[Peace] "Showdown in Chicago" at American Bankers' Association meeting

[Stuart Levy]

(Though we don't normally post article on the peace list, this one
is about an action that's going on this week in Chicago -- more below.
As usual, please don't reply to the peace list -- replies set to peace-discuss...)

Just noticed this from Dean Baker, a couple weeks ago:

   http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/13
   "Take America Back from the Banks"

    The elites hate to acknowledge it, but when large numbers of ordinary
    people are moved to action, it changes the narrow political world
    where the elites call the shots. Inside accounts reveal the extent
    to which Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon's conduct of the Vietnam
    war was constrained by the huge anti-war movement. It was the civil
    rights movement, not compelling arguments, that convinced members of
    the US Congress to end legal racial discrimination. More recently,
    the town hall meetings dominated by people opposed to healthcare
    reform have been a serious roadblock for those pushing reform.

    Those disgusted by the bank bailouts, and the bankers who brought us
    this recession, will have a chance to make their views known when
    the American Bankers Association has its annual meeting in Chicago
    this month. A large coalition of labour, community and consumer
    organisations are organising a protest at this "Showdown in Chicago".

    A big turnout at this event can make a real difference. Just to review
    the scorecard, most of the country is still suffering the fallout from
    the bankers' irrational exuberance of the housing bubble era. The
    Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and other forecasters expect the
    suffering to endure for years to come.

    [...it's worth reading the rest of Baker's article too...]

And, the Showdown In Chicago is going on right now -- yesterday through tomorrow.
Probably most of us are in C-U, but in case you're in Chicago, here's what's
up today, on

    http://www.showdowninchicago.org


MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009

10:30am - Goldman Sachs Chicago Headquarters, 71 S. Wacker 
    The American People will ask Goldman Sachs to donate its entire projected $23
    billion dollar bonus pool to prevent every foreclosure in America in 2010 AND
    lift one million families out of the poverty and joblessness that was caused by
    Goldman Sachs' gambling with our economy.

12:00pm – American Bankers Association convention, 301 East North Water Street
    Big banks are spending billions to prevent reforms that would protect taxpayers
    from their future abuses. Nearly a thousand Americans will take our message
    directly to the American Bankers Association at their annual convention.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009

MARCH TO THE BANKER'S CONVENTION
10:00am - Prayer vigil on Wacker, east of Michigan Avenue
10:30am - March: starting at Stetson and Wacker
11:00am - Rally at the Sheraton Hotel (301 East North Water Street, Chicago)