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| Occupy Wall Street Demands |  |
The 99%ers have awakened. We will not be mindless sheep who watch helplessly while Wall Street pillages. We shall baa no more. The financial crisis and wealth gap have been well documented. But the reason the Occupy Wall Street movement has become energized is this: It didn’t have to happen. In an effort to stabilize the banking industry during the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagall Act was passed in 1933. It created the FDIC and introduced banking reforms to control speculation and increase security. It worked. Through insured bank deposits and the magic of compound interest, Americans were able to manage their finances to plan for their futures. However, in 1982, the Depository Institutions Act was passed which deregulated the savings and loan industry. This allowed adjustable-rate and due-on-sale clause mortgages and may have also led to the S&L Crisis of the late 1980s. The passage of the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act dissolved the remaining separation between Wall Street and the banking industry. Prior to that, a one-year T-bill could yield over 6% (1999). The current rate is .12 of one percent. Remember pension funds? In 1980, 30 million Americans had one. Now, we’re lucky to have access to a 401-K (if we’re employed at all) which is not protected like the pension funds were because it is invested in Wall Street. “Your rate of return on investment may vary.” The Department of Labor estimates that 401-K will be reduced in value by 28% over the span of your career because of Wall Street fees. In 2000, we spent 7% of our income on food and fuel. Today we spend at least 20%. Why? Speculation by Wall Street investors that drove up the prices on the basic necessities of life. And remember, even if oil companies drill in American waters or lands, those companies are not required to sell that oil to Americans. It will go to the highest bidder. The Occupy Wall Street movement has been criticized for being unfocused. Some discredited bloggers and faux-journalists have even reported false, ridiculous demands that were never truly made. Based on numerous Occupy Wall Street websites and a few of my own suggestions, here’s the real list of demands: 1. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. 2. Give the appropriate Federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Offices of Thrift Supervision and Comptroller of Currency, the power to fully investigate and prosecute Wall Street criminals. 3. Upon conviction, require repayment of funds in addition to prison sentences. 4. Reverse the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Corporations are NOT people. 5. Close corporate tax loop holes and prohibit hiding funds offshore in order to avoid taxation. 6. Limit the influence of lobbyists. Prohibit lobbyists from writing legislation. Ban the ability of former government regulators to work in the industry they once regulated. 7. Pass and enforce the Create American Jobs in America and End Off-Shoring Act that was blocked by Senate Republicans. 8. Make college education more affordable by increasing funding for Pell Grants and enacting legislation that would prohibit excessive student-loan interest rates. 9. Strengthen and enforce the Consumer Protection Law (Dodd-Frank) including the requirement for banks to hold back money for protection against loss as well as curbing the trading of derivatives. 10. Pass legislation that would ban the ability of foreign countries to manipulate their currency values in relation to the United States. 11. End the wars. Rebuild our nation. The 99%ers want, in a word: regulation. Disclosure. Fairness. Justice. And to the 1% who believe their wealth and power will protect them from the justifiable outrage of 99% of Americans, who think that the 99% will just go back to sleep so you can continue to rob them with impunity, who think that if you’re not rich, it’s your own fault, I have one other word, just for you. Custer.
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