Thousands of Americans facing foreclosure, unemployed men and women, and union members struggling for survival in the worst recession since the Great Depression will hold three days of demonstrations outside the American Bankers Association annual meeting 

     CHICAGO--The Service Employees Illinois Council, National People’s Action, Action Now, AFL-CIO and more than a dozen community organizations from around the nation will demonstrate outside the American Bankers Association annual convention in Chicago, beginning on Oct. 25th. 
     “These are the bankers who brought the economy to the brink of collapse and brought the nation this ugly economic recession,” said Tom Balanoff, President of the SEIU Illinois Council.     
     “This protest is about telling the banks they must help get this economy going again—rather than prolonging this recession—and to stop lobbying against reforms in Washington, D.C. that would promote an economic recovery for everyone,” Balanoff added.
     The American Bankers Association convention will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, 301 W. North Water Street, Chicago. It will be the largest gathering of bankers in the nation and its members represent over 95 percent of the industry’s $13.3 trillion in assets.
     George Goehl, executive director of Chicago-based National People’s Action, said community organizations from around the nation will participate in the ABA action. “A few months ago, American taxpayers bailed out the banks. Now, the banks are back to their old ways of making money on the backs of consumers.”
     Goehl and Balanoff said they believe the demonstrations will include more than 5,000 participants and will include those suffering the most in this economic recession, including families who have lost their homes to foreclosure.
     Why are the banks the focus of this anger?
     The bank-induced economic crisis has cost Americans trillions of dollars already, on top of the trillions more we have committed through the bailouts.

• American families lost $11 trillion in wealth in 2008, nearly 18% of their net worth.
• Americans have lost $6.1 trillion in homeowner wealth since June 2006.
• Banks have generally refused to modify mortgages to help prevent foreclosures because it is more profitable for them to collect fees as a family loses its home than it is to save the home.
• Over 5.7 million Americans have lost their jobs since last October, and the national unemployment rate is at its highest in 26 years.
• Personal bankruptcies are soaring, and are expected to reach levels not seen since a 2005 law made it more difficult to file bankruptcy.
• Between October 2007 and December 2008, the top 1,000 US pension funds lost $1.75 trillion, or 23.3% of their value, the worst losses in 30 years.
• Declining property values and personal income have taken their tolls on state and local budgets, leading to cuts in essential services like public health programs, childhood education, and programs for the elderly and disabled. 

     Taxpayers have committed $4.7 trillion to the financial sector over the last year, only $700 billion of which was through TARP.
     Even banks like Goldman Sachs that returned their TARP funds earlier this year continue to benefit from other bailout programs, such as the $12.9 billion that Goldman received as an AIG counterparty that it will never have to pay back.
     Once all crisis-related programs are factored in, taxpayers could be on the hook for a grand total of up to $17.8 trillion for this economic rescue.