At the time I concluded:
The impression I got is that [NPAN president George Goehl] is sharp enough and determined enough that he will become a major, if not the major player on the radical left, in time.Nothing has caused me to change my mind since then. If anything, he seems to be further developing important alliances, especially with Andy Stein's SEIU International. And he is the senior organizer behind the radical left's program to launch 4 weeks of protests across the country. The goal of the protests is apparently to demand that banks become candy stores that give away the candy. That is they want a halt to bank foreclosures, but they want banks to make "good loans in our communities." You get the picture. They want banks to operate unprofitable businesses that eventually bankrupt these banks, if the protesters plans are actually agreed to.Here's the press release that was issued by NPAN:
In partnership with the AFL-CIO, SEIU International, and PICO National Network, National People's Action is co-coordinating five major Showdowns on big banks, lobbyists and Wall Street over the next 4 weeks.
Read on for all the action:
1. April 27: Showdown in Kansas City
NPA and allies will hold a massive rally at Barney Allis Plaza in the Kansas City financial district at 1:00pm, followed by a march on Bank of America. We will demand that they stop financing payday lending, stop foreclosing on our families, and start making good loans in our communities.
2. April 27: Showdown on Wells Fargo, San Francisco
Join us at a rally and march to the Wells Fargo Annual Shareholder Meeting to demand action on our proposals to create jobs; keep families in their homes; rebuild our neighborhoods; stop predatory lending and reclaim our democracy.
3. April 28: BofA Shareholder Meeting in Charlotte, NC
IAF South East will march on Bank of America's headquarters with hundreds of clergy, veterans and working families. Meet at 406 N. College Street in Charlotte.
4. April 29 - Showdown on Wall Street, NY
Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Wall Street crashed our economy leaving millions without housing, work, and critical services – and on April 29th thousands of Americans will take the fight for financial reform to their doorsteps! Meet at City Hall at 3:00pm.
5. May 16: Showdown on K Street, DC
National People’s Action (NPA) is calling for a one-day Shutdown of K Street. Whether you care about jobs and the rights of workers, financial reform, quality and affordable health care, or sustaining our planet, we share a common foe: greedy and reckless corporations that have hijacked our democracy.
NPA will be moving a series of activities throughout DC on May 15-17, culminating in a large direct action mobilization taking place at 11am on Monday, May 17, then moving toward the Capitol in the afternoon.
You will notice that they specifically state in one of the statements you cited that they call for an end of 'predatory lending' in their communities. So, I think your inference that they are in favor of fraudulent loans is not sustained.
ReplyDeleteBlaming NPA and, relatedly, borrowers for the crimes and negligence of the lenders and syndicators who had responsibility for due diligence, appraisals, and establishing credit-worthiness of borrowers is like blaming a stow-away on the Titanic for its striking the iceberg that caused it to sink.
They do not want predatory lending just funding for their cause aka free money and preferential lending for unqualifed applicants. Same story thjat create the real estate bubble from Clinton policies.
ReplyDeleteSunshine, your saying so doesn't make it so. Perhaps you can provide a source for your statement?
ReplyDeleteNPA led the fight against red-lining back in the late 1970's and early 80's. It was the financiers (primarily Countrywide and others) who perverted this laudable effort into a constellation of perverted financial products they used to prey upon lower income borrowers to build a portfolio of toxic waste backed by fraudulent MBO's, CDO's, etc. they could peddle.
Let's make sure the blame falls where it belongs. Who should the SEC and State AG's pursue here, NPA or Goldman, Countrywide, WAMU, Fitch, Moodys, S&P? It's sooo hard to decide, isn't it? Who created liar loans? Who created neg amortization? Who phonied up the credit ratings for this sewage that was packed into 'investment grade' securities? Duhhhhh.