I found this list on another discussion board, and I think it sums up what the 99% should demand from our govt.
#1 Reinstate the Glass Steagall Act that separates commercial
and investment banks, enacted during the Depression and repealed
in 2000, eight years before the crisis.
#2 Regulate the credit rating agencies.
#3 Reward and recognize companies that keep jobs in the US
#4 Don't allow mortgage backed securities to be resold with a different rating
#5 Use Anti-trust laws to break up companies and banks that are too big to fail
#6 Repeal the Commodities and Futures Modernization Act of 2000 that
de-regulates Derivatives.
Looking at the statements of the people calling themselves the 99%, I don't see any from people who want something for nothing. Almost all the ones I see are from people who've been unlucky.
They got sick and their insurance didn't cover the full costs of treatment. Now they're deeply in debt, and they can't even get insurance.
They went to school and got degrees, but the best job they can get doesn't quite cover their student loan payments.
They bought a house and were making payments just fine until their job moved overseas. Now they're only working part time and waiting for their house to be foreclosed on.
A free college education doesn't seem unrealistic to me. Several northern European countries not only offer a free education, but pay a small stipend (enough to live on, if you live like a student) to anyone who's getting good grades. In fact, California used to offer a free education to California residents—and much of their success was due to their well-educated workforce.
I agree with the "ignorance tax" theory, as well. Case in point, I make much less money now than I did as a single person, and my income has to support many more people. By many standards, I'm poor. However, I wouldn't dare walk into a cash advance place (something I did when I earned much more money but didn't know how to manage it), and my interest rates are super-low because I've worked so hard to take care of my credit. I also get free checking and amazing offers because banks are begging me to do business with them.
Does this have anything to do with annual income? No. But it has everything to do with the value that I place on myself, my lenders, and my credit history (which, by the way, is much more in line with my values than when I was making 3x my current income.)
While I can sympathize with those who truly make the effort, and try their hardest to improve their lives, there are far too many who think everything should be given to them. Case in point, twp of the so-called demands was that all debt around the world be eliminated, and that all college education should be free. Yeah, that's realistic. There are far too many kids who are not getting the vocational training to get them a decent manufacturing or skilled labor job. Show me a jobs bill that would promote training without spending 200k on each one and I'll bet more people would consider that worthwhile. I do not make anything remotely close to a million dollars and I am perfectly content. I do not envy the rich or am angry about them. I think it would be a great thing to encourage these people to be more generous, however, to those in need.
I don't know. But I agree that the underlying issue is the power of money in the political system. If we can't get that fixed, it's going to be tough to get anything else fixed.
See, I don't think this is about being angry at the 1%. I think this is about being angry at a system where all the gains go to one tiny group and the rest of us get nothing. If the system gets changed so that everyone shares in the growth in the economy, we'll all be better off. (Even the 1%, actually.)
I am poor. I don't own a house. I have a couple years of college that I paid for by working while in school. I have a family and work to keep us all fed, clothed and sheltered. I don't have time to protest like these 99% do. Most of all, while there are many problems with the way things work, People today still live like kings did a few hundred years ago. I am the 99% and these people do not speak for me!
The OWS movement is something that I'm very excited about b/c I am tired of only getting the perspective of the 1% rammed down our throats by conservative media. Finally, people have had enough. I worry about this movement fading into the abyss, however. Where does it go from here? The only way anything positive will get accomplished here is if our country completely abolished the present structure in Congress. So long as we are mired in a 2 party system that allows uncapped political ad money, change will not happen. And perhaps this is the real motivator behind the movement. People feel powerless to change any of the injustices they are seeing with the present political system in our country. I don't know, Phil - where do you think this could go?
Here is what will happen when everyone or most everyone goes from a Bank to a Credit Union. The Banks will go to Washington DC with their big sacks of money and they will fill our Congressional leadership pockets with lots of cash so that they will make it a law to make the Credit Unions charge the fees to their customers just like the banks do. This is how Congress [DEN OF THIEVES] work. Big money makes laws like that. This is the main reason that thousands of people have been demonstrating. The supreme court even supports this type of corruption. This country is existing at this point only by the grace of GOD, it sure isnt by the leadership in Washington.
The OWS group could benefit from electing leadership and creating an agenda. How that change come from a voiceless, directionless protest? I understand the frustration that stagnant economic growth has resulted in limited opportunities for a generation. The promise of a competitive job has been broken by high costs and no income that comes close to paying off mountains of student debt. I get that.
However, I feel their energy is misdirected when aimed at the top 1%. A better target is congress. Their inaction and weak compromise has resulted in no real progress. A second target would be to embrace the realities of this new economy. We have undrgone a fundamental shift where corporations have exploited labor where it is cheapest, eroding jobs, income, and the standard of living at home. Workers need to adapt exploit the internet for future prosperity. The factory down the street is not coming back.
usaa!!! no fees and took no bailouts!! b of a has charged maintinance fees for as long as i have had my account, 6 years plus. f them all, greed is one of the seven deadly sins.
Funny, just saw this same idea on YouTube about a man in the philippines who also apparently invented the idea for poor areas that don't get electricity.
If you're one who has always done the right thing, always paid the bills on time, got your driver's license renewed on time, went to the dr. and dentist every 6 months for "check ups," always paid the IRS first, and on and on.....and now you've come to realize....for what! Then you will understand....
Great job simplifying the "mystique" surrounding the Occupation. Fully support! (don't tell anyone in case Big Brother is gathering data on us all! :)
My favorite moment was chatting with you and Lynn of course :) it was great to meet you and was very cool to get a little behind-the-scenes info about WiseBread.
I check my credit score at least once a month... partly because I'm about a year and four months away from paying off my debt and I wanted to get some 0% balance transfer credit cards... so I waited til it was good and pounced!
Two important notes to people though: 1) you have THREE credit scores (one from each of the bureaus--TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) and 2) the scores you can get yourself are NOT the same as the ones companies pull. For example, mine was 723 when I pulled it myself. The cc company I just got a card with told me it was 742. Same bureau.
I found this list on another discussion board, and I think it sums up what the 99% should demand from our govt.
#1 Reinstate the Glass Steagall Act that separates commercial
and investment banks, enacted during the Depression and repealed
in 2000, eight years before the crisis.
#2 Regulate the credit rating agencies.
#3 Reward and recognize companies that keep jobs in the US
#4 Don't allow mortgage backed securities to be resold with a different rating
#5 Use Anti-trust laws to break up companies and banks that are too big to fail
#6 Repeal the Commodities and Futures Modernization Act of 2000 that
de-regulates Derivatives.
If you don't believe in the Occupy Wall Street merits, I just have two words for you: John Thain.
Looking at the statements of the people calling themselves the 99%, I don't see any from people who want something for nothing. Almost all the ones I see are from people who've been unlucky.
They got sick and their insurance didn't cover the full costs of treatment. Now they're deeply in debt, and they can't even get insurance.
They went to school and got degrees, but the best job they can get doesn't quite cover their student loan payments.
They bought a house and were making payments just fine until their job moved overseas. Now they're only working part time and waiting for their house to be foreclosed on.
A free college education doesn't seem unrealistic to me. Several northern European countries not only offer a free education, but pay a small stipend (enough to live on, if you live like a student) to anyone who's getting good grades. In fact, California used to offer a free education to California residents—and much of their success was due to their well-educated workforce.
I agree with the "ignorance tax" theory, as well. Case in point, I make much less money now than I did as a single person, and my income has to support many more people. By many standards, I'm poor. However, I wouldn't dare walk into a cash advance place (something I did when I earned much more money but didn't know how to manage it), and my interest rates are super-low because I've worked so hard to take care of my credit. I also get free checking and amazing offers because banks are begging me to do business with them.
Does this have anything to do with annual income? No. But it has everything to do with the value that I place on myself, my lenders, and my credit history (which, by the way, is much more in line with my values than when I was making 3x my current income.)
Though-provoking, as usual!
I just cancelled the RSS feed of this website to my home page because of this posting. Way to go Wise Bread.
Yes I do and it's over 800. Yahoo!
While I can sympathize with those who truly make the effort, and try their hardest to improve their lives, there are far too many who think everything should be given to them. Case in point, twp of the so-called demands was that all debt around the world be eliminated, and that all college education should be free. Yeah, that's realistic. There are far too many kids who are not getting the vocational training to get them a decent manufacturing or skilled labor job. Show me a jobs bill that would promote training without spending 200k on each one and I'll bet more people would consider that worthwhile. I do not make anything remotely close to a million dollars and I am perfectly content. I do not envy the rich or am angry about them. I think it would be a great thing to encourage these people to be more generous, however, to those in need.
I don't know. But I agree that the underlying issue is the power of money in the political system. If we can't get that fixed, it's going to be tough to get anything else fixed.
See, I don't think this is about being angry at the 1%. I think this is about being angry at a system where all the gains go to one tiny group and the rest of us get nothing. If the system gets changed so that everyone shares in the growth in the economy, we'll all be better off. (Even the 1%, actually.)
I am poor. I don't own a house. I have a couple years of college that I paid for by working while in school. I have a family and work to keep us all fed, clothed and sheltered. I don't have time to protest like these 99% do. Most of all, while there are many problems with the way things work, People today still live like kings did a few hundred years ago. I am the 99% and these people do not speak for me!
The OWS movement is something that I'm very excited about b/c I am tired of only getting the perspective of the 1% rammed down our throats by conservative media. Finally, people have had enough. I worry about this movement fading into the abyss, however. Where does it go from here? The only way anything positive will get accomplished here is if our country completely abolished the present structure in Congress. So long as we are mired in a 2 party system that allows uncapped political ad money, change will not happen. And perhaps this is the real motivator behind the movement. People feel powerless to change any of the injustices they are seeing with the present political system in our country. I don't know, Phil - where do you think this could go?
the money will flow to stop the credit unions
Here is what will happen when everyone or most everyone goes from a Bank to a Credit Union. The Banks will go to Washington DC with their big sacks of money and they will fill our Congressional leadership pockets with lots of cash so that they will make it a law to make the Credit Unions charge the fees to their customers just like the banks do. This is how Congress [DEN OF THIEVES] work. Big money makes laws like that. This is the main reason that thousands of people have been demonstrating. The supreme court even supports this type of corruption. This country is existing at this point only by the grace of GOD, it sure isnt by the leadership in Washington.
The OWS group could benefit from electing leadership and creating an agenda. How that change come from a voiceless, directionless protest? I understand the frustration that stagnant economic growth has resulted in limited opportunities for a generation. The promise of a competitive job has been broken by high costs and no income that comes close to paying off mountains of student debt. I get that.
However, I feel their energy is misdirected when aimed at the top 1%. A better target is congress. Their inaction and weak compromise has resulted in no real progress. A second target would be to embrace the realities of this new economy. We have undrgone a fundamental shift where corporations have exploited labor where it is cheapest, eroding jobs, income, and the standard of living at home. Workers need to adapt exploit the internet for future prosperity. The factory down the street is not coming back.
I do not understand people that stick with these banks. Please find a credit union and never pay another "convenience" fee again.
usaa!!! no fees and took no bailouts!! b of a has charged maintinance fees for as long as i have had my account, 6 years plus. f them all, greed is one of the seven deadly sins.
Funny, just saw this same idea on YouTube about a man in the philippines who also apparently invented the idea for poor areas that don't get electricity.
If you're one who has always done the right thing, always paid the bills on time, got your driver's license renewed on time, went to the dr. and dentist every 6 months for "check ups," always paid the IRS first, and on and on.....and now you've come to realize....for what! Then you will understand....
Great job simplifying the "mystique" surrounding the Occupation. Fully support! (don't tell anyone in case Big Brother is gathering data on us all! :)
OH! Nevermind. My amazing friend Eli took it. Glad that mystery is solved. Great article!
Oh hey! That's me on the right! I'm on the internet now! I must be famous without even knowing it.
Where did you find/get this picture?
My favorite moment was chatting with you and Lynn of course :) it was great to meet you and was very cool to get a little behind-the-scenes info about WiseBread.
If the 1% wants to know what the 99% wants, and what will happen if we don't get it, they only need to open a history book
Can you say, "Credit Union?"
#8 meat and seafood, good tip! those need to be frozen at least.
I check my credit score at least once a month... partly because I'm about a year and four months away from paying off my debt and I wanted to get some 0% balance transfer credit cards... so I waited til it was good and pounced!
Two important notes to people though: 1) you have THREE credit scores (one from each of the bureaus--TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) and 2) the scores you can get yourself are NOT the same as the ones companies pull. For example, mine was 723 when I pulled it myself. The cc company I just got a card with told me it was 742. Same bureau.