Subscribe to Dollars & Sense magazine. Recent articles related to the financial crisis. American Casino (GritTV)Interview about a new documentary, on GritTV (also new? I hadn't heard of it) with Laura Flanders (whom I remember fondly from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's radio program, CounterSpin). Flanders also has an interesting post at the Nation's website. Hat-tip to LF for both of these items.While directing a documentary film on Wall Street and the housing bubble, Leslie Cockburn realized that the very subject of her film had become the greatest story of out time. In American Casino Leslie and Andrew Cockburn followed their characters through Wall Street's collapse, the foreclosure crisis, bankruptcy, and homelessness. According to Cockburn, "We watched whole neighborhoods ravaged by the subprime meltdown. I have spent much of my career filming in war zones and post apocalyptic societies—Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan. But I never expected such a disaster at home." Leslie and Andrew Cockburn discuss their new film, American Casino and explain how we all lost. Watch the interview here. Labels: Americans for Fairness in Lending, casino capitalism, Counterspin, Laura Flanders, Wall Street Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). Resources for Action on the BailoutHat-tip to D&S collective member and columnist John Miller for these links.First, long-time D&S author and supporter Jim Campen is now the executive director of Americans for Fairness in Lending. This Boston-based activist group working to reform the lending industry is conducting a campaign to have the Senate include the The Credit Holder's Bill of Rights recently passed by the House approved by the Senate as any part of a bailout bill. You can send a letter to Senator Dodd, Chair of the House Banking Committee in support of this important legislation and read about AFFL's good work at their website. Second, two perennial progressive Congress people, Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders, have proposed thoughtful alternatives to the Paulson-Bush bailout of the financial industry. You can co-sign Bernie Sander's letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson here. You can read more about the Kucinich proposal on his website. Also check out Congressperson Raul Grijalva's Saving Family Homes Act of 2008 (HR 6116), which would would grant homeowners whose mortgages have been foreclosed the right to petition a judge to allow them to remain in the home as renters, and pay a fair market rent. Read more about this progressive proposal here. Finally, even University of Chicago finance professors are taking on Paulson's bailout plan in the name of saving capitalism from the capitalists. See Luigi Zingales's provocative article, "Why Paulson is Wrong" here. Labels: Americans for Fairness in Lending, bailout, Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, financial crisis, Henry Paulson, Jim Campen, Raul Grijalva Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). |
