MOVE YOUR MONEY - punish big banks for their abuse and help make small banks safer

*** note - the links on this post will transfer you away from VFSE - if you right click and open in a new window you can view the links and stay here with me at the same time - im sure there is some way to automate that, but I am clueless at this time


MOVE YOUR MONEY

The one action we have left to us in this time of the largest transfer of wealth to the wealthy in history is the ability to control the money left to you after paying taxes. Our taxes go largely to corporate welfare or to support the military industrial complex, but we still get to handle the money in our own checking accounts – so far.

We have set helplessly by as the corporations cashed in their best investment ever – the congress. Banks created a corrupt system and abused it. When the system began to fail, they yanked their money out of the system as fast as lightning. They demanded that the US taxpayer put his money on the table while the dice were rolling. Wall Street only plays its chips after the wheel stops and the winner called. We socialize the risk and privatize the profit. Hell, that is almost a cliché today and still nothing is done about it. Why – because your congressmen is bought: lock, stock and barrel. No matter how much you deny it the congress serves corporations first, second and last.

I can easily argue that we have no power left to us and nothing will change anything. But having been robbed of some much by a corrupt system, I will be damned if I give up hope. Hope from the hopeless is probably the single biggest affront to fascism – economic or otherwise.

So, we determine to retain hope, now -what do we do with it. This is one thing. Take your money, that which the government has left you and move it. Take it out of the giant – too big to fail – hand in the puppet – lobby wielding – banks. By the strictest definition this would be a list of 6: JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo and the two phony banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. These are the banks that benefited from trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailout then cut loans to the people by over 100 billion, while increasing their spending on lobbying congress and of course their own bonuses.

Open up an account in a smaller local bank and support them, while the government has been bailing out the giant banks it has been closing hundreds of smaller banks that tried to work with the system and for the most part did what banks are supposed to do – help people prosper. If the bought and sold congress will not aid the small banks it is up to we the people to do so. If you want information on local banks there is an excellent website set up by the people who started the Huffington Post MOVE YOUR MONEY campaign. Here is a link to the bank site : http://moveyourmoney.info/find-a-bank

Following are 7 easy steps to make the transfer. I also got this information from the Huffington Post.

1. Open your new account.

In most cases, you should be able open a checking account with an initial deposit of between $25 and $100. At a credit union, you’ll also become a member and co-owner at the same time.

2. Order your new debit/ATM card and checks.

These typically arrive within 1 to 2 weeks. You may also want to apply for a credit card from your new local institution.

3. If you use direct deposit, ask your employer to reroute your paycheck to your new account.

When you open your new account, ask the bank or credit union for a direct deposit authorization form that includes your new account information. Give this form to your employer and anyone else who makes direct deposits to your account. It may take one or more pay cycles for the change to be made, so keep your old checking account open and watch for the switch.

4. Contact companies that direct-debit your account.

Using your last bank statement, make a list of any businesses that you’ve authorized to directly debit your account. Ask your new bank or credit union for an automatic payments authorization form that includes your new account information. Send this to the businesses on your list.

5. Set up online bill paying for your new account.

If you like to pay bills online, set up bill payment information for your new account. Meanwhile, stop any automatic recurring payments you have established through your old account.

6. Close your old account.

Once you have started receiving direct deposits into your new account and are sure that there are no outstanding checks or automatic debits that need to clear, close your old account. Warning: do not just withdraw the last dollar and assume the account will fade away on its own. Your old big bank may start charging you fees for having an empty or inactive checking account. Instead, follow the bank’s procedure for closing out the account.

7. Enjoy your new local banking relationship!


Think about the level of control big money has in our lives. Do we intend to stand idly by? Now review those 7 steps. Do you see anywhere on that list – lose your job? lose all you possess? be arrested? be tortured? put your and your family’s lives at risk? No, these things are not required. Although millions of people HAVE done this and more, struggling and usually failing, to reach the freedoms we have enjoyed in this country. Is it so much to ask?  Can we not at least try?

Sure, your money may not be billions, but it is an action. We have to do something or we continue to signal the corporations and their pet congressmen that we will stand by for anything. We have become as inert and helpless as any peasant ever trod on by an arrogant lord. It is time to show them we can still act and we will act. This action in isolation is a tiny prick. But perhaps, if we act in mass, we can prod the congress into listening to us. At the very least we will have made big banks smaller and small banks more secure. Take the time to act. Act now and spread the word. We will retain hope even in the face of hopelessness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icqrx0OimSs&feature=player_embedded