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posted by takyon on Thursday September 01 2016, @07:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the taking-back-what's-ours dept.

Former Texas Agriculture Commissioner, creator of the Doug Jones Average, and perennially witty guy Jim Hightower writes via The Union Democrat of Sonora, California:

If tiny groups of Wall Street bankers, billionaires, and their political puppets are allowed to write the rules that govern our economy and elections, guess what? Only bankers, billionaires, and puppets will profit from those rules.

[...] They've rigged the rules to let them feast freely on our jobs, devour our country's wealth, and impoverish the middle class.

"Take On Wall Street" is both the name and the feisty attitude of a nationwide campaign that a coalition of grassroots groups has launched to do just that: Take on Wall Street. The coalition, spearheaded by the Communication Workers of America, points out that there is nothing natural or sacred about today's money-grabbing financial complex. Far from sacrosanct, the system of finance that now rules over us has been designed by and for Wall Street speculators, money managers, and big bank flim flammers. So--big surprise--rather than serving our common good, the system is corrupt, routinely serving their uncommon greed at everyone else's expense.

[...] A growing grassroots coalition of churches, unions, civil rights groups, citizen activists, and many others are organizing and mobilizing us to crash through those closed doors, write our own rules, and reverse America's plunge into plutocracy. The "Take On" campaign has the guts and gumption to say enough!

[...] The campaign has laid out a five-point [sic] people's reform agenda and are now taking it to the countryside to rally the voices, anger, and grassroots power of workers, consumers, communities of color, Main Street, the poor, people of faith... and just plain folks.

  • Getting the corrupting cash of corporations and the superrich out of our politics by repealing Citizens United and providing a public system for financing America's elections.
  • Stopping "too big to fail" banks from subsidizing their high-risk speculative gambling with the deposits of us ordinary customers--make them choose to be a consumer bank or a casino, but not both.
  • Institute a tiny "Robin Hood Tax" on Wall Street speculators to discourage their computerized gaming of the system, while also generating hundreds of billions of tax dollars to invest in America's real economy.
  • Restore low-cost, convenient "postal banking" in our Post Offices to serve millions of Americans who're now at the mercy of predatory payday lenders and check-cashing chains.

There's an old truism about negotiating that says: "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu". The "Take On Wall Street" campaign intends to put you and me--the People--at the table for a change.


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  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 01 2016, @07:55AM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday September 01 2016, @07:55AM (#396086) Journal

    So, one must wonder, why the haemorrhaging fuck did he sign the thing in the first place? I'm glad to see some conscience here, and never knew he said this, but it's a day late and trillions of dollars short...

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday September 01 2016, @08:15AM

    by anubi (2828) on Thursday September 01 2016, @08:15AM (#396091) Journal

    For the same reason a lot of us do really stupid things.

    Its hard to resist a man all dressed up in suit and tie, hand outstretched for a shake, and only thing needed to bring a smile to his face is to sign his papers.

    We are trained from children not to disappoint.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]