The Best New Year’s Resolution
Posted by Michelle Moquin on December 30th, 2009
So again, I was out late last night, and yes again, I slept in this morning. But really, I was all ready to post at 9:00 am but my computer was just not behaving. Hence the late post (again:)
I’m all over this article and the video is brill. (Thanks Doug) If you are not big on making a resolution for the new year, I, for one am not; this may just be the year for you to start.
Move Your Money: A New Year’s Resolution
Last week, over a pre-Christmas dinner, the two of us, along with political strategist Alexis McGill, filmmaker/author Eugene Jarecki, and Nick Penniman of the HuffPost Investigative Fund, began talking about the huge, growing chasm between the fortunes of Wall Street banks and Main Street banks, and started discussing what concrete steps individuals could take to help create a better financial system. Before long, the conversation turned practical, and with some help from friends in the world of bank analysis, a video and website were produced devoted to a simple idea: Move Your Money.
The big banks on Wall Street, propped up by taxpayer money and government guarantees, have had a record year, making record profits while returning to the highly leveraged activities that brought our economy to the brink of disaster. In a slap in the face to taxpayers, they have also cut back on the money they are lending, even though the need to get credit flowing again was one of the main points used in selling the public the bank bailout. But since April, the Big Four banks — JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo — all of which took billions in taxpayer money, have cut lending to businesses by $100 billion.
Meanwhile, America’s Main Street community banks — the vast majority of which avoided the banquet of greed and corruption that created the toxic economic swamp we are still fighting to get ourselves out of — are struggling. Many of them have closed down (or been taken over by the FDIC) over the last 12 months. The government policy of protecting the Too Big and Politically Connected to Fail is badly hurting the small banks, which are having a much harder time competing in the financial marketplace. As a result, a system which was already dangerously concentrated at the top has only become more so.
We talked about the outrage of big, bailed-out banks turning around and spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut or kill financial reform — including “too big to fail” legislation and regulation of the derivatives that played such a huge part in the meltdown. And as we contrasted that with the efforts of local banks to show that you can both be profitable and have a positive impact on the community, an idea took hold: why don’t we take our money out of these big banks and put them into community banks? And what, we asked ourselves, would happen if lots of people around America decided to do the same thing? Our money has been used to make the system worse — what ifwe used it to make the system better?
Everyone around the table quickly got excited (granted we are an excitable group), and began tossing out suggestions for how to get this idea circulating.
Eugene, the filmmaker among us, remarked that the contrast between the big banks and the community banks we were talking about was very much like the story in the classic Frank Capra filmIt’s a Wonderful Life, where community banker George Bailey helps the people of Bedford Falls escape the grip of the rapacious and predatory banker Mr. Potter.
It was a lightbulb moment. And, unlike the vast majority of dinner conversations, the excitement over this idea didn’t end with dessert. It actually led to something — thanks in great part to Eugene and his remarkable team, who got to work and, in record time, created a brilliant, powerful, and inspiring video playing off the It’s a Wonderful Life concept. Watch it below.
Within a few days, the rest of the pieces fell into place, including an agreement with top financial analysts Chris Whalen and Dennis Santiago, who gave us access to their IRA (Institutional Risk Analytics) database. Using this tool, everyone will be able to plug in their zip code and quickly get a list of the small, solvent Main Street banks operating in their community.
The idea is simple: If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it’s meant to be. It’s neither Left nor Right — it’s populism at its best. Consider it a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest. It’s time for Americans to move their money out of these reckless behemoths. And you don’t have to worry, there is zero risk: deposit insurance is just as good at small banks — and unlike the big banks they don’t provide the toxic dividend of derivatives trading in a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose fashion.
Think of the message it will send to Wall Street — and to the White House. That we have had enough of the high-flying, no-limits-casino banking culture that continues to dominate Wall Street and Capitol Hill. That we won’t wait on Washington to act, because we know that Washington has, in fact, been a part of the problem from the start. We simply can’t count on Congress to fix things. We have to do it ourselves — and the big banks are the core of the problem. We need to return to the stable, reliable, people-oriented approach of America’s community banks.
So watch Eugene’s amazing video, then go to www.moveyourmoney.info to learn more about how easy it is to move your money. And pass the idea on to your friends (help make this video — and this idea — go viral!).
JP Morgan/Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America may be “too big to fail” — but they are not too big to feel the impact of hundreds of thousands of people taking action to change a broken financial and political system. Let them gamble with their own money, not yours. Let’s turn big banks into smaller banks. We’ll all be better off — and safer — as a result.
Make it your New Year’s resolution to move your money. We can’t think of a better way to start 2010.
WATCH:
UPDATE — Credit Unions: Some commenters have written us suggesting that we also include credit unions. Like the FDIC for banks and thrifts, the National Credit Union Administrationinsures the deposits of credit unions and is a good resource for financial data on specific institutions. Credit unions do not disclose financial data in the same way as FDIC-insured banks. As a result, credit unions are not presently included in the IRA ratings database, which covers over 8,000 federally insured banks and thrifts. IRA is developing a method to rate credit unions in a way that is comparable to the IRA bank stress ratings. We’ll be updating users of “Move Your Money” on this issue early in 2010.
For more info, go to: www.moveyourmoney.info
(Coming soon: How to get your municipal and state governments to take their money out of the big banks too.)
~Arianna Huffington/Rob Johnson – Huff Po
Readers: Not much has changed since the Bailey/Potter days. What do you think? Time to move your money? I’m on it – you?
I know some of you addressed me but time has run out for me this morning. Got to run. I’ll catch you tomorrow.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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December 30th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Michelle, We all have a reason for a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010. You mention to Mary that you are ‘wondering’. I too, am wondering. I have no idea who Mary is or what you are wondering about but I know what I am wondering about and believe it is the same thing.
The TAO seem to have left us to ourselves. They Will return sooner or later. You will communicate with Azza and her Comrades — your friends — on the Climax again. They have not abandoned Earth. They Are having their own situations to deal with but will overcome them. Carr did not put them there. He is not interfering, which frustrates me. It was Azza’s misjudgment of the dangers in deep space which has so many obstacles to overcome.
Things will return to normal in 2010 regarding our friends and all will be as it should be — as planned. I do not have a Suite or Cyborg to make life easier for me. I must do things the old-fashioned way, by living through them and learning from my mistakes.
In the interim, patience and faith are the only things that will prevent you from thinking of abandonment. Do you think I want to stay in the physical and mental condition that I have been in for the past few months? I have been suffering badly.
I have gone through many of the same feelings as you. I have gone through depression thinking they might never return, leaving us with our mundane lives and problems to deal with — to live out our lives — Some longer than others.
You will get your chance to be Commander Michelle.
I hope these words make you feel better.
I believe this will be a Happy New Year indeed.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
HOWIE
December 30th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Michelle, Do you really associate only with people who have money to move?
There are millions who barely make it from month to month. There are millions who live on tiny government disablity checks. There are many who jsu do not earn enough to hav savings or money to invest, hence no money to move.
I am happy to have a checking account to pay my monthly bills and not much else. Where should I be moving my money and all those millions just like me?
You live A priviledged life. You probably do not even associate with anyone who has no money to invest and therefore no money to move.
What about single mothers who work 2 jobs to pay rent and put food on the table for their children.
With such a shitty economy, if you look down at all the little people who do not count in this society, there are more people who do not have enough money to invest or move to other investments simply because they ahven’t any.
There are more of us who do not have money to move than those who do. I am one of them and you insult all of us poor folk by posting a topic which pertains only to the percentage that actually have extra money to invest.
We also do not belong to Country Clubs or have personal trainers or Ploasma TVs or any of the toys of the wealthy.
I say Happy New Year to the people who fall in my catagory. We are people too. We are the majority of U.S. Citizens. Some of us may not have parties to celebrate the new year or anything else. We are not living the American Dream. We want and need drastic change. You prove it with your post today — to thos who actually have maney to invest and move around. I will move my money from my left pocket to my right. Is that what you mean?
HOWIE
December 30th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
My resolution five years ago was to not make them ; ) so I don’t, what I am doing – thanks and a nod to your pal @ whitehottruth.com is I am assessing what I will STOP doing, continue doing and start doing in twenty ten, mostly as you can tell it’s the stopping, gotta kill some of the Zen approach before it kills me and that was a tough one to face, in fact today was hard due to that realization, I’m still very quiet and very straight faced, it has my kid scared that she has not seen me smile all day…she’s not the only one who’s scared…hope I snap out of it asap, it’s not good for me or anyone else.
Howie, not sure of Mischa’s intent but I would guess it’s to alert people who are even just switching dollars from checking to debtors to just move that small money to a small bank, one that didn’t and wouldn’t particpate in the bs that the 5 large ones would at your expense. I could be wrong so I’ll step back and let Mischa speak for herself and if I am wrong, I will risk the wrath : ) can I just say sorry now though?
Back to the task at hand, Luv, Zen Lill
December 30th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I agree with you, Michelle!! For those of us that can read this blog, understand your meaning and actually listen to the video, I will for one take heed to the message!
With this past 24 months of financial chaos and our world showing us how the financial institutions, and the wealthy (top 1% or politicians who kiss their asses) will do their damnedest to keep the common people in their place, it is our small power as individuals to move our savings or checking accounts to a local community bank. I live paycheck to paycheck and am tired of my bank fees going to Bank of America and Wells Fargo or Chase Bank. They got the bailout and I’m not doing business with the likes of them ever again!
That was a great post for the 99% of the rest of us to wake up and move our bank accounts to the community banks to help out all of the George Baily’s (the people) of the world and not the Potters (the Wall Street and Bailout Bankers)
Seems easy enough to me!