Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein feels bad about crashing our economy. To make up for it, he's said he's sorry and has decided to give back $500 million of the money his company has made to small businesses.

It's a gesture so empty, it's insulting. Never mind that $500m is one good day of trading for Goldman Sachs. Never mind that it's less than 1% of what they got in taxpayer-funded assistance; or that it doesn't even compare to the $11.4 billion they paid themselves in the first half of 2009 alone.

What's really insulting is that it doesn't even begin to undo the damage Goldman Sachs has done to small businesses - like the Stella D'Oro bakery - in the last two years: http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

Yesterday, Lloyd Blankfein said he's committed to job creation. He should tell that to the 150 Stella D'Oro workers in New York who lost their jobs when a Goldman Sachs-owned company bought the business and shut it down. The workers, whose tax dollars bailed out Goldman, have tried to meet with Lloyd Blankfein repeatedly. They wanted to show him the harm he was doing to their already struggling community.

He didn't listen. Maybe we can get his attention. Will you call Goldman Sachs and ask them to use the tax dollars we gave him to help the workers at Stella D'Oro? http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

We gave Goldman Sachs $63 billion of our tax dollars so they could clean up the economic mess they created. But they've only made it worse. Call Goldman Sachs and tell them to stop with the PR stunts and start helping Stella D'Oro workers and all the small businesses they've forced under: http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

Bank of America has a new excuse for why they haven't found someone to replace ousted CEO Ken Lewis. Nobody will take the job because it doesn't pay enough! They are, presumably with a straight face, claiming that they can't find talented candidates because of the pay restrictions put into place by Kenneth Feinberg, whom President Obama recently appointed to review compensation packages for bailed out banks.

And what, exactly, are the limits that Feinberg imposed on exec compensation for BofA? Well, so long as the bank continues to use our tax dollars to finance itself, the top 13 executives at the bank will have to fight over a pot of just - wait for it - $78.6 million. That works out to an average pay of $6 million per executive. If you are wondering, that's $16,438 per day - or a little more than 145 times what the average worker in this country makes. (For comparison, brain surgeons average about $450,000 per year and the President of the United States makes $400,000.)

Are we really expected to believe that Bank of America can't find a single competent individual ready to take on the challenge of reversing the failed course BofA has taken - for $6 million per year? Of course, that's not what's happening. What's happening is more business as usual for the big bank. According to news reports, the candidates they're trying to court include some of the top executives at other giant financial firms - the very same people who helped BofA drive us into economic crisis.

What Bank of America needs to do is expand its search to find a CEO who will care more about the families that bank with them than the number of zeroes on their paycheck. Someone who, as Andy Stern put it yesterday, can put country over company, while our economy struggles. It seems to me that the very modest pay restrictions in place on bailed out banks should be helping them do just that.

We need to tell Bank of America to stop with the tired excuses and choose a CEO that will use the tax dollars we're giving them to get our country back on track. Tell them to start lending to small businesses again. Tell them to stop foreclosing on the homes of struggling families. And tell them to never, ever hire another CEO like Ken Lewis that puts Wall Street profits ahead of Main Street families. Click here to take action: http://action.seiu.org/newceo

One of our favorite images from today's protest was a fabulous visual representation of Goldman Sachs, depicted as writer Matt Taibbi so richly described in Rolling Stone:

"The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."

Every couple of minutes the squid would wrap its tentacles around a globe on a stick, adding to the hilarity of the image. Other rally visuals included with "wanted" posters for Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein, as well as other handmade signs expressing taxpayers' desire for Congress to take immediate action on real financial reform:

Check out a photo slideshow of the protest:



Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein memorably said in an interview that he and the team at Goldman are "doing God's work." At today's protest, Reverend Tony Pierce, Board President of the Central Illinois Organizing Project, made a point to set the record straight on what God's work really is.

"When Goldman Sachs and Mr. Blankfein crashed our economy by inflating the housing bubble, that wasn't God's work. When they took $10 billion in bailouts--instead of using that money to stop foreclosures, to help the homeless and to rebuild local economies, when they instead used that money to enrich themselves--that's not God's work.

"When they're paying themselves $23 billion in bonuses, that's not God's work. In fact, I don't even believe by that action they even know what God's work is."

Public Citizen President Robert Weissman rallied protesters with his stark truth on how bailed out banks and the financial industry continue to try to buy Congress and fight reform:

Even though they've crashed the national economy, even though they've destroyed their own industry, even though they've taken trillions of dollars from public support to stay in business, nothing has changed in the way that Wall Street does business: They are still showering money on Congress.

Weissman revealed to the crowd that Wall Street has deluged roughly 2.5 times more money on members of Congress who sit on the financial services & banking committee than other members of Congress. This money results in bigtime payouts from Congress and the Treasury Department. "Because after all, you don't go to Wall Street to do God's work, you go to Wall Street for money," said Weissman.

The protest ended with the delivery of a poster-sized letter addressed to Blankfein proposing use their anticipated $23 billion bonus pool to help families facing foreclosure.

For a Twitterific recap of the action, check out our live tweets from the ground:

The Ken Lewis horror story may be in its final chapter, but it isn't over yet.

Today, newspapers are reporting that the scene inside Bank of America HQ is chaotic. Lewis' sudden ousting caught them off guard - and the man responsible for finding a new CEO cannot be reached because he's "on vacation on a ship" until the end of the month.

Since it's our tax dollars being pumped into BofA, we decided to help with the hiring process. Click here to see the 'help wanted' ad we've placed today: http://action.seiu.org/newceo

The frenzy inside BofA right now isn't new. It's part of the same failed leadership and poor decision making that drove our country into economic turmoil. And it's the exact opposite of what we need in Bank of America's next CEO.

Let's send a clear message to BofA. Stop foreclosing homes. Start lending money again. And no more Ken Lewises: http://action.seiu.org/newceo

Last week, we posted a story on the blog about a Goldman Sachs exec quoting the Bible to justify their behavior. I didn't feel comfortable saying he was flat-out wrong, instead I just gave a few Bible passages for context and let people make up their own minds.

Then, on Sunday, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in an interview that he and the team at Goldman are "doing God's work." I now feel completely comfortable saying that Goldman Sachs is not, in fact, doing God's work. (And I'm not alone.)

It isn't God's work to kick families out of their homes when they're struggling most. It isn't God's work to use other people's money to pay themselves obscene bonuses. And it isn't God's work to oppose health insurance reform because it's bad for the bottom line.

That's right. Goldman Sachs is now getting involved with the health care debate. From the Huffington Post:

A Goldman Sachs analysis of health care legislation has concluded that, as far as the bottom line for insurance companies is concerned, the best thing to do is nothing. A close second would be passing a watered-down version of the Senate Finance Committee's bill.

Forget fixing our health care system; according to Goldman's report, it's all about how to get big insurance companies rich(er). There is actually a graph included in the report that shows the number of dollars flowing to insurance companies rising as the number of lives insured drops.

We cannot let Goldman Sachs and the other big banks get away with this. People should be out in the street, demanding answers. And, on Monday, we will. SEIU President Andy Stern is joining National People's Action and hundreds of taxpayers from across the country in Washington, DC to rally outside Goldman Sachs' office on Capitol Hill.

We meet at 101 Constitution Ave. NW at noon. I hope to see you there.

I have been going to church for many, many years. And, I have to say, this is not something I've ever heard preached from the pulpit before.

Bloomberg reports that, last night, executives from the big banks went to churches across London to spread the word that their billion dollar bonuses are actually inspired by biblical teachings. According to Goldman Sachs bigwig Brian Griffiths, Jesus' teachings were an "endorsement of self-interest." He went on to say, "we have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieving greater prosperity and opportunity for all."

The term "inequality" doesn't even begin to describe the situation, though. Wall Street banks - Goldman Sachs included - are still paying out record bonuses in the billions of dollars. In fact, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein was one of the highest paid executives in the country last year. All this while millions of Americans are filing for bankruptcy, foreclosures are at record high rates, and unemployment has skyrocketed - largely due to the risky behaviors of these big banks.

That's not just inequality, that's injustice.

I don't pretend to be an expert on religious teachings; and I wouldn't dare presume to know what Jesus thinks of Wall Street's behavior. I want, instead, to post a few Bible passages that address this subject directly:

35 ' If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
36 'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.
37 'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. (Leviticus 25:35-37)

17 Who has withdrawn his hand from the poor And not received usury or increase, But has executed My judgments And walked in My statutes -- He shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live! (Ezekiel 18:17)

10 "I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury!
11 "Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them." (Nehemiah 5:10,11)

It's up to us, regardless of our faith, to decide if we want to live in a country that allows this behavior to continue.

McClatchy Newspapers has launched a multi-part exposé on financial giant Goldman Sachs and their role in the economic collapse. For the millions of Americans who - until recently - had never heard of Goldman Sachs, let alone done business with them, it's a sobering look at how the banking leviathan has managed to take our money from us six ways to Sunday.

Yesterday's article from McClatchy looks at why Goldman, above all others, seemed to walk away from the financial crisis relatively unscathed. What they find isn't particularly new information: Goldman Sachs was buying up dangerously lax mortgage agreements with one hand, and placing bets that they would fail with the other.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, though. According to McClatchy, Goldman Sachs:

• Bought and converted into high-yield bonds tens of thousands of mortgages from subprime lenders that became the subjects of FBI investigations into whether they'd misled borrowers or exaggerated applicants' incomes to justify making hefty loans.


• Used offshore tax havens to shuffle its mortgage-backed securities to institutions worldwide, including European and Asian banks, often in secret deals run through the Cayman Islands, a British territory in the Caribbean that companies use to bypass U.S. disclosure requirements.


• Has dispatched lawyers across the country to repossess homes from bankrupt or financially struggling individuals, many of whom lacked sufficient credit or income but got subprime mortgages anyway because Wall Street made it easy for them to qualify.


• Was buoyed last fall by key federal bailout decisions, at least two of which involved then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a former Goldman chief executive whose staff at Treasury included several other Goldman alumni.

[emphasis mine]

On its own, it's infuriating. They didn't just find the loopholes, they created them to make sure they never had to face the consequences of their actions. But, what's really upsetting is reading about how millions of unsuspecting Americans got caught up in Goldman's financial shell game. From today's McClatchy piece:

Goldman spent years buying hundreds of thousands of subprime mortgages, many of them from some of the more unsavory lenders in the business, and packaging them into high-yield bonds. Now that the bottom has fallen out of that market, Goldman finds itself in a different role: as the big banker that takes homes away from folks such as the Beckers.

[The Becker family of California] alleges that Goldman declined for three years to confirm their suspicions that it had bought their mortgages from a subprime lender, even after they wrote to Goldman's then-Chief Executive Henry Paulson - later U.S. Treasury secretary - in 2003.

Unable to identify a lender, the couple could neither capitalize on a mortgage hardship provision that would allow them to defer some payments, nor on a state law enabling them to offset their debt against separate, investment-related claims against Goldman.

[emphasis mine]

Goldman is now employing the same tricks they used gaming the financial system to dupe working families. These are families that never signed a single contract with Goldman Sachs, but watched their financial future bought and sold up the banking food chain until it reached Goldman as nothing more than one cell of data in a massive spreadsheet.

Of course, each cell of that spreadsheet is actually a person. And each one of those people has a life story. And as we speak, those stories are being drastically rewritten by Goldman Sachs and their cronies on Wall Street.

For millions of families, the ending is not going to be a happy one.

Last week, we learned that the swift action by the President and Congress to pass an economic recovery package earlier this year helped stave off a global economic recession, put our economy back on the path of growth, and helped save hundreds of thousands of jobs.

SEIU was a major proponent of the economic recovery package and we believe we need to continue to make progress on a number of other economic initiatives to build long-term sustainable economic growth--these include passing meaningful financial reform, investing in green jobs, using public pension funds to build a 21st century infrastructure, and creating a new retirement system to protect our future.

Passing Meaningful Financial Reform
Anna Burger writes on New Deal 2.0 about the need to fundamentally change the way we value wealth and work in our country and act now on meaningful reforms to protect our families from future economic crises.

To build long-term economic progress we must:

• Create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency to serve as a watchdog against predatory and reckless banking products;
• Crackdown on out of control executive pay that rewards short term risks over long term results;
• End too big to fail once and for all by separating commercial banking from investment banking and raising capital requirements back to levels that promote safe and sound banks;
• Empower shareholders to act on executive pay and break the excessive power of executive-controlled boards;
• Force banks to expand lending to small businesses and state and local governments to create jobs and save critical services;
• Demand banks stop foreclosures and help families keep their homes;
• Reregulate the shadow financial markets--including derivatives, hedge funds and private equity; and
• Investigate, and if necessary prosecute, the big banks and Wall Street for crashing our economy.

In case you missed it--more than 5,000 Americans from 20 states--converged on the American Bankers Association convention in Chicago to demand banks stop fighting reforms that would help protect our families from future crises. It was the beginning of a national movement to hold banks and Wall Street accountable for their reckless behavior.

Investing in Green Jobs
During the first meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Board, Anna Burger shared her perspective on how business, labor and government can work together towards creating a low-carbon, green economy and a movement into sustainable good, green jobs--citing the work SEIU and other Change to Win unions are already doing on the community and national level to lead the way on green initiatives.

What happened outside the bankers' conference on Tuesday was a reminder of the power of our voices together.

For three days, thousands of us from every corner of the country and all walks of life came together to demand change from the Wall Street banks.

Together we stood up to the big banks that have done so much harm to our communities;

See pictures and video from the bankers' conference in Chicago: http://action.seiu.org/whatsnext

But, as amazing as Chicago was, everyone I talked to had the same question:

"What's next?"

What's next for the family having their home foreclosed because mom and dad lost their jobs? What's next for the ABA lobbyists using our tax dollars to fight reform? What's next for the big bank CEO paying himself billion dollar bonuses with our money?

The answer is up to us. For too long, we've let Wall Street write the story - and we know how that one goes. Staggering unemployment. Record foreclosures. And complete financial meltdown as their final act.

Chicago was the end of that chapter, will you help us write the next one? http://action.seiu.org/whatsnext

If the big bank CEOs think what happened in Chicago was the last they've heard from us, they're very, very wrong. We're just getting started.

There are millions of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers who want to see an end to business as usual on Wall Street. Will you show them what we did in Chicago, and what we can do if we all work together?

Click here to get started: http://action.seiu.org/whatsnext

While thousands of Americans were delivering a letter to Goldman Sachs on Sunday demanding they stop using our tax dollars to lobby against financial reform, Goldman Sachs was ...using our tax dollars to lobby against financial reform.

Matt Taibbi has an excellent find on his blog at True/Slant about a Goldman Sachs lobbying document being circulated to US senators right now. From the document (via Taibbi's blog):

"ALTERNATIVE TRADING PLATFORMS AND THEIR EFFECT ON LIQUIDITY

The equity markets provide perhaps the best example of a highly evolved complex ecosystem, where care must be taken to preserve the benefits that have evolved from competition and innovation...

Crucially, liquidity is what helps to solve this mismatch problem. Market makers that see large volumes are best positioned to match differing size transactions. In traditional exchange trading, bids and offers are public, and this transparency helps buyers and sellers to achieve the best price.

For some market participants, however, the openness and transparency of the equity market actually mean they are unlikely to achieve the best price. The risk, particularly for large transactions such as those undertaken by pension funds or large mutual funds (where most small investors have most of their equity exposure), is that other market participants will use this transparency to undercut the intended transactions."

From a Goldman Sachs lobbying document (emphasis mine)

This is... wow. Take a minute to soak this up. The big banks are arguing that allowing for openness and transparency would be bad for the shadow markets they've created, because it might cause them to make less money on each trade. Currently, they trade stocks in something they've termed "dark pools." Dark pools are a creative accounting trick to sell large amounts of stock to people without having to disclose to them the risk of their stock's value plummeting.

Most reasonable people get uncomfortable just hearing the term "dark pools." But, the Wall Street bankers love them. Because, while they create losses for most of the people involved, the folks at the top clean up nicely on these deals. Sort of like how pyramid scams work.

This is the exact type of behavior the fueled the economic collapse. It's still going on as we speak. And here's the worst part: banks are using the money that they got from bailouts to help fund the entire scheme.

My apologies if I just spoiled your appetite before lunch.

It was an intense and often emotional conclusion to three days of action against the ABA in Chicago; and a powerful beginning to a taxpayer-led campaign to bring an end to Wall Street greed.

More than 5,000 taxpayers marched over the Chicago River and to the front door of the American Bankers Association this morning. Chanting "enough is enough," the crowd came to deliver an invoice to the big banks for the $17.8 trillion they took from us to pay themselves big bonuses and lobby against reform.

The rally featured stories from Americans across the country who have been impacted by Wall Street's harmful behavior. Here are some of the highlights:

Standing in front of the American Bankers Association conference in Chicago, Anna Burger led more than 5,000 taxpayers in demanding an end to the greedy Wall Street practices that led to economic meltdown.

"We know who the architects of our economic collapse are - they're right over there. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf," she said. "We have to investigate them and, if necessary, we have to prosecute them for what they've done to our country."

Watch video of Anna's speech as well as taxpayers delivering a past due invoice to the big banks for the money they've taken from us:

Video and photos now posted below.

The marchers just took the first steps towards the ABA conference to protest what Andy Stern called "the people who put company before country."

They're being led by people from across America that have been directly impacted by the greedy actions of the Wall Street bankers gathered at the ABA conference. People who have worked all their lives, but were kicked out of their homes, watched their life savings dry up, and seen their interest rates skyrocket.

So, we're marching directly to the bankers right now. Demanding our money back. Demanding our country back. And demanding that they stop using our money to pay themselves huge bonuses and lobby against reform.

The crowd is starting to gather along the Chicago River for the largest protest against bank greed since the economic crisis began. We're about 30 minutes out from taking the first steps toward the ABA conference - and the first steps in our campaign to end Wall Street greed.

We'll be posting live updates to our blog, so keep an eye on SEIU.org. You can also get realtime updates from the march on our Twitter feed and photos from the action at our Flickr page.

Of course, the best way to get involved is to come join 5,000 of your fellow Americans at the corner of Michigan and Wacker right now.

From the American Bankers Association (ABA) website:

Don't miss... Exceptional speakers like FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and political commentator George Will.

Sheila Bair is an exceptional speaker - I know because she just spoke at the Showdown in Chicago. She talked about the importance of stopping the greedy Wall Street practices like predatory lending, sub-prime mortgages, and lack of regulation that led us into financial crisis.

She also took something from us to give to the ABA. It's the letter that we tried to give them ourselves yesterday, but they kicked us out. Will they kick Chairwoman Bair out, too? We'll soon find out.

Here's the video:

Today was an amazing beginning for us. Not just the beginning of the three day protest against the American Bankers Association (ABA) conference, but the beginning of the end for business as usual on Wall Street. The big banks heard loud and clear tonight that taxpayers are fed up with them taking our money and using it to pay themselves outrageous profits and lobby against financial reform.

They did everything they could not to hear us. They've been ignoring our demands ever since we asked them to meet with us at their convention this weekend. So, tonight, taxpayers decided to invite ourselves in. All we wanted to do was deliver a letter to the Wall Street bankers to let them know how much they've hurt our communities - and what they need to do to clean up their act. Take a look:

They wouldn't listen to us. They kicked us out. But, the bad news for them is that we'll be back. We're not going to leave after tonight. In fact, more and more people are coming to Chicago in the next 48 hours. What started as a thousand people tonight will continue to grow up until Tuesday when more than 5,000 taxpayers march on the ABA and demand an end to Wall Street greed.

Our demand is simple: stop taking our tax dollars and squandering them away on billion dollar bonuses and massive lobbying campaigns against financial reform. Will you join us in making our voices heard?

Next week, the members of the American Bankers Association (ABA) are congregating at the Sheraton in downtown Chicago for their annual conference, with appearances by conservative Republican commentators Newt Gingrich and George Will. During the three-day conference, SEIU, Action Now, National People's Action, and dozens of other activist organizations will hold a series of events highlighting the growing discontent with big banks and their over-reliance on greed and profits at taxpayers' expense.

On the Huffington Post, SEIU's Anna Burger discusses why progressives won't be letting the banksters party in peace this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Chicago:

The financial section of the newspaper is starting to read like the script for a far-fetched crime movie. A group of villains hatch a plot to steal trillions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans. They drive the country into economic chaos, funnel money from families and small businesses into their own pockets, then leave all of us to clean up their mess. And not only do they get away with it, they pay themselves billion dollar bonuses and throw lavish parties to celebrate their conquest.

But this isn't a movie, it's really happening. Wall Street bankers have taken $17.8 trillion of our tax dollars through bailouts and turned them into massive pay and bonuses for themselves. Goldman Sachs alone is expected to pay more than $23 billion just in bonuses this year; that's more than $43,000 a minute, every minute.

So, my question to you is: if you could get all the architects of this scam together in one place, what would you say to them?

Hurry up and decide, because they're all getting together in Chicago this weekend -- and we're headed there to meet them.

The big bank execs are gathering in the Windy City for the American Bankers Association conference. It's a four day celebration of wealth and opulence; some of the items on the agenda include a roaring 1920s swing dancing party, a luxurious riverboat cruise, and celebrity appearances from Newt Gingrich and George Will. And it's all funded with our tax dollars.

Read the rest of Anna's piece on Huffington Post here.

Full report on ABA's actions to lobby against financial reform here. Check out the schedule of the three days of actions in Chicago here, as well as after the break.

It was a sad day for corporations in the financial, insurance, and real estate sector--like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce & the Financial Services Roundtable--who spent a combined total of $321 million lobbying against federal reforms such as limits on bonuses and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). These groups were concerned that oversight legislation to help rein in greed on Wall Street might actually....rein in greed on Wall Street. "We remain concerned that this legislation will have significant and harmful unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and the overall economy," the groups wrote in a letter to House members last week.

Thankfully, the House Financial Services Committee didn't feel nearly as sympathetic towards the creators of unfair financial products that scam consumers and taxpayers as they feel for themselves. A recent poll found that nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to our financial crisis--and our lawmakers agree. Yesterday, the House voted 39 to 29 to move forward with the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to help put a stop to the dangerous and deceptive products and practices that got us into this mess. The House Financial Services Committee also approved legislation that would impose new rules for credit cards by Dec. 1, moving up the date from mid-February. Democratic supporters said moving up the date was necessary because lenders were using the grace period to hike interest rates.

The American Bankers Association joined the Chamber of Commerce in expressing their disapproval for the legislation, saying it would continue to try to make its case against the agency as the legislation moves to the House floor in coming weeks and, eventually, to the Senate. "We still have major concerns with some principal areas" including "the very broad, ill-defined authority that is granted to this new agency that could be used to justify essentially any regulatory action," said Floyd Stoner, ABA vice president for congressional relations.

Creating the CFPA as part of Obama's broader plan to clamp down on Wall Street is an important step towards preventing much of the reckless lending that contributed to last year's near-collapse of the market. "It's been a year since the financial world collapsed and it is now clear that the greed and excess of big banks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their allies could have and should have been prevented," said SEIU's Anna Burger. "Chairman Frank and the Financial Services Committee stood up on behalf of American families by passing legislation to create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency--and to prevent business as usual to continue."

According to a recent poll, nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to our financial crisis.And there's much more to be done. We believe that to be successful, the CFPA must be strengthened to include:

• oversight of auto dealers who receive lucrative compensation in financing auto loans;
• the authority to examine the books of all financial institutions, no matter what size, without cumbersome barriers;
• fixes to the current compensation system which pressures and incentivizes workers to push and sell bad and unneeded products to consumers as a condition of employment; and
• the full authority to stop the sale of credit-related insurance policies that are virtually worthless.

That's why when the American Bankers Association meets in Chicago next week, more than 5,000 taxpayers from 20 states will be there to demand an end to Wall Street's appetite for greed.

Did you know you're throwing a party this weekend? Well, you're paying for it but you're not invited.

It's the American Bankers Association (ABA) conference in Chicago. The ABA is the lobbying group that gets millions of our tax dollars from America's bailed out banks.

Here are some of the highlights for their meeting:

• a luxurious riverboat cruise
• a historical mansion tour
• a roaring 1920s big band gala
• celebrity appearances by Newt Gingrich & George Will

With all the fun on our dime, it seems like the big bankers should at least set aside some time to meet with taxpayers! Click here to demand a meeting: http://action.seiu.org/bankparty

Gathering outside the ABA conference will be more than 5,000 taxpayers from all over the US. All we're asking for is a meeting with the banks. We want to tell them to stop using our money to lobby against financial reform. Before we go, though, we're delivering to the ABA signatures from taxpayers across the country, asking them to meet with us.

Add your name here: http://action.seiu.org/bankparty

This is going to be the largest protest against bank greed since the financial meltdown began. Even if you can't be in Chicago, will you make yourself a part of it? http://action.seiu.org/bankparty

If only they gave out awards for helping bank CEOs get rich and using tax dollars to lobby against financial reform; ABA president and CEO Edward Yingling would win them all.

Well, exciting news for fans of Wall Street greed. Now, there is such an honor: the Golden Throne Award - given out by a new site called BanksterUSA.org. And the first one is going to none other than Edward Yingling. Our friends at BanksterUSA.org sum up Yingling's career highlights here:

According to the Center for Responsive Politics Yingling's group, the American Bankers Association, has already spent $4.4 million in 2009 on federal lobbying efforts. These efforts including blasting the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, watering down the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights, tanking the bill to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages, undermining efforts to cap executive compensation, molding the TARP Reform and Accountability Act and other federal bailout programs to their liking. In addition to their own formidable lobbying force, the ABA has tapped a stable of talent from illustrious K Street lobbying firms. While Yingling takes the heat for his members by answering requests for high-profile media interviews, according to the Washingtonian, Yingling is paid a mere $2.1 million per year.

This has to be a proud day for big bank CEOs everywhere. Which is why they've decided to use our tax dollars to throw a party this weekend in Chicago! And that's why thousands of taxpayers have decided to meet them there. We're going to confront the Wall Street executives and tell them to stop using our money to lobby against financial reforms that would protect us.

Will you join us? Demand that the big banks invite taxpayers to their gathering in Chicago.