Resolution:
Shut Down the Street, Mayday 2010
Whereas the trillion dollar Wall Street bailouts underwritten by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve constitute a massive theft, channeling funds from increasingly burdened taxpayers into the pockets of banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies directly responsible for the financial crisis
and
Whereas these bailouts have been condemned not only by the left but by the right wing participants in the Washington "tea party" demonstrations as well as by moderates such as investor Warren Buffet, tonight show host Jay Leno, Senators Byron Dorgan and Richard Shelby
and
Whereas numerous mainstream economists including Nobel laureates Joseph Stieglitz, James Heckman, Robert Lucas and Vernon Smith have raised serious doubts as to the fairness and the effectiveness of the bailouts
and
Whereas executives of those firms implicated in numerous forms of financial malfeasance have used bailout funds to reward themselves and other high level employees through massive bonuses, so-called "golden parachutes", and lavish compensation packages
and
Whereas under the influence of Wall Street, health care reform has been cynically transformed into a further bailout of the insurance industry through the imposition of taxpayer subsidized purchasing of junk insurance policies and individual mandates
and
Whereas under the influence of the retail and manufacturing sectors and the lobbyists representing them, as well as that of Wall Street friendly cabinet appointees such as Lawrence Summers, the administration has failed to move on the Employee Free Choice Act, thereby insuring that organized labor will continue its descent into irrelevance and real wages for most americans will continue to stagnate or decline
and
Whereas under the influence of Wall Street and massive campaign donations from the coal and petroleum industries the Obama administration has failed to move forward with legislation to address catastrophic climate change
and
Whereas bloated military budgets and the 3 trillion investment in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan function at least in part as a taxpayer subsidy to publicly traded corporations and their shareholders, funds which could and should be used to address a corroding infrastructure, public health and education and to develop all available forms of renewable energy
and
Whereas, in the words of Sen. Richard Durbin following the failure of cramdown legislation, congressional regulation of the financial industries has become impossible because "bankers own the place"
and
Whereas even the most apolitical citizens have become painfully aware that the root cause of their declining standard of living and future prospects is systemically rooted in the free market ideology, the criticism of which has been regarded as a secular heresy for least two generations
and
Whereas former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in congressional testimony, has admitted to a "fundamental flaw" in his market oriented world view, one which has resulted in incalculable suffering and the likelihood of complete environmental collapse in the near future
and
Whereas Michael Moore's film Capitalism: A Love Story which explicitly calls for the abolition of the capitalist system has been warmly received including by normally hostile organs such as the New York Times and the Associated Press
and
Whereas May 1 is the traditional day to celebrate the contributions of workers and to recognize alternatives to an economic system based on unsustainable growth, profit, exploitation, and greed
Therefore be it resolved that International Workers day on May 1, 2010 will be celebrated with a massive protest on Wall Street
and
Be it further resolved that the undersigned individuals are committed to devoting significant attention to the Mayday Wall Street protest in the months and weeks prior to the action.
and
Be it further resolved that the undersigned organizations will commit themselves to organizing their membership for participation in the rally.