NYC: Why We Are Protesting This Auction of Foreclosed Homes Today - Why We & Thousands More Will Be Marching on Wall Street on Friday,April 3
Statement from the Bail Out the People Movement
The foreclosed homes auction today [March 8, 2009] at the Jacob Javits Convention Center is an
insult to the millions who have lost their homes and jobs in what is know the
biggest economic crises since the depression of the 1930s.
Today’s auction is a symptom of a criminal mass eviction campaign by the
very banks that have received trillions of dollars in bail out funds.
The real story today is not all of the fanfare, noise and bidding inside the
Javits Convention Center. The story - or the question that should be
asked - is what has become of the hundreds of families who were evicted from
all these homes that are being auctioned off today? Are they being bailed
out like AIG and Citicorp? The answer to that question is no.
We are not here to protest ordinary people desperate for an affordable home who
may have come to today’s auction. Though we want to point out to all who
have come, especially those who are not wealthy, that if you lose your job - a
very real prospect today - it may be your home that is being auctioned off the
next time.
We are here to protest against the organizer of the auction, the Real Estate
Disposition Corporation (REDC), an outfit with the ignominious reputation of
being the largest private foreclosed homes auctioneer in the world.
The REDC couldn’t be happier that millions of families are being evicted
because they are getting rich off of it- last year they made record profits of
$3 billion, and they’re excited by the prospect of making more money as
the suffering spreads. Rick Weinberg, a spokesperson for the Real Estate
Disposition Corporation told Crain’s New York Business, “In the
past, there weren’t enough foreclosed New York homes to hold an auction.
This year I suspect that there will be a second and third auction in the
city.”
On Friday April 3, thousands of people will march on Wall Street in a national
protest sponsored by the Bail out the People Movement, a coalition of community
and labor groups and activists. This protest will continue on to
Saturday, April 4.
The theme of the April 3 March on Wall St. is “Bail out People, Not
Banks,” and one of the central demands of the march is for the government
to declare an immediate national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.
The measures to stop foreclosures that the Government announced this week are
not sufficient. At best they will rescue a fraction of the millions who face
losing their homes. As the numbers of job layoffs swell, the number of
homes in or near foreclosure will skyrocket as well. The time for half measures
has long past. An immediate national mandatory moratorium must be a critical
part of any plan to end foreclosures.
People must not, and will not accept the logic that banks are to big to fail,
but it’s alright to throw millions out onto the streets.
Another demand of the April 3 March on Wall Street will be for a real,
comprehensive jobs program similar to the program established by the Works
Project Administration of the 1930s. The devastating unemployment figures made
public on Friday should make it clear that such a program must be put in place
at once.
One of the reasons that the Bailout the Peoples Movement picked April 3 for the
march on Wall Street is because that weekend marks the anniversary of the
slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King spent the last year of his life
trying to ignite a new social movement to fight for the right of everyone to
either a job or an income. What better time than now could there be for
reviving that part of Dr. King’s Dream
Among the other demands that will be promoted by the march on Wall Street is
the immediate passage and Enactment of the Employees Free Choice Act (EFCA)
that is now before Congress. Working people will not have any chance of
defending themselves against the corporate war being waged against them, a war
made worse by the economic crisis, unless the vast anti-union efforts waged by
Wall St., and supported by previous administrations is checked. Enactment of
the EFCA is a vital step towards ending the war on labor.
The crisis is growing every day, and so is outrage over the government handing
over trillions of dollars to Wall Street while ignoring the unprecedented
crisis facing working people. This righteous anger is fueling the growing
momentum for the National March on Wall Street; there are now nearly 60
organizing centers already formed across the country, and more signing on every
day.
Bail Out the People Movement
Solidarity Center
55 W. 17th St. #5C
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646
www.BailOutPeople.org
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