Earlier this week the Occupy movement expanded its actions to occupying foreclosed homes. Joining us to discuss are Alfredo Carrasquillo, a homeless father and Occupy Our Homes participant, as well as Republican presidential candidate Buddy Roemer, NAACP President & CEO Ben Jealous, Host of WABI's "Wakeup Call" Esther Armah, and Latino Decisions' Victoria DeFrancesco Soto.
-Brett Brownell (@brettbrownell) is video and web producer for Up with Chris Hayes.
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Over the past decade, Americans watched in bafflement and rage as one institution after another – from Wall Street to Congress, the Catholic Church to corporate America, even Major League Baseball – imploded under the weight of corruption and incompetence. In the wake of the Fail Decade, Americans have historically low levels of trust in their institutions; the social contract between ordinary citizens and elites lies in tatters.
How did we get here? With "Twilight of the Elites," Christopher Hayes offers a radically novel answer. Since the 1960s, as the meritocracy elevated a more diverse group of men and women into power, they learned to embrace the accelerating inequality that had placed them near the very top. Their ascension heightened social distance and spawned a new American elite--one more prone to failure and corruption than any that came before it.
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Buddy Roemer blamed repeal of Glass-Steagel on President Clinton. A cursory web search (like wiki) shows that the repubs (Gramm, Leach) proposed it, and the republican majority pushed it through.
Maybe if Chris Hayes had descended balls, and a bit of intelligence, he would have challenged Roamer's claim.
If I had decent healthcare, maybe I could get a prescription for a strong enough anti-depressant so that I wouldn't vomit when watching american political stupidity.
Platform plank:
Bring foreclosures to a dead stop:
--Add full power to impose modification of mortgages on a primary residence to the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction ; support the 2009 Dick Durbin Amendment to allow use of Bankruptcy to protect consumers in foreclosure
--Phase in allowing REO rentals; expand the FHFA "deed for lease" program and implement a lease-to-own program
--Allow, encourage, require all foreclosing lenders to negotiate a post-foreclosure continuing tenancy agreement for homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure.
--Allow, encourage, require foreclosing lenders to extend to persons losing their home in foreclosure first right of refusal on any subsequent sale of that home
--Develop and fund an FHA-like program for home purchases by persons who have suffered foreclosures or short sales because of failures to bargain in good faith by lenders such as Bank of America
--Exclude home mortgage foreclosures from FICO scores, credit reports, and mortgage aps
--Mike Barkley, Democrat, Candidate for Congress new CA-10 District
Alfredo Carrasquillo was a wonderful spokesman for Occupy Our Homes! His personal experience and views provided the context for fuller understanding of these critical issues. Thank you for introducing him!