• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

99% Spring Movement Comes to Modesto

April 29, 2012 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

One of 99% in Modesto

Saturday, April 28, a plucky band of Valley citizens participated in the “Love Modesto” event by protesting the injustice which enabled big bank executives to haul down millions of dollars in bonuses while their policies punished working people throughout the nation. The demonstrators assembled along the curb in front of the McHenry Avenue Bank of America, eliciting sporadic honks of support from a constant stream of passing cars.

A local offshoot of the national, “99% Spring” action group, members waved signs that read, “Too Big to Fail,” and, “Move Your Money.” They were hoping that big bank customers would move their money into smaller banks and credit unions to signal their disapproval of policies that brought the nation to the brink of financial failure.

Spokesman Dan Onorato, a retired Modesto Junior College English Professor, said, “In my block alone, three families have lost or are about to lose their homes. We’re near ground zero for the foreclosure crisis and we’re hoping that protests will encourage the big banks to change their policies.”

While the Modesto demonstrators included between fifteen and twenty participants, nationwide the “99% Spring” coalition claims 100,000 members, including luminaries like Teamsters Union President James Hoffa, United Auto Workers President Bob King, and Mary Kay Henry of Service Employees International.

A statement composed by Onorato and fellow protestor John Lucas read in part:

Our “Love Modesto” action arises out of compassion, an integral part of any genuine love—compassion for all those in our community who because of the banks’ callous pursuit of profit lost part of their life savings or struggle with foreclosure and related financial worries.

Demonstrator Michael Abbott claimed that Bank of America is involved in over 760 local lawsuits, most of them involving foreclosure actions.

If nothing else, the willingness of Modesto’s determined band of “99% Spring” members to protest the banking scandal should prompt Valley citizens to reflect on our “ground zero” foreclosure status. We routinely send anti-government and anti-regulation politicians to our state and national capitols, and then complain that we’re neglected by government. Even free market guru Alan Greenspan has admitted that the banking crisis was in large part due to deregulation, yet most of our local politicians continue to campaign against government in general and especially against government oversight.

Northern San Joaquin Valley citizens routinely volunteer, donate, and give to any number of charities and community benefits. Their outpourings of generosity aren’t limited to “Love Modesto” occasions; they are year round events. Nonetheless, our status as the “Appalachia of the West” should remind us that some problems are too big even for generous hearts.

“Our government’s been bought by big money,” said Dan Onorato last Saturday.

He and his fellow demonstrators are trying to remind us that government should be by and for the people. It’s a lesson that shouldn’t have to be relearned.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: 99% Spring Modesto, Occupy Modesto

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robert Stanford says

    May 2, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    Brave citizens acting from a place of sincere compassion.

    Bringing hope to those of us that struggle to survive every day.

    Thank you Occupy Modesto!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Oath Keepers leader Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy
Oath Keepers leader Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes faces a prison sentence up to 25 years in the first punishments for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
www.washingtonpost.com
Opinion | America?s Poverty Is Built by Design
Opinion | America’s Poverty Is Built by Design
How did the U.S. become a land of economic extremes with the rich getting richer while the working poor grind it out? Deliberately.
www.politico.com
Republican Jewish Coalition Blasts Gosar Over Staffer's Ties To White Supremacist: Fuentes Has 'No Place' In Congress
Republican Jewish Coalition Blasts Gosar Over Staffer’s Ties To White Supremacist: Fuentes Has ‘No Place’ In Congress
The Republican Jewish Coalition slammed Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) following a  TPM…
talkingpointsmemo.com
Newsom restores floodplain funds, adds $290 million to flood control budget
Newsom restores floodplain funds, adds $290 million to flood control budget
After widespread, bipartisan criticism, the governor revised his budget to include $40 million to restore San Joaquin Valley floodplains.
calmatters.org
New Study Finds a High Minimum Wages Creates Jobs
New Study Finds a High Minimum Wages Creates Jobs
Conventional wisdom had long suggested the opposite.
nymag.com
Spiraling in San Francisco?s Doom Loop
Spiraling in San Francisco’s Doom Loop
What it’s like to live in a city that no longer believes its problems can be fixed.
www.curbed.com
San Diego to open homeless camp sites at two parking lots near Balboa Park
San Diego to open homeless camp sites at two parking lots near Balboa Park
The two lots could accommodate about 500 tents and would be an alternative to congregate shelters
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
K-12 enrollment: Does the increase in homeless students indicate a worsening trend?
K-12 enrollment: Does the increase in homeless students indicate a worsening trend?
California’s overall K-12 enrollment declined, but a lack of affordable housing may be fueling an increase in homeless students.
calmatters.org
Sugar Justice: The Clarence Thomas Story
Sugar Justice: The Clarence Thomas Story
Did you see the latest Clarence Thomas bombshell? To head off any…
talkingpointsmemo.com
California's colossal snowpack has yet to melt: 'Less and less places for that water to go'
California’s colossal snowpack has yet to melt: ‘Less and less places for that water to go’
Only about 12 inches of Caliornia’s snow water equivalent melted in April, leaving most of the Sierra Nevada snowpack poised to flow down downhill.
www.latimes.com
The fastest-growing homeless population? Seniors
The fastest-growing homeless population? Seniors
Included in the increasing number of homeless seniors are those experiencing homelessness for the first time after age 50.
calmatters.org
Perspective | The greatest bird artist you?ve never heard of
Perspective | The greatest bird artist you’ve never heard of
Rex Brasher painted more birds than Audubon, and he never owned slaves.
www.washingtonpost.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design