Occupy Lexington Press Conference
Commonwealth Treasury - Invest in Kentucky
November, 5th 2011
Thank you all for coming. Occupy Lexington makes decisions by consensus in
General Assembly meetings which are held daily. The General Assembly is
open to the public and encourages everyone to participate in direct consensus
democracy. A motion passes the General Assembly by unanimous consent of
those present, in the absence of unanimous consent a motion passes by a 9/10’s
majority. This ensures that all voices are heard and all viewpoints and concerns
are heeded. Consensus democracy can move slowly and it can be tedious but it
is a most inclusive and comprehensive method of decision making.
With that being said, the General Assembly of Occupy Lexington has empowered
me to make the following statement.
Occupy Lexington is a group of individuals who gathered at this very spot on
September 29th 2011 to stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. We were
among the first satellite occupations of a movement which now represents over
1,300 cities and towns across the United States and across the world. We
gathered here at noon, September 29th, 38 days ago, and we have not left.
We are here to protest the disproportionate power of large corporations over our
local, state and federal governments. By pouring money into the political system
large corporations and wealthy individuals are able to speak to those in power
with a louder voice than those in the middle class and the poor. None of us on
this corner can afford to hire a lobbyist, but we can afford markers and signs and
we came here with the hope that by banding together, we could raise our voices
loud enough to compete with the voices of the 1% of Americans who view
government as a commodity to be bought, not a sacred space in which all have
an equal voice in petitioning their leaders.
Today we are announcing our first official call to action.
In July of 2011 the Commonwealth of Kentucky moved its bank accounts to JP
Morgan Chase, a financial institution whose reckless and unethical business
practices helped create the conditions in which the 2008 financial collapse
occurred. While claiming “too big to fail” status in order to leverage federal
bailout funds JP Morgan Chase acquired Washington Mutual. By acquiring the
6th largest bank in the U.S. JP Morgan Chase became a vastly larger financial
institution that dwarfed even its previous “too big to fail” status.
Most Americans realize that if an institution is “too big to fail” it’s just too big.
Furthermore, if the institution recognizes in one statement that its concentration
of market share in the financial industry is a liability to the general public, all the
while making preparations to aggressively increase its market share by acquiring
another large bank; it is reasonable to conclude that such an institution is no
friend to the general public.
JP Morgan Chase was a major player in the subprime loan scandal, issuing 30
billion dollars in subprime loans1. The bank agreed to pay a 153.6 million dollar
settlement earlier this year to end an investigation by the Securities and
Exchange Commission into a scandal involving collateralized debt obligations, or
CDO’s2, another complex financial instrument that helped bring down the
economy in 2008.
JP Morgan Chase behaved in a ruthless and predatory manner and when the
house of cards finally toppled, JP Morgan Chase, along with a handful of other
huge and equally unethical financial institutions, brought down the global
economy in a matter of weeks.
In the aftermath, JP Morgan Chase has shown no remorse whatsoever for their
role in the financial collapse or the mass layoffs and recession which followed.
After taking bailout funds in the amount of 25 billion dollars in order to remain
1
Center for Public Integrity -
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/economic_meltdown/the_subprime_25/full_list
2
Bloomberg news - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-21/jpmorgan-to-pay-153-6-million-to-settle-
sec-allegations-over-housing-cdos.html
solvent, JP Morgan Chase continued to pay enormous bonuses to top executives
and fought financial reform that would have put an end to the risky and unethical
behavior that caused the financial collapse in the first place. They did not
increase the availability of credit in any substantial way, one of the key goals of
issuing the bailout funds.
JP Morgan Chase is not a financial institution that represents the values of
Kentuckians, nor is it an institution that can be trusted.
Therefore, we the General Assembly of Occupy Lexington call on Treasurer
Todd Hollenbach to remove every last cent of taxpayer money from JP Morgan
Chase, and reinvest those funds in a financial institution which is headquartered
in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The value of the Commonwealth’s General Fund in 2011 was 8.76 billion
dollars3. Such an account would provide a major boost to a Kentucky financial
institution, creating jobs right here in Kentucky, right now, in a high paying sector
of the economy. The idle funds in the Commonwealth’s account would be used
for lending by the institution and would represent a major boost in the availability
of credit and investment in Kentucky.
This is a common sense proposal. There is no reason the taxpayer’s money
should be invested out of state, and especially with an institution like JP Morgan
Chase, which has demonstrated time and time again that, if given the opportunity
to make a profit at the expense of the general public, it will lie, cheat and it will
not hesitate. With this is mind there is no reason JP Morgan Chase should not
have access to our public funds.
Occupy Lexington, along with the occupations of (list Kentucky cities
participating) are announcing a call to action to our state representatives and
specifically the Kentucky State Treasurer to immediately begin preparations to
3
Business First - http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2011/07/12/2011-general-fund-receipts-up-
65.html?page=all
move the Commonwealth’s funds out of JP Morgan Chase and into a financial
institution headquartered in Kentucky.
This is a chance for Todd Hallenbach, or his successor, to invest in banks here,
and to create jobs here, during this period of difficulty for so many of our fellow
Kentuckians.