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This may be the last Stop The Squeeze
newsletter.
The credit and debt crisis demands more
coverage and the kind of news and analysis that we have been trying
to offer, but, frankly, our funding is quickly dissipating. If you
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IN DEBT WE TRUST…Please
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THE STOP THE SQUEEZE XMAS DEBT NEWS LETTER
Compiled by In Debt We Trust Director Danny Schechter, author
of SQEEEZED: America As The Bubble Bursts and director of
In Debt We
Trust
Comments to
Dissector@mediachannel.org
December 24, 2007: Sometimes rituals trump reality. We do what we
are conditioned to do, maybe even programmed to do what is expected
by years of what’s called the socialization of cultural and or
religious values, reinforced, of course, by the power of advertising
and media Maybe that is why some see Christmas shopping as solemn
duty. True, there is a wonderful impulse behind gift-giving and
sharing but holidays that become commercialized pay lip service to
that as a form of manipulation.
Shopping was up this Christmas along with prices and inflation. We
are paying more for less and once our credit card bills come due, we
will, if past years are any guide, end up returning more than we
want to. An article in an English newspaper reported that folks over
there have still not paid off last year’s holiday credit card binge.
So we do things that are not in our interest, including getting
deeper and deeper in debt. But we consumers are not the only ones.
The big banks and financial institutions didn’t think when they got
into the lucrative field of subprime lending that they would be
writing off billions.
None of them thought they would be selling off chunks of their banks
to China or institutions in the Middle East. One sign of the times:
The Economist Magazine put China’s Chairman Mao on its cover, a sign
that they recognize that “gifts” in the form of credit, loans and
investments from China are keeping our economy afloat.
NIP AND TUCK NIPPED
Some industries are being hard hit. The Wall Street Journal ever on
the outlook for the bizarre reported: “The latest sign that growth
in consumer spending, the mainstay of the U.S. economy, is slowing?
A nip and tuck in spending on cosmetic surgery.
The slowdown was a hot topic at the meeting of the American Society
of Plastic Surgeons in Baltimore this fall. One breast-implant maker
sees hints of a slowdown in demand. The number of vision-correction
surgeries appears to be falling as well. "This whole mortgage credit
crisis is making people think twice," said J. Peter Rubin, a
Pittsburgh plastic surgeon. "It's something I've noticed and some
colleagues have noticed as well."
Our media is barely keeping up with the free fall. Many business
programs are more concerned with whether CEO’s who looked the other
way at fraudulent transactions will have to take a fall. They seem
to be more focused on the class action suits now being filed than
explaining the underling theft that led to them.
One day, the Treasury Department makes news by encouraging big banks
to put up money to bail each other out. A week later, we learn that
the banks are about to chip in billions to form M-LEC (Master
Liquidity Enhancement Conduit) And then as more banks take bigger
losses, the Fund is dissolved. At least that’s one acronym we can
forget about.
One person wins a $151.9 million Powerball ticket in Rhode Island
and that is big news. Tens of thousands lose their homes and it’s a
footnote. (On the Sunday before Christmas, the lead story on Page 1
of the New York Times reported that as a result of foreclosures,
taxes are being reassessed and local government revenues are
dropping.) This is certain to lead to cutbacks in schools and
services. The crisis is now on the radar screen of big media.
THE GRAPES OF WRATH REVISITED
Slowly, these stories are getting into the press. They can’t be
ignored. Reuters reported this week:
ONTARIO, California (Reuters) -
Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes
sits "tent city," a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as
might be expected, in a blighted city center, but in the
once-booming suburbia of Southern California.
The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and
now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as
this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing
crisis.
The unraveling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads
like a 21st century version of "The Grapes of Wrath," John
Steinbeck's novel about families driven from their lands by the
Great Depression.
HOMEOWNERS FIGHTING BACK IN
CALIFORNIA
So far, Hank Paulson has yet to pay a call. But last week I got a
call from an impressive grass roots initiative by homeowners South
of La who have set up the American Homeowners Resource Center with
an amazing website with affiliates in many states, all operated by
volunteers -
Check this out.
Elizabeth who edits this amazing website is empowering people to
speak out and tell their stories. It is directed at homeowners It
offers news, resources, lists, action proposals, ways to reach
legislators etc and a forum of complaints and stories by homeowners.
They are battling against foreclosures and Home Owner associations
that have corporatized housing developments and often operate in
corrupt ways and in collusion with the courts and self-interested
lawyers and judges in stealing people’s homes.This is a scandal
within this larger housing crisis that I am just learning about.
They have a l4.000 person mailing list and lots of passion. Please
sign up for their newsletter too.
PEOPLE IN THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY ARE SPEAKING OUT
California’s Michael Blomquist who worked in real estate lost a
fortune because of fraudulent practices. He’s fighting back with a
law suit and
informative website.
JESSE IS CONTINUING HIS FIGHT
Fresh from his march on Wall Street, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.,
founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition is following up
. He is is calling on Congressional leaders and other elected
officials to convene with him at the 11th Annual Wall Street Project
Conference – to be held Jan. 6-9, 2008, at the Sheraton New York
Hotel & Towers, 811 Seventh Avenue (at 53rd Street) in New York City
-- to tackle the financial crisis that could send America spiraling
into a devastating depression.
On Jan. 5th, the organization will host a special broadcast of its
weekly Saturday Morning Forum, live from Trinity Church 74 Trinity
Place at Broadway near Wall Street.
THE BANKS THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS
Local groups are also staging protests. An organization called
CHANGER, based in East New York, Brooklyn is protesting the
Washington Mutual Bank on Christmas Eve as part of a campaign called
“The BANKS THAT STOLE X-MAS DO SOMETHING: KEEP YOUR HOME campaign
kick off
Rally at WAMU on 13st and Broadway in Manhattan.
Monday December 24th , Christmas Eve, 11AM.
“For one hour on X-MAS eve families caught up in the sub-prime
predatory lending foreclosure mess will be rallying, carolling,
giving out candy canes and myth sheets in front of Washington
Mutual. CHANGER homeowner members will make statements to the press
about what is going on and presenting their analysis of the crisis.”
RICH GETTING RICHER
Not everyone is hurting. Goldman Sachs paid out $12.1 BILLION in
bonuses to its key people. The Wall Street Journal reports that for
the rich, times have never been better. They are making more than
ever. However:
Despite the "bigger is better"
mentality for the super-rich in 2007, analysts are predicting
the wealthy will downsize in the New Year. … growing concerns
about inequality and the environment, coupled with the fallout
from the debt-market crisis, will create a year of moderation
for the super-rich in 2008... they have more of a financial
cushion than average consumers, and receive the majority of the
nation's wealth and income growth.
Part of the expected "downsizing"
effect will likely motivate the super-rich to live in
green-friendly eco-mansions with drought-averse gardens. And
they'll still fly private jets, but they'll run them on new
"green" programs. Other trends expected to catch on after Jan. 1
include a slowdown in the prices for art, wine, vintage cars and
other collectibles, in addition to more millionaires seeking out
unusual experiences instead of Gucci bags and Bentleys.
IMPORTANT READ: THE CREDIT-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
BOSTON GLOBE: AMERICA’S ECONOMIC PERFECT STORM
THE BIG PICTURE
And folks, the economy doesn’t seem to be doing so well. AP reports:
“Economic growth in October through December is expected to have
slowed to a pace of just 1.5 percent or less. Gross domestic product
measures the value of all goods and services produced within the
United States.
“The economy is slowing down so fast this quarter you can see the
skid marks as it slams on the brakes,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief
economist at PNC Financial Services Group.”
For my part, I have chosen what to many may seem a lost cause,
fighting for truth as I understand it, up against the devolution of
our media and the slow-motion collapse of our economy. I see myself
ringing alarm bells in the night, using what limited communication
skills I have to push, often against the tide, and the conventional
wisdom concerns that still only move a relatively small number of
progressives to act. I made the
IN DEBT WE TRUST, write
this newsletter, a daily blog and a
new
e-book.
Writing on Mediachannel.org last March I called on my “colleagues”
in the worlds of alternative/independent media, progressive
movements and the blogs to broaden our focus to showcase economic
issues. Perhaps now, nine months later, and with billions, make that
trillions, of dollars vanishing down various rat holes thanks to the
financial crisis, and with the economy said to be the central
concern of voters, there will be a shift.
We are not alone. When the people wake up, this crisis will erupt
into our political system. It can unite folks across all the lines:
partisan, ethnic, generational etc. Economic fairness is at the
heart of the American life. Why do you think so many TV stations
play It’s A Wonderful Life at Christmas time. It’s about the ongoing
battle between greed and fairness with banker George Bailey refusing
to foreclose on people’s home.
We are living a new chapter of an old story---but surviving it may
not be as easy as watching a movie classic on TV.
Comments to
Dissector@mediachannel.org
Danny Schechter
Editor
Mediachannel.org
Director IN DEBT WE TRUST
InDebtWeTrust.com
212 246-0202x3006 |
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