Sub-Prime Motrgage Crisis // Current

Zinn: Bailout is trickle-down theory magnified

Howard Zinn says there has always been big government, but mostly for the wealthy. Part 2

In part two of our interview with Howard Zinn, Prof. Zinn responds to the $700 Billion bailout bill, the economic crisis, and provides his vision for an appropriate response. He describes his disappointment that both Obama and McCain joined to support the bailout, a move which Zinn believes fits into a long history of big government at the service of wealthy elites. Zinn argues that the roots of the crisis are the same as in 1930, a growing gap between the wealth at the top and the insecurity at the bottom. Zinn argues that in place of a bailout of the financial sector, what is needed is a 21st century New Deal, with government investment providing jobs and health care. He also argues that Big Government has always been a feature of the American system, and that the question is therefore not one of size, but of how the government and its power is to be used.

Howard Zinn is an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and playwright. He is best known as author of the best-seller 'A People's History of the United States'. Zinn has been active in the Civil Rights and the anti-war movements in the United States. Zinn was raised in a working-class family in Brooklyn, and flew bombing missions for the United States in World War II, an experience he now points to in shaping his opposition to war. In 1956, he became a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, a school for black women, where he soon became involved in the Civil rights movement, which he participated in as an adviser to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC and chronicled, in his book SNCC The New Abolitionists. Zinn collaborated with historian Staughton Lynd and mentored a young student named Alice Walker. When he was fired in 1963 for insubordination related to his protest work, he moved to Boston University, where he became a leading critic of the Vietnam War.

See Part 1 at: http://current.com/items/89436711_zinn_vote_for_obama_but_direct_action_needed

See Part 3 at: http://current.com/items/89443567_howard_zinn_on_taxes_and_class_war

See Part 4 at: http://current.com/items/89447830_guns_or_butter

See Part 5 at: http://current.com/items/89453046_democracy_and_militarism

Howard Zinn says there has always been big government, but mostly for the wealthy. Part 2 In part two of our interview with... more

Vierotchka
added this

8 responses

26 days ago

Foreclosed Mother Keeps Home... For Now

ANP: The morning her house was to be auctioned off Voltaire woke up to donations and reporters. Last week, ANP reported on the... more

Vierotchka
added this

1 response

26 days ago

Banker to Writer

Jason Newman worked at JP Morgan Chase as an analyst for 6 years. When JP Morgan bought out Bear Stearns, he lost his job.... more

MattyP
added this

0 responses

1 month ago

US bankers facing fraud charges

Two former Credit Suisse bankers have been charged with fraud for allegedly deceiving clients over the value of debt tied to... more

riffhard98
added this

0 responses

3 months ago

Homeowners get help in DC, but not from government

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America helps tens of thousands restructure their home mortgage. This week, while... more

Vierotchka
added this

0 responses

4 months ago

Congress helps banks, but what about homeowners?

Danny Schechter: "This is a 50 state Katrina" Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector," is a former network TV... more

Vierotchka
added this

3 responses

4 months ago

America's "New Urbanism"

The mass migration of America's middle classes from urban areas to the suburbs amounted to a demographic revolution in the... more

aswift1
added this

0 responses

5 months ago

Big Trouble? A major subprime lender bank lobbyist, advising on Economic policy

By Josh Marshall... HOW MANY BILLIONS IN WRITE DOWNS for Swiss Bank UBS? And who is their Vice Chairman? And who is he... more

1Eco_Media
added this

0 responses

6 months ago

Banks Gone Wild

A similar thing happened to me about a month ago. My husband and I have three accounts with our bank, two personal and one business. I've have a relationship with our bank for over ten years, and during that time none of the accounts I've managed had ever gone into the red. With a longtime track record of being a model customer, I was therefore very upset when the bank chose to penalize me when a snafu occurred.

One of our checks was accidentally deposited into the wrong account, which caused it to go overdrawn when checks we had written cleared. Even though we had more than enough money to cover the checks over the three accounts we had with the bank, the bank decided to return three checks, which, if they had cleared would have created an overdraft of less than $250. The bank then charged us $36 per check for the privilege of refusing to honor them. In addition, we faced check return and late payment fees from our car insurance, phone and credit card companies because of the bank's actions.

I was particularly upset that the bank hadn't bothered to call me (which they did regularly to confirm other transactions), or taken my highly responsible banking record into account before they decided to bounce the checks. Had they called, the situation could have been resolved instantly with a transfer between accounts. Instead, it seems to me, the bank saw an opportunity to make a quick buck ($108 actually) and took it, charging me fees, and putting my good credit, and car insurance policy, at risk in the process.

My initial complaints fell on officious and intransigent ears. The bank refused to refund the charges, insisting that they "couldn't" rather then "wouldn't" do it. Luckily for me, they'd erroneously mailed someone else's overdraft notice in the same envelope as mine, so with this as leverage, I agreed to do the right thing and hand over "John Doe's" letter on condition that the bank did the right thing and rescinded my fees.

But the episode left a very bitter taste in my mouth, and got me thinking about those less fortunate than myself, for whom the system is particularly unfair. Just one of the three fees the bank had taken from my account, without my permission, was the equivalent to the best part of a day's pay for someone on minimum wage. Put the three together and it's well over half a week's salary for the hard working poor. How can that be fair?

With such sharp practices these banks are no better than loan sharks. And with the economy in crisis, such money generating policies are likely to increase as the banks desperately try to claw back the funds they've been forced to write off due to the mortgage fiasco we're in the midst of right now. Once again the consumer is paying (dearly) for the mistakes fat cat, big business has made.

So what can we do? Certainly it's all our responsibilities to refuse to take such treatment lying down. The banks are only able to charge such outrageous fees because on some level we allow them to get away with it. Next time you get an unfair charge, call the bank on it. You may be able to afford to eat it, but the person standing in line behind you might not, and, as a society, we stand or fall together. If one employee refuses to help, refuse to be brushed off. Ask to see their superior, and if they can't help, ask to see theirs. Threaten to close your account down and take your business elsewhere, and DO IT if they fail to offer an acceptable resolution.

If all else fails, take a leaf out of Hatch's playbook, and take your bank to small claims court. As Ralph Nader says, "If a million consumers filed a million small claims court actions a year against the banks, the banks would either try to abolish the small claims court or try to improve their performance." Perhaps it's our responsibility to put that theory to the test. Once we've knocked the banks into shape, my next raison d'être will be local councils and the parking fines they charge. Try paying those on a minimum wage!A similar thing happened to me about a month ago. My husband and I have three accounts with our bank, two personal and one... more