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FAIRFIELD, Conn. This time the protesters wrath was directed at President Barack Obama as well as the big banks.
A rally by members of MoveOn.Org drew nearly 40 people from across Fairfield County out into the blustery cold late Thursday afternoon at a Fairfield branch of the Bank of America. The rally at the Post Road branch was part of a nationwide protest demanding that the president hold banks accountable for the countrys foreclosure crisis.
The rally, part of a national day of action dubbed Yes He Can, included protests across the country at Obama for America campaign offices and some of the largest banks in the U.S. The Fairfield protest was among four in Connecticut. Others were held in Bridgeport, New Haven and Danbury.
As protestors lined up with placards with such sayings as Leave Business to the Corporations, Leave Government to the People, and No Deal for Wall Street, Justice Now, motorists honked horns in support and pedestrians stopped to join the demonstration.
Corporations and banks arent people! yelled one motorist.
Bank of America is among the most reprehensible financial institutions that has been let off the hook by the president after being bailed out by the government, said Neil Winikoff of New Canaan, carrying a sign, President Obama, Investigate Banks Now.
Winikoff, 56, who worked more than 30 years as an engineer at General Electrics NBC 30 Rock headquarters in Manhattan, said while hes receiving benefits from pension and 401(k) plans, hes upset employees now being hired wont be getting the same benefits.
These corporations dont care about their employees. They only care about their boards of directors, said Winikoff. I fear the corporations and banks are wiping out the middle class.
So does 70-year-old Linda DeLeon, a former Realtor who said she joined the Thursday protest because she watched lending institutions such as Bank of America force people out of their homes all the time."
I was horrified by some of the things I saw happen, how banks like this one took peoples homes in fraudulent bank practices, said DeLeon. We need to investigate the banks and how they really do their dirty work.
DeLeon said she braved the bitter cold Thursday because its time for people from the 1960s to hit the streets again.
Kate Tepper of Norwalk, chairwoman of the Fairfield County chapter of Democracy For America, said, The banks are a symbol of corporate greed, corruption and power, and they need to be investigated.
Former Democratic Norwalk Mayor Bill Collins, who served as that citys top elected official from 1977 to 1987, held up a sign saying We Did Not Elect Corporations." He said he took part in the protest because he feels let down by the president and his party.
The mortgage crisis is a big part of the countrys financial mess, and the fraudulent actions by big banks is a big part of that, said Collins. I hoped President Obama would have done something to investigate the banks, but now I doubt it will happen.
Mary Curley of Stamford, who has marched in Occupy Wall Street protests, said she drove up to Fairfield to join the rally because she believes there must be a probe of the big banks.
The banks have got to be held accountable for their part in the economic disaster, said Curley, who came to America 12 years ago from her native Ireland. She almost left in 2010 when her husband lost his job and they had to fight for COBRA health insurance.
Its obscene that in the wealthiest country in the world you have to worry about losing your health insurance when you lose your job, said Curley. I almost had to go back to Ireland just so we would have health insurance.
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