[...]

MR. HARWOOD: Let’s go to Anthony Scaramucci, who is familiar to some viewers of our network because he appears on CNBC as a hedge fund manager.

Anthony Scaramucci: [...] Listen, I represent the Wall Street community. We have felt like a piñata. Maybe you don’t feel like you’re whacking us with a stick, but we certainly feel like we’ve been whacked with a stick. So I certainly think that Main Street and Wall Street are connected, and if we’re going to heal the society and make the economy better, how are we going to work towards that, healing Wall Street and Main Street?
[...]

THE PRESIDENT: On the first question, I think it would be useful to go back and look at the speeches that I’ve made, including a speech, by the way, I made back in 2007 on Wall Street before Lehmans had gone under, in which I warned about a potential crisis if we didn’t start reforming practices on Wall Street.

At the time, I said exactly what you said, which is Wall Street and Main Street are connected. We need a vibrant, vital financial sector that is investing in businesses, investing in jobs, investing in our people, providing consumers loans so they can buy products — all that is very important and we want that to thrive. But we’ve got to do so in a responsible way.

Now, I had been amused over the last couple years — this sense of somehow me beating up on Wall Street — I think most folks on Main Street feel like they got beat up on — (applause) — and I’ll be honest with you, there’s probably a big chunk of the country –

Q But people connect us –

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on a second — there’s a big chunk of the country that thinks that I have been too soft on Wall Street. (Applause.) That’s probably the majority, not the minority.

Now, what I’ve tried to do is just try to be practical. I’m sure that at any given point over the last two years, there have been times where I have been frustrated, and I’ll give you some examples. I mean, when I hear folks who say that somehow we’re being too tough on Wall Street, but after a huge crisis, the top 25 hedge fund managers took home a billion dollars in income that year – $1 billion. That’s the average for the top 25, which is –

MR. HARWOOD: And yet Forbes Magazine puts on their cover a story saying, “he has an anti-colonial attitude” — or Steve Schwarzman, a big figure on Wall Street, says, “their approach to the financial regulation and taxation is like Hitler invading Poland.” Where does that come from?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know where that comes from. That’s my point. I guess — it is a two-way street. If you’re making a billion a year, after a very bad financial crisis where 8 million people lost their jobs and small businesses can’t get loans, then I think that you shouldn’t be feeling put upon. The question should be how can we work with you to continue to grow the economy.

A big source of frustration — this quote that you just said, this was me acting like Hitler going into Poland, had to do with a proposal to change a rule called “carried interest,” which basically allows hedge fund managers to get taxed at 15 percent on their income. Now, everybody else is getting taxed at a lot more. (Laughter.) The secretary of the hedge fund is probably being taxed at 25, 28 — right? And these folks are making — getting taxed at 15.

Now, there are complicated economic arguments as to why this isn’t really income, this is more like capital gains, and so forth, which is a fair argument to have. I have no problem having that argument with hedge fund managers, many of whom I know and went to school with. And I respect their business acumen. But the notion that somehow me saying maybe you should be taxed more like your secretary, when you’re pulling home a billion dollars or a hundred million dollars a year, I don’t think is me being extremist or being anti-business. (Applause.) And that’s the confusion we get into.

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

The Republicans are telling Americans how they will treat us…..LISTEN! 

Republicans/Tea Party Contract on America

1. Repeal Health Insurance Reform

1. Privatize Social Security of Get Rid of It

1. End Medicare as it Presently Exists

1. Extend the Bush Tax Breaks for the Wealthy and Big Oil

1. Repeal Wall Street Reform

1. Protect Those Responsible for the Oil Spill

1. Abolish the Department of Education

1. Abolish the Department of Energy

1. Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency

1. Repeal the 17th Amendment (ending direct election of U.S. Senators)

Midterm elections are in November….PLEASE VOTE!

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Please don’t forget to vote in Virginia today.  The polls are open from 6am - 7pm and you may vote at any time during those hours.  Everyone who is registered to Vote in Virginia can vote in the Virginia primary today.

Please see this prior post on on the differences in the three candidates.

Check for your polling place here

For those who have not been paying attention, Virginia has a hot Democratic governor’s primary going on at the moment where all three candidates are neck and neck in the polls.  The three contenders are Brian Moran, Creigh (pronounced Cree) Deeds, and Terry McCauliffe.  The Republican, Robert McDonnell, is running unopposed. 

Brian Moran has been praised for fighting for Virginia families in the trenches for decades.  Moran’s brother Jim has been cited as a potential liability but Brian Moran has been praised for his strong record on public safety, his 20 years in Virginia public service, his commitment to improving transportation, his solid record as a lawmaker, his advocacy of victims of domestic violence, working to raise the minimum wage, expanding healthcare for every child, and raising teacher salaries.  Moran has been endorsed by Mayors, Board Chairs, Democratic Committee leaders, the majority of the Democratic Steering Committee, Democratic leaders in Arlington, Alexandria,  Chesterfield, Fairfax, Falls Church, Richmond, etc. counties, and numerous Grassroots groups.  See the growing list of Brian Moran endorsements here and here.  

Creigh Deeds also has a record of public service but has been criticized for his far right leaning stance on gun control and for being the only Democrat who sought and received the endorsement of the NRA.  More specifically, Deeds voted against banning guns for convicted domestic abusers and other violent crime offenders.  In addition, Deed co-sponsored legislation proposing to repeal Virginia’s prohibition against concealed weapons in restaurants and bars.  In fact, Deeds voted repeatedly to allow concealed weapons in bars (four votes total) in the last two years.  There is also concern by some Democrats as to whether Deeds can beat McDonnell because he went up against the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee for attorney general four years ago and lost by 323 votes. Btw, in that attorney general race the NRA endorsed Democrat Deeds over GOP candidate McDonnell.  So Deeds is the first Virginia Democrat that the NRA has endorsed in the last twenty years.  However, Deeds has been praised for his record of green jobs promotion, land conservation, and has been endorsed by the Washington Post. 

Terry McCauliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee and has a fundraising ability nationally that has been touted as second to none but McCauliffe has also been criticized for boasting that he launched five businesses in Virginia none of which created any jobs in the Commonwealth.  It turns out that the Virginia businesses launched by the former DNC Chairman were investment partnerships with no employees.  McCauliffe cites a Washington Post  article as proof that as a businessman he has created thousands of jobs.  However, what McCauliffe fails to mention in his television ad is that the cited Post article in such ad goes further to explain that as the head of a Florida-based home-building company that created thousands of jobs, McCauliffe did not create any of those jobs in Virginia.  As a result, the McCauliffe ad has been criticized as being misleading.  See full article here.  One new endorsement McCauliffe will receive this weekend is from Brian Schweitzer, Governor of Montana and Chairman of the Democratic Governor’s Association.  Brian Moran’s campaign manager, Andrew Roos, had this to say about the Schweitzer endorsement: 

“The guy who was rumored to be running for governor of New York and wanted to be governor of Florida is having the governor of Montana tell us why he should be governor of Virginia?” Roos asked. 

We at ProgressPolitics have decided not to endorse any candidate until the after the primary.  However, we do encourage everyone to go out and vote on Tuesday.  If you don’t vote then you cannot stake a claim in how the Commonwealth is lead.  If energy efficiency is important to you, if gun control is important to you, if bringing new jobs, green or otherwise, to Virginia is important to you, if investing in education in Virginia is important to you, if reducing crime in Virginia is important to you, if keeping Virginia BLUE is important to you, then PLEASE VOTE TUESDAY!  Anyone who is registered to vote in Virginia can vote in the Virginia’s open primary on Tuesday, SO PLEASE VOTE.  Just go to your normal voting place or click here to find your polling place. Polling hours are 6am – 7pm.

Below is one of the Gubernatorial debates moderated by bloggers FireDogLake and the Collegiate Times. The debate lasts for 1 hour 49 minutes.

The Department of Justice has concluded that Georgia’s “voter verification process” erroneously target legal citizens of the United States [minorities] who are registering to vote and is thereby “seriously flawed.”  The state of Georgia contends that its “voter verification process” was developed and is now employed in compliance with the Help America Vote Act, HAVA.  DOJ disagrees.  In fact, DOJ explains in its opinion letter that HAVA pertains to “voter identification” and not “voter eligibility” thus making Georgia’s interpretation and implementation of its “citizenship verification process” in noncompliance with the Act.

In addition, DOJ elucidated in it’s opinion letter, “applicants who are Hispanic, Asian, or African American are more likely than white applicants, to statistically significant degrees, to be flagged for additional scrutiny” through the “verification process.” The investigation further revealed that ”African Americans comprised a majority of the registrants flagged…”  For example, May 2008 through March 2009 African-Americans and whites registered to vote in equal numbers yet sixty percent more African-Americans than whites were flagged for further inquiry and were required to take an additional step/steps to complete their voter registration.  Hispanics and Asians were twice as likely to be flagged than whites.  According to DOJ, the “verification process” imposes extra steps on minority registrants thus putting an undue burden on such voters and thereby must be discontinued by the state of Georgia. 

Unbelievable!

Representative John Lewis released the following statements regarding DOJ’s decision:

I agree with the Department of Justice,” said Rep. John Lewis.  “The citizenship verification process of the state of Georgia violates both the spirit and the letter of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  This was an attempt to take us back to another dark period in our history when people were denied access to the ballot box simply because of their race or nationality.  It seemed to me then and it is clear to me now that this was a “modern-day” poll tax as one judge put it, designed to harass and intimidate minority voters. 

The DOJ has made a fair and accurate decision. I hope that this decision helps the Supreme Court Justices see the importance of Section 5 in protecting the right to vote for some citizens.  Without the ability to challenge this process through the Voting Rights Act, tens of thousands of Georgia voters would be denied the right to vote.  The burden would be placed on average working citizens to file a lawsuit and prove that the Georgia system is discriminatory. This could take years.  In the meantime, injustice would be the law of the land

See full DOJ letter here

Americans have grown more optimistic about the economy and the direction of the country in the 11 weeks since President Obama was inaugurated, suggesting that he is enjoying some success in his critical task of rebuilding the nation’s confidence, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

These sometimes turbulent weeks — marked by new initiatives by Mr. Obama, attacks by Republicans and more than a few missteps by the White House — do not appear to have hurt the president. Americans said they approved of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy, foreign policy, Iraq and Afghanistan; fully two-thirds said they approved of his overall job performance. 

By contrast, just 31 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest in the 25 years the question has been asked in New York Times/CBS News polls.

It is not unusual for new presidents to enjoy a period of public support. Still, the durability of Mr. Obama’s support contrasts with that of some of his predecessors at the same point in their terms. It is also striking at a time when anxiety has gripped households across the country and Mr. Obama has alternately sought to rally Americans’ spirits and warn against economic collapse as he seeks Congressional support for his programs.   See full article here

Friends,

Nothing like it has ever happened. The President of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the head of General Motors — a company that’s spent more years at #1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else — “You’re fired!”

I simply can’t believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days. I keep saying, “Did Obama really fire the chairman of General Motors? The wealthiest and most powerful corporation of the 20th century? Can he do that? Really? Well, damn! What else can he do?!”

This bold move has sent the heads of corporate America spinning and spewing pea soup. Obama has issued this edict: The government of, by, and for the people is in charge here, not big business. John McCain got it. On the floor of the Senate he asked, “What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?” Senator Bob Corker said it “should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise.” The stock market plunged as the masters of the universe asked themselves, “Am I next?” And they whispered to each other, “What are we going to do about this Obama?”

Not much, fellows. He has the massive will of the American people behind him — and he has been granted permission by us to do what he sees fit. If you liked this week’s all-net 3-pointer, stay tuned.

I write this letter to you in memory of the hundreds of thousands of workers over the past 25+ years who have been tossed into the trash heap by General Motors. Many saw their lives ruined for good. They turned to alcohol or drugs, their marriages fell apart, some took their own lives. Most moved on, moved out, moved over, moved away. They ended up working two jobs for half the pay they were getting at GM. And they cursed the CEO of GM for bringing ruin to their lives.

Not one of them ever thought that one day they would witness the CEO receive the same treatment. Of course Chairman Wagoner will not have to sign up for food stamps or be evicted from his home or tell his kids they’ll be going to the community college, not the university. Instead, he will get a $23 million golden parachute. But the slip in his hands is still pink, just like the hundreds of thousands that others received — except his was issued by us, via the Obama-man. Here’s the door, buster. See ya. Don’t wanna be ya.

I began my day today in Washington, D.C. I went to the U.S. Senate and got into their Finance Committee’s hearing on the Wall Street bailout. The overseers wanted to know how the banks spent the money. And many of these banks won’t tell them. They’ve taken trillions and nobody knows where the money went. It certainly didn’t go to create jobs, relieve mortgage holders, or free up loans that people need. It was so shocking to listen to this, I had to leave before it was over. But it gave me an idea for the movie I was shooting.

Later, I stopped by the National Archives to stand in line to see the original copy of our Constitution. I thought about how twenty years ago this month I was just down the street finishing my first film, a personal plea to warn the nation about GM and the deadly economy it ruled. On that March day in 1989 I was broke, having collected the last of my unemployment checks, relying on help from my friends (Bob and Siri would take me out to dinner and always pick up the check, the assistant manager at the movie theater would sneak me in so I could watch an occasional movie, Laurie and Jack bought an old Steenbeck (editing) machine for me, John Richard would slip me an unused plane ticket so I could go home for Christmas, Rod would do anything for me and drive to Flint whenever I needed something for the film). My late mother (she would’ve turned 88 tomorrow if she were still with us) and my GM autoworker dad told me in the kitchen they wanted to help and handed me a check for an astounding thousand dollars. I didn’t know they even had a thousand dollars. I refused it, they insisted I take it — “No!” — and then, in that parental voice, told me I was to cash it so I could finish my movie. I did. And I did.

So on that March day in 1989, as I was driving down Pennsylvania Avenue, my 9-year-old car just died. I coasted over to the curb, put my head down on the steering wheel and started to cry. I had no money to take it in to be repaired, and I certainly had nothing to pay the tow truck driver. So I got out, screwed the license plates off so I wouldn’t be fined, turned my back and just left it there for good. I looked over at the building next to me. It said “National Archives.” What better place to donate my dead car, I thought, as I walked the rest of the way home.

Though it wasn’t easy for me, I still never had to suffer what so many of my friends and neighbors went through, thanks to General Motors and an economic system rigged against them. I wonder what they must have all thought when they woke up this Monday morning to read in the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press the headlines that Obama had fired the CEO of GM. Oh — wait a minute. They couldn’t read that. There was no Free Press or News. Monday was the day that both papers ended home delivery. It was canceled (as it will be for four days every week) because the daily newspapers, like General Motors, like Detroit, are broke.

I await the President’s next superhero move.

Yours,
Michael Moore

Click here for full transcript

 This is what happens when corporations blog.  The following post was from Peter Tulupman of AIG.

Peter Telupman, January 13, 2009 

First, here are the facts regarding AIG’s compensation practices, and more specifically, the importance to the American taxpayer of retaining talented people in AIG’s businesses. We fully understand the concerns surrounding executive compensation, which have been capped at the highest levels of AIG. Our new Chairman and CEO, Edward Liddy, will receive an annual base salary of $1 for 2008 and 2009.  He will not receive a bonus in those years.  Also, AIG’s top seven officers will not receive annual bonuses for 2008 performance or salary increases through 2009, and AIG’s top 60 managers will not receive salary increases through 2009.

At the same time, our plan to pay back taxpayers is predicated on the divestiture of our assets to strong, competent buyers. To do that, AIG must preserve the value of its businesses, which is based on the people who work for us and, in particular, the strong and experienced leadership of key business units. Talented management is important both to the lines of business that will remain part of AIG going forward, and attractive to prospective buyers in any asset sales.

That is where the retention comes in – trying to keep your key players who have the best business relationships and the best specialized knowledge about the business in place. This applies to the property/casualty businesses AIG plans to keep and helps AIG get the best value for other businesses AIG is selling to pay back the government. For AIG to compete moving forward and to get best value for these businesses, AIG needs people to stay. If you’re selling the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team would be worth a lot more with Lebron James than without him.  

But even with retention, compensation is down. Including retention payments, compensation for our top five officers was down 60 percent in 2008 vs. 2007. For our top 60 officers, compensation was down 40 percent in 2008 vs. 2007, including retention. So this is a small investment on our part to repay taxpayers.

Second, there were a number of questions related to what happened to AIG, how AIG is managing the government’s investments and support, and where we go from here. To address each of those topics, I’d like to point you to a speech that Mr. Liddy gave a couple weeks ago in Hong Kong, where he addressed each of these areas with some degree of specificity. The speech is available at  www.aig.com/movingforward(where we also house updates on our situation).
Thank you again for following AIG, and for your patience as we continue to adapt to this process.

A few more questions and answers:

AIG’s role in health insurance plans and health care reform.

First, AIG is not a provider of traditional healthcare insurance, nor does AIG compete with healthcare insurance providers. AIG provides life, property and casualty insurance and does offer some health-related insurance products that pay insureds cash for medical expenses or lost income resulting from illness or accidental bodily injury.  This same Daily Kos reader asks if “AIG (will) remove itself from the American’s Health Insurance Plans lobbying firm” and if the company will “support a public option to any health care reform that passes.”   AIG has stopped all federal lobbying activities. In the past, AIG has never lobbied for or against health care reform.

Would you be willing to tell us how many employees you have in the following categories?More than $2 million/year:
$1-2 million/year:
$500,000 – $1 million/year:
$250,000 – $500,000/year:
$100,000 – $250,000/year:
$80,000 – $100,000/year:
$60,000 – $80,000/year:
$40,000 – $60,000/year:
< $40,000/year:

During the last several months, AIG has disclosed various voluntary compensation restrictions for our top executives, including a $1 salary for our CEO; no 2008 annual bonuses and no salary increases through 2009 for AIG’s top-seven-officer Leadership Group; and no salary increases through 2009 for the 50 next-highest executives, in addition to other bonus, severance and retention award restrictions.

Does AIG own any jets? If so will you sell them and start flying all your executives in coach?

AIG owns eight jets, all of which were purchased before September 2008.

AIG has sold three jets and a helicopter, has two more jets for sale and will divest itself of two other jets when it sells its domestic life operations and American General Finance.  Unfortunately, current market conditions, combined with an increase in the number of corporate aircraft available for sale have created a very difficult sales environment for private aircraft.  AIG uses its private aircraft sparingly. In fact, usage for 0ctober, November and December 2008 was reduced 56 percent, 71 percent and 47 percent respectively compared with the same months during 2007.

Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
Address to Joint Session of Congress
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States:

I’ve come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here. 

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others.  And rightly so.  If you haven’t been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has – a friend; a neighbor; a member of your family.  You don’t need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.  It’s the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights.  It’s the job you thought you’d retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that’s now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope.  The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.    

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this:

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.  Read the rest of this entry »

For Immediate Release February 12, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT A LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Pease, be seated. Thank you very much. Madam Speaker, Leader Reid, members of Congress, dear friends, former colleagues, it is a great honor to be here — a place where Lincoln served, was inaugurated, and where the nation he saved bid him a last farewell. As we mark the bicentennial of our 16th President’s birth, I cannot claim to know as much about his life and works as many who are also speaking today, but I can say that I feel a special gratitude to this singular figure who in so many ways made my own story possible — and in so many ways made America’s story possible.

It is fitting that we are holding this celebration here at the Capitol, for the life of this building is bound ever so closely to the times of this immortal President. Built by artisans and craftsmen, but also immigrants and slaves — it was here, in the rotunda, that Union soldiers received help from a makeshift hospital; it was downstairs, in the basement, that they were baked bread to give them strength; and it was in the Senate and House chambers where they slept at night and spent some of their days.

What those soldiers saw when they looked on this building was a very different sight than the one we see today, for it remained unfinished until the end of the war. The laborers who built the dome came to work wondering each day whether that would be their last; whether the metal they were using for its frame would be requisitioned for the war and melted down into bullets. But each day went by without any orders to halt construction, and so they kept on working and kept on building.

When President Lincoln was finally told of all the metal being used here, his response was short and clear: That is as it should be. The American people needed to be reminded, he believed, that even in a time of war, the work would go on; the people’s business would continue; that even when the nation itself was in doubt, its future was being secured; and that on that distant day, when the guns fell silent, a national capitol would stand, with a statue of freedom at its peak, as a symbol of unity in a land still mending its divisions.

It is this sense of unity, this ability to plan for a shared future even at a moment where our nation was torn apart, that I reflect on today. And while there are any number of moments that reveal that particular side of this extraordinary man, Abraham Lincoln — that particular aspect of his leadership — there’s one that I’d like to share with you today.

In the war’s final weeks, aboard Grant’s flagship, The River Queen, President Lincoln was asked what was to be done with the rebel armies once General Lee surrendered. With victory at hand, Lincoln could have sought revenge. He could have forced the South to pay a steep price for their rebellion. But despite all the bloodshed and all the misery that each side had exacted upon the other, and despite his absolute certainty in the rightness of the cause of ending slavery, no Confederate soldier was to be punished, Lincoln ordered. They were to be treated, as he put it, “liberally all round.” What Lincoln wanted was for Confederate troops to go back home and return to work on their farms and in their shops. He was even willing, he said, to “let them have their horses to plow and ¼ their guns to shoot crows with.”

That was the only way, Lincoln knew, to repair the rifts that had torn this country apart. It was the only way to begin the healing that our nation so desperately needed. What Lincoln never forgot, not even in the midst of civil war, was that despite all that divides us — north and south, black and white — we were, at heart, one nation and one people, sharing a bond as Americans that could bend but would not break.

And so even as we meet here today, in a moment when we are far less divided than in Lincoln’s day, but when we are once again debating the critical issues of our time — and debating them sometimes fiercely — let us remember that we are doing so as servants of the same flag, as representatives of the same people, and as stakeholders in a common future. That is the most fitting tribute we can pay — the most lasting monument we can build — to that most remarkable of men, Abraham Lincoln. Thank you.

Like in that Doobie Brothers song ‘Takin it to the Streets,’ the grassroots organization Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, an organization that assists homeowners in avoiding foreclosure, took their grievances directly to the source of their frustration….Wall Street executives.  Almost 400 members of the group of potential foreclosure victims protested outside the homes of several CEO’s of Wall Street firms who refuse to renegotiate loans on behalf of NACA homeowners.  One particular manager, William Frey of Greenwich Financial Services, was targeted because he is currently suing Bank of America on behalf of two of BofA’s primary investors because BofA moved to modify several hundred mortgages to make them more affordable the homeowners.  Monikered “the Predators tour,” the group has mounted an all out “accountability campaign” against the excesses of Wall Street executives and their obliviousness to the pain and distress of Main Street, i.e., their fellow man and woman.  NACA confronted the executives on their own turf  by showing up outside their homes and placing furniture on the lawns to demonstrate what it might feel like to be displaced.  The protesters also stood on the street in front of the executive’s homes holding signs reading “Stop the Loan Sharks.”  That’s another way of getting accountability.  See full story here.

Given the situation, this little melody is particularly pertinent. For those not familiar with the song it was recorded in the 70′s (video above) and in this case is a message to all those who, in the name of greed, were willing to exploit the desperation of the oppressed and disenfranchised simply trying to achieve the American dream.

Takin’ It To The Streets

You don’t know me but I’m your brother
I was raised here in this living hell
You don’t know my kind in your world
Fairly soon the time will tell
You, telling me the things you’re gonna do for me
I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see

Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets

Take this message to my brother
You will find him everywhere
Wherever people live together
Tied in poverty’s despair
You, telling me the things you’re gonna do for me
I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see

Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets