inviting them to join us whenever they don't have a scheduled demo too (as you saw when you were there last).”

Given my own ongoing problems with the predators at both CitiBank and my current bank, this demonstration will continue to be therapeutic for me, and it's a way to fight back .

At the time of this writing, Bank of America had not formerly engaged any of the demonstrators (although they once called the police because of honking caused by the signs).

Demonstration against out-of-control bank, during a break in traffic. (There is quite a bit of traffic on Glendale Boulevard on Saturdays.)

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Dr. Housing Bubble blog has a good article about the economic stiumulus spending and banks. http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/1937-38-recession-lessons-from-great-depression-setting-up-for-a-double-dip-recession/#more-4495

The key point is that the stimulus has been heavily used to support banks. The idea was to increase lending (so they'd lend into the market at lower interest rates), but this hasn't happened.

Instead, they are keeping more of it as excess reserves. This is in anticipation of expected foreclosures in the next couple years. Additionally, they earn interest on their reserves. (Reserves are assets in a bank held as cash, rather than lent out or invested.) So the banks are hoarding cash, because it's a better investment to sit on it than to lend it to Americans.

What money they are lending has also been biased toward investments in foreign countries, rather than investing in mortgages, business loans to small business, lending to cities, etc. That's because the American people are seen as a bad investment by these bankers.

Why would the bankers and best financial minds think American are a lousy investment?

Could it be the fact that a high-growth state like California has stopped growing? Could it be the failure of the State to adequately fund education? We've been one of the lowest spenders on education for some twenty years, and wonder why our students aren't competitive.

Perhaps it is our breaking infrastructure, or our slow internet. Maybe we're a lousy investment because we haven't been able to use the government to invest in ourselves. After Prop 13 passed, and the anti-tax movement grew and spread, and taxes declined, we haven't been able to reconstruct a balanced system of taxes that helps to uplift California's residents.

So instead of high taxes and steady growth, we've seen this speculative real estate bubble. In California, we've seen two major real estate bubbles deflate - one in 2007, and one in 1988. We've also had localized inflation in gentrifying areas like Silver Lake and the Westside - combined with concomitant declines in other areas like the San Fernando Valley and the gateway cities.

Instead of investing in people, we invest in land and tract houses.

It's wrong. We're paying the price. Even if we change course and pursue a more humane, forward thinking, and just economic policy, it'll take a decade to recover.

And here's the crazy thing. Dr. Housing Bubble is a conservative. I'm a liberal leftist. Yet, we are in agreement here about the gist of the problem: misdirected government spending.

Instead of spending it on banks, we should be spending it on people. In fact, we have to pull back from banks, so they pull back their foreign investments.

If we just stop the government spending, we could see a double dip. Unlike what the Coffee Party person said - that it would be due to foreclosures - I think it would be due to a cut in spending on people. The 'bomb' of foreclosures will harm the middle class, but the real problem is that it's happening while overall government spending is declining. That harms everyone.

Eventually, we'll have to cut, and also raise taxes, but the real issue is if today and this year is the time to cut. If it's too soon, we're screwed.

The weekly vigil in front of B of A on Glendale Boulevard in Silver Lake continues (except for the second Saturday of each month). However, B of A is only one of many banks that are out of control.

The weekly vigil in front of B of A on Glendale Boulevard in Silver Lake continues (except for the second Saturday of each month). However, B of A is only one of many banks that are out of control.

New signs for the the ongoing weekly protest against banks in Silver Lake (except for the second Saturday of each month) cont'd.

"If we just stop the government spending, "
[ yeah, good idea, like pulling the anchor on these dangerous wars which drain our treasury and commit war crimes in our name and then put these resources to use in the massive infrastructure rebuild/repair, meaning jobs at union wage standards for the 14 Trillions needed to do it. Water, power, and transportation circuits]
"Eventually, we'll have to cut, and also raise taxes"
[ total BS as we need to prosecute and seize the holdings of the criminal overclass, ushering a golden age of plenty, without the criminal meddling that has destroyed our planet and lives. ]
Sorry, we have to hang these bastards.