Not the "thrilla-in-Manila" nor a meeting of the American Basketball Association (which I believe is still defunct) or a meeting of the American Bar Association. The ABA is planning its annual meeting in Chicago from October 25-27th, The American Bankers Association. While lobbying to defeat changes to proposed bills in Congress, they are meeting to secure their futures as the powers to be.

"Let's start rebuilding our future, community by community, bank by bank. Register now to join us at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago for the most important industry gathering of the year.

The regulatory structure you operate under is being rebuilt. What will you do? How will your bank operate in this new environment? Come to this meeting to get the tools and resources you need to succeed."

As led by such people as Dean Baker and William Black, the protesting group (<link> "About Us") is organizing a protest to the banking industry and W$ past practices .

The purpose of the protest is to force W$, Banks, and the association to change there practices and be more responsible in their investment and lending practices and also to get Congress to move to pass regulations forcing them into such practices. This is a worthwhile event. The proposals:

• "Modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act will increase transparency, accountability and stability in the financial system by ensuring banks and mortgage companies provide responsible, quality lending and financial services in American communities. Over 80% of the high-cost subprime loans made between 2004-2007 were made by institutions NOT regulated by CRA. Those loans that have performed the best were loans made by institutions regulated by CRA. We need to update the law to ensure all lenders are covered by the law in order to curb subprime predatory lending and prevent a future crises."
• "In the US today, three banks hold almost 34% of the nation's deposits, four banks issue 50% of the country's mortgages and the five largest credit card lenders control 74% of the market. These companies have a stranglehold on our wallets. And as we've seen, when they make bad decisions, they can take the whole economy down with them.

No single institution should be in control of such a large part of the market. Instead, we should encourage a vibrant, diverse, stable banking system, made up of thousands of small and medium size banks. Strong competition policies and antitrust laws will encourage financial institutions to invest in productive activity, instead of investing in changing the rules of the game or manipulating the market." I am sure most of you remember Senator Dorgan's speech in 1999 warnings (cited numerous times) against "too big to fail" banks and financial institutions.

• The Obama Administration has called for the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) that will make protecting consumers a priority over protecting the interests of the banks. Seven different government agencies had the power to stop the reckless risk-taking that wrecked our economy, but they didn't use it. Lax oversight helped spawn the disastrous mortgage products and practices that triggered the current crisis. What's more there is virtually no regulatory authority over firms that have pushed bad mortgages, payday loans and other products that are overly complicated, or are simply rip-offs.
• Federal Reserve officials should be appointed by the President and directly accountable to Congress and the community, not the financial industry. Congress should immediately overhaul the structure of the Federal Reserve and demand that a restructured Federal Reserve serve the entire economy, not just the bottom line of Wall Street.

The Federal Reserve was established in 1913 and put outside of the reach of Congress and the President. The thought was that removing the Fed from politics, would position it to be more independent and serve the needs of the nation and the economy as a whole. But instead of independence, the Fed is largely under the control of the financial industry and left wholly unaccountable. District Reserve Bank Presidents are elected by nomination from the banks and several come from the financial industry regulated by the Fed."

• "The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) was enacted in 1975. The law's success speaks to the power of transparency. HMDA requires lenders to disclose to regulators AND the American people where loans were made and to whom banks were denying loans to. The data showed that banks were denying people credit based on where they lived, even if they were well qualified for the loan. The fact that the data was available to the public made it hard for the banks to deny charges of unfair lending.

Unfortunately, HMDA has not kept up with the changing face of lending. What was originally an issue of ensuring loans were being made to qualified applicants is now an issue of ensuring QUALITY loans are made to borrowers. HMDA can be strengthened by making banks disclose the interest rate, fees, and other terms of the loans made."

<link> "Showdown in Chicago" This has been termed as a classical David vs Goliath fight.

I was struck by Senator Schumer's words in support of the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999:

'''If we don't pass this bill, we could find London or Frankfurt or years down the road Shanghai becoming the financial capital of the world,' said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. ''There are many reasons for this bill, but first and foremost is to ensure that U.S. financial firms remain competitive.'''

Well, we did pass Financial Services Modernization Act written by Phil (assisted by Wendy Gramm of Enron), co-sponsored by Leach, Bliley, and pushed by Greenspin, Summers, Rubin, Levitt, and the water boy Geithner. It has been down hill since then. God forbid we lose one financial banking or W$ service that creates "no-value" and only passes paper to another country because of a fear we may not be able to dictate the terms of finance. However, it is ok to lose million of service and manufacturing related jobs since 1997 thereby losing the base and the ability to make for ourselves the necessities of our existence which will soon include food over the next decade. The very same Senators and Representatives who preached competition in the Service and Manufacturing industry were too afraid to face Competition in the Financial Industry. You know where the money lies and what it buys.

I am planning to attend if I can shake this virus (probably flu) in the next few days. At least I will have the resistance to the flue! If you plan to be there, let me know . . . a beer may be in order.

Jack:

I shot an email over to doodahman to see if he is interested in going. You were next on the list. I posted this thing 3 times and yet to have it show up correctly.

Thanks for the offer!

Not the "thrilla-in-Manila" nor a meeting of the American Basketball Association (which I believe is still defunct) or a meeting of the American Bar Association. The ABA is planning its annual meeting in Chicago from October 25-27th, The American Bankers Association. While lobbying to defeat changes to proposed bills in Congress, they are meeting to secure their futures as the powers to be.

"Let's start rebuilding our future, community by community, bank by bank. Register now to join us at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago for the most important industry gathering of the year.

The regulatory structure you operate under is being rebuilt. What will you do? How will your bank operate in this new environment? Come to this meeting to get the tools and resources you need to succeed."

As led by such people as Dean Baker and William Black, the protesting group (<link> "About Us") is organizing a protest to the banking industry and W$ past practices .

The purpose of the protest is to force W$, Banks, and the association to change there practices and be more responsible in their investment and lending practices and also to get Congress to move to pass regulations forcing them into such practices. This is a worthwhile event. The proposals:

- "Modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act will increase transparency, accountability and stability in the financial system by ensuring banks and mortgage companies provide responsible, quality lending and financial services in American communities. Over 80% of the high-cost subprime loans made between 2004-2007 were made by institutions NOT regulated by CRA. Those loans that have performed the best were loans made by institutions regulated by CRA. We need to update the law to ensure all lenders are covered by the law in order to curb subprime predatory lending and prevent a future crises."

- "In the US today, three banks hold almost 34% of the nation's deposits, four banks issue 50% of the country's mortgages and the five largest credit card lenders control 74% of the market. These companies have a stranglehold on our wallets. And as we've seen, when they make bad decisions, they can take the whole economy down with them.

No single institution should be in control of such a large part of the market. Instead, we should encourage a vibrant, diverse, stable banking system, made up of thousands of small and medium size banks. Strong competition policies and antitrust laws will encourage financial institutions to invest in productive activity, instead of investing in changing the rules of the game or manipulating the market." I am sure most of you remember Senator Dorgan's speech in 1999 warnings (cited numerous times) against "too big to fail" banks and financial institutions.

- The Obama Administration has called for the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) that will make protecting consumers a priority over protecting the interests of the banks. Seven different government agencies had the power to stop the reckless risk-taking that wrecked our economy, but they didn't use it. Lax oversight helped spawn the disastrous mortgage products and practices that triggered the current crisis. What's more there is virtually no regulatory authority over firms that have pushed bad mortgages, payday loans and other products that are overly complicated, or are simply rip-offs.

- Federal Reserve officials should be appointed by the President and directly accountable to Congress and the community, not the financial industry. Congress should immediately overhaul the structure of the Federal Reserve and demand that a restructured Federal Reserve serve the entire economy, not just the bottom line of Wall Street.

- The Federal Reserve was established in 1913 and put outside of the reach of Congress and the President. The thought was that removing the Fed from politics, would position it to be more independent and serve the needs of the nation and the economy as a whole. But instead of independence, the Fed is largely under the control of the financial industry and left wholly unaccountable. District Reserve Bank Presidents are elected by nomination from the banks and several come from the financial industry regulated by the Fed.

- "The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) was enacted in 1975. The law's success speaks to the power of transparency. HMDA requires lenders to disclose to regulators AND the American people where loans were made and to whom banks were denying loans to. The data showed that banks were denying people credit based on where they lived, even if they were well qualified for the loan. The fact that the data was available to the public made it hard for the banks to deny charges of unfair lending.

Unfortunately, HMDA has not kept up with the changing face of lending. What was originally an issue of ensuring loans were being made to qualified applicants is now an issue of ensuring QUALITY loans are made to borrowers. HMDA can be strengthened by making banks disclose the interest rate, fees, and other terms of the loans made."

<link> "Showdown in Chicago" This has been termed as a classical David vs Goliath fight.

I was struck by Senator Schumer's words in support of the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999:

'''If we don't pass this bill, we could find London or Frankfurt or years down the road Shanghai becoming the financial capital of the world,' said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. ''There are many reasons for this bill, but first and foremost is to ensure that U.S. financial firms remain competitive.'''

Well, we did pass Financial Services Modernization Act written by Phil (assisted by Wendy Gramm of Enron), co-sponsored by Leach, Bliley, and pushed by Greenspin, Summers, Rubin, Levitt, and the water boy Geithner. It has been down hill since then. God forbid we lose one financial banking or W$ service that creates "no-value" and only passes paper to another country because of a fear we may not be able to dictate the terms of finance. However, it is ok to lose million of service and manufacturing related jobs since 1997 thereby losing the base and the ability to make for ourselves the necessities of our existence which will soon include food over the next decade. The very same Senators and Representatives who preached competition in the Service and Manufacturing industry were too afraid to face Competition in the Financial Industry. You know where the money lies and what it buys.

I am planning to attend if I can shake this virus (probably flu) in the next few days. At least I will have the resistance to the flue! If you plan to be there, let me know . . . a beer may be in order.

I'd go there if I still lived Stateside. Hoist a beer for me.

Here's Baker:

<link>

well, in fact that's what got us intot this crisis.

congress "encouraged" fannie mae and freddie mac to regard zero down loans, with no verification of income as no riskier than normal mortgages.

the result was a 5 year long implosion of foreclosures, leading to unemployment and a horrendous recession.

in the mind of certain left leaning people "responsible lending" always ends up meaning making loans to people who don't have a prayer of paying the money back.

ba:

80+% of the subprime loans made, were made by private originators and not covered by the CRA. The CRA governed what Fannie and Freddie did with regard to subprime loans and while Fannie and Freddie are responsible for 20% of the loans, it was the private sector which created the havoc in subprime loans which is symtomatic of a larger issue.

Two other females Brooksley Born and Iris Mack; Senator Dorgan; and a minority of others had it right. You still fumble with knowledge.

watt4:

I really get tired of the weaseling done by some around here which is why I pretty much do my posting at Angry Bear, Economists View, Naked Capitalism, and The Bottom Line. There are some real dumb shits around here. Signed up for the conference and am hopefully bring dooda with me since he lives there. Looking to see how strong the support is for this effort.

... We're going to have to march on Washington before this is through.

The $W/Corporate kleptocracy will have us all living on the street if we don't get off our butts and make ourselves clearly understood.

We've been this way before, but hardly anybody alive remembers that.

watt:

The Days of Rage 1969 and the Poor People's March 1968 certainly were two I remember. I am going to this one in Chicago just to see what it is about. I'll be there Sunday and Monday. If a few thousand people show up and we get the publicity . . . who knows?