Craig Barnes, former Denver resident, where he was a civil rights attorney and U.S. Congressional candidate, is the founder of the Santa Fe, New Mexico political action organization We Are People Here!, which is concerned with the domination of our democracy by the wealthy elite. It is the parent organization of the public banking advocacy organization, Banking on New Mexico. In this article Mr. Barnes describes the toxic link between banking and our ‘democratic’ government.

From the New Mexico Mercury:

Bringing Democracy to Banking

September 15, 2014

By Craig Barnes


Inequality has returned to the United States. Americans are now faced, not only with huge disadvantages in economic competition; politically, we are faced with the rise of a new ruling class. This year’s elections will feature cascades of money from billionaires, dwarfing the contributions of individuals for whom politics used to be, but no longer is, a way to seek revival.

This coagulation of riches that now threatens to clog the politics of the country has rendered our national Congress inert.  The global banking system that used to provide financing for local business, for construction, for advances in health, education and welfare, has turned its attention to the Wall Street derivatives market; turned away from local requirements to prefer instead the global casinos of algorithmic chance. Community banks, locally owned banks, banks that had a direct relationship to the communities that they served, are becoming an endangered species while the big five banks no longer know the names of the families or businesses, the borrowers that they have packaged together in Collateralized Debt Obligations. To keep this whole scheme going, the financial industry, alone, has descended upon Washington DC with over 12,000 lobbyists. Any head-on assault by activists and concerned citizens, any resistance, runs into this overwhelming financial industry defense.

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