Occupy Chattanooga

Unless you have millions to lobby, you don’t have a voice.

Millions live without health insurance.

Hundreds of thousands face foreclosure and thousands more are homeless.

Wages haven’t increased in well over 3 decades and there is no hope for the unemployed.

Student loan debt is steadily rising.

Millions of Americans aren’t being afforded their constitutional rights.

Any ideas why?

In 2008, the year the crisis began, big banks handed out bailout funds as bonuses:

• Goldman Sachs, which earned $2.3 billion and received $10 billion in TARP funding, paid out $4.8 billion in bonuses in 2008 - more than double their net income.

• Morgan Stanley, which earned $1.7 billion and received $10 billion in bailout funds, handed out $4.475 billion in bonuses, nearly three times their net income.

• JPMorgan Chase, which earned $5.6 billion in 2008 and received $25 billion from the government, paid out $8.69 billion in bonus money.

• Citigroup and Merrill Lynch lost a combined $54 billion. They received a total of $55 billion in bailouts and paid out $9 billion in combined bonuses. ($5.33 billion for Citigroup; $3.6 billion for Merrill Lynch, which was subsequently acquired by Bank of America.)

Democracy is not a spectator sport! Voting once every 2 or 4 years is the least you can do to have a say in society.

Take responsibility to make a better world every day! Get involved in your local democracy, take action to manifest the change that you need!

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” ~ Frederick Douglass