Join the Posse: Main Street's Billion $$$ Revenge Against Big Banking

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: Chaz Valenza - Writer

Main Street is mighty pissed-off. We're a'itching to have a hangin' party and string up a few bank robber barons in the concrete canyons of Wall Street. But I say, let's just take their money.
Not since the French Revolution has the aristocracy been so worried about their physical safety. Paul Craig Roberts puts these fears in context in his well documented article Trickle-up economics: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me, OpEdNews, December 3, 2009.

Roberts cites no less than Bloomberg news for evidence of the fears harbored by those who have raped the financial system and left everyone else holding the bag:

"Goldman Sachs senior executives are arming themselves with New York gun permits, according to Alice Schroeder on Bloomberg.com. The banksters ‘are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank.'"


If you're among those about to join the posse, may I suggest you put down the rope. Let's just all get together and stage a protest that will deprive Big Banking of a billion dollars a year.

That's right, and it's all legal. Plus, unlike violence, it will not give the authorities any justification to label Main Street an angry mob and commence cracking heads among the 90% of us bearing the brunt of the economic crisis.

Goldman Sachs executives' guilty paranoia aside, I don't know anyone willing to take such extreme measures, though we all have our fantasies. But, we can hit them where it will hurt by depriving the current banking and finance cartel of income and profits.


Posse lookin' to apprehend them bank robber barons

No, really, this is how: Right now, there is a growing movement to Use Cash instead of credit and debit cards whenever possible. Once it gets going it will terrify the Banksters.

How much money can we deny the banking/finance corporations? A lot.

Let's say a typical Use Cash protester can switch just $35 of spending from plastic to cash a week – buying gas for the car, and a couple other small purchases. That will deprive Big Banking their average merchant vigor of 3.5%: $1.

But $35 of lost credit or debit card “spend” also denies Big Banking enormous additional potential revenue. And, that's where they make a killing on cardholders. Penalties and fees forgoing over limit or usingover draft "privileges" that can range from $30 to $50, not to mention double cycle interest accumulations on prior balances.

Just sticking with $1 per week per protestor, if a million people join in that's a minimum of $52 million dollars a year.

But this is not a march on Washington. A million people is nowhere near the limit. And, for many people, switching $35 per week of plastic spending to cash is nothing.

Visa cardholders in the U.S. spend more than $1 trillion a year on their cards. (Source: Visa USA internal statistics, 4th quarter 2006.)

So, it's easy to easy to imagine putting a hurt on Big Banking to the tune of a billion dollars a year. That's just $35 billion in plastic spending switched to cash, only3.5% of Visa's annual volume.

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/Join-the-Posse-Main-Stree-by-Chaz-Valenza-091205-821.html

[laughingliberal]

1. This will work if people will do it

They're going to be hurting quite a bit over the record bankruptcies heading their way. The horrible bankruptcy laws passed a few years back have not offered them the protection they had hoped. Even before the economic crisis reached today's proportions most of those filing for bankruptcy fell in income levels which still allowed them to discharge the debt by filing chapter 7. With the loss of jobs and pay cuts, I doubt many people needing bankruptcy protection now will be forced into Chapter 13. At any rate, most bankruptcy lawyers offer free consultation so it costs nothing to find out. My suggestion if you are in over your head and have been missing payment for a while: look into it. Very few in this position are now being forced into Chapter 13. Late and delinquent payments stifle your credit profile for 7 years, bankruptcy for 10, not a lot of difference there. In some cases credit can be reestablished sooner as now the person is debt free and unable to file bankruptcy again for 10 years. And most of the people I know who have done a bankruptcy have reestablished credit much sooner than you would think, if that is the main concern here.

People not at that point yet doing as this author suggests is very powerful. So, if those who are struggling to make payments and do not really have any light at the end of the tunnel discharge their debt and those who still have access to credit just stop or restrict their typical use of it, we can shut them down. And we should. Starve the beast isn't just for government.

[ipaint]

2. Great idea and everyone can participate.

What’s wrong with credit and debit cards? Why do you hate them?

We don’t hate them. We use them just like do. They are a substitute to cash devised by the banking and finance industry. They have their advantages. And, through interest, fees and penalties they are extremely profitable products for the Banking and Finance industry.


How do banks make money on debit cards? They’re just like writing a check, aren’t they?

Banks make plenty of money on debit cards. Debit card profits from overdraft fees are one of the reasons most banks offer free* checking. (*no it’s not really free.) They also make money on the merchant side as debit cards fees are about the same as credit card fees. If you never make an account mistake, a debit card may never cost you a dime, but they’re still a big money maker for the banks.


How can I possibly stop using plastic completely?

You probably can’t, so don’t cut up your credit and debit cards unless you have another good reason for doing so. But, if you can use cash for purchases you’re now using plastic to pay for, you’ve just taken money out of the pocket of Big Banking and Finance. For every $10 purchase you’ve denied Big Banking about 35 cents, and possibly a lot more.

http://www.usecashmovement.org/ifqs/



This says it all...

Advertising for banking, credit and debit card services: $7 billion a year (1)

Computer systems to process plastic transactions: $50 billion a year (2)

814 lobbyists to get laws in their favor: $62.5 million in 2009 (3)

Having the government, taxpayers and customers under your thumb: Priceless.

http://www.usecashmovement.org/why/2009/12/6/7-billion-to-get-you-to-use-plastic.html

[sojourner]

3. I plan on taking my savings account to credit union. AND use at least $100 month in cash vs debit

[Tutankhamun]

4. This is a very powerful idea. A lot of people, myself included, are already doing it.

We, the American taxpayers footed an enormous bill to bail out these parasites. How do they repay us? By ramping up lecherous, underhanded fees and penalties, of course. They must be made to pay. Using cash isn't our only recourse, but it's an excellent first salvo.

[Better Today]

5. Cash-ing isn't going to hurt them nearly as much as everyone

demanding to see the paperwork. Whether underwater or not, whether in or about to foreclose or not, demand to see the assignment of deed that is required to be passed from bank to bank and is required if you ever want to actually own your home. Like the car title that is mailed to you when the car payments are done, there is an assignment of deed that has to been turned over to you if/when you ever complete payments. Most of the large banks are relying on MERS and MINS numbers which are not accepted by county officials, so you may never be able to actually own your own home without a legal hassle (seriously you will have get a lawyer and/or title company to allow you to be the holder of the deed if they don't or can't send you their original copy, if they even have it, should they be able to force you to pay even more after you thought you'd paid in full to own your home?) if you don't demand to see the papers, and demand that they file at the county level as they are supposed.

IF we all demand that they put up in 90 days, or all future payments will be held in escrow at the local title company, or local bank account that you don't otherwise touch. . . .they'll be screwed, the judges will see that you had no intention of just not paying, because all payments will be safely in savings/escrow awaiting resolution of their problems.

Anyway, cash is a good idea, but this is better and it more specifically targets the banks that are and have been screwing over so many of our friends and neighbors. And will force banks to hire people to go through the tons of paperwork they've never attended to find the right papers.

PS this is mainly useful against big banks that went around buying mortgage bundles like Citibank, WellsFargo, etc. To know if your bank is doing (or has done) it right call you local county assessor/recorder, ask how many and to whom their are Assignments of Deed also sometimes called Instrument of Deed.

[earcandle]

6. Love iT! And we are already there! Switch 100% to cash. Dumped the cards.

I am going to have my first cash surgery next year!  

This makes sense, is non-violent, and will bring home the
power of the people.

Thanks!

[yurbud]

7. even easier: switch to a credit union and take your money out of banks altogether

[Voice for Peace]

8. thanks for posting this! even if nobody else does it, it's gratifying to do it myself.

It hadn't ever occurred to me, what a difference using cash could make. k&r!