Speak-Out: Protest Bank Robbery!

Protest Bank Robbery!
Fed up? Make your voice heard—Speak out!

The government has handed over hundreds of billions of dollars of our money to the biggest banks in the country—Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and others—with NO STRINGS ATTACHED!

The big banks and investors set off the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s by their wild betting spree on sub-prime mortgages, hedge funds and other risky investments. Millions of people have lost their jobs, homes, health care, pensions and more because of the crisis caused by Wall Street. But it is the super-rich who are being rescued with ten trillion dollars—$10,000,000,000,000—while working people are left to fend for ourselves.

Congress and the White House didn’t even require the banks to reveal what they used the money for. When asked, bankers have simply replied, “We choose not to disclose that information.” AMAZING! Anyone else who gets the smallest grant from the government is required to report what they did with the money, otherwise they have to give it back. But not the giant banks who have just been given the biggest gift in history.

Neither Congress, nor the White House have put any conditions on the giveaway that would protect the people! So, no sooner did the banks get the bailout money—our money—than they doubled and tripled interest rates on credit cards, cut credit limits and closed many accounts. It didn’t matter if you were making payments or not.

Now the bailed-out banks are stepping up foreclosures and evictions that have already put millions of people out of their homes. In March 2009, the foreclosure rate on homes went up 24%, the biggest increase on record.

What’s going on is a double rip-off. The banks are receiving trillions of dollars of our money on the one hand, while increasing their profits by extracting every dollar they can from people who are suffering as a result of the crisis the banks themselves have caused.

WE SAY: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
We demand government action at the federal, state and local level to:
• Stop all foreclosures and evictions. There are now 18.9 million vacant housing units in the U.S.—everyone should have the right to a home.
• Rollback and cap credit card rates at no more than 5% interest.
• Bailout the people, not the banks—fund people’s needs, not war and the super-rich. The money is there!

Justice First is a newly formed national organization that is dedicated to fighting for the people’s economic, social and political rights. Justice First believes that everyone has the right to a job or living income, food, housing, health care, education and more. As the bailout has proved, the money is there. Join us in building a movement to put the people’s needs first!