Casinos in Davis?

To set this story up, let’s just begin with a casino. (Yes, we have several bank casinos in Davis). Would you go to a casino with your complete bank account and let the dice roll?

Probably not. Yet, that is what most multinational banks did with our money. They invested in credit default swaps, created obscure high-risk financial instruments out of thin air and provided mortgage loans without credit checks and are now paying their leaders multimillion dollar salaries.

Is your money on the fast track out of town?

Wall Street Watch reports that Wall Street and the banks have more then 3,000 registered lobbyists. Over the last 10 years, nearly 2 billion dollars have been contributed to our elected officials. The banks got what they bought. Freedom to gamble our money.

Then, the bail out. The dust is settling but the gambling addiction is hard to break. Banks have been very reluctant to help the very communities they serve. They love to hold your dollars but it appears they do not like to get involved with the smaller business loans. According to Sen. Carl Levin of MI,  “the drop in small business lending is responsible for the state’s dismal unemployment rate” small business loans are down 70% over 2 years ago.”

I recently switched from a national bank to a local bank.  That is one way we can vote with our money. It was kind of refreshing that this bank’s call center for online banking was located in Dixon. (I could have biked there). Now I am no longer being nickeled and dimed to death (the service fees have disappeared). There is a movement going on that encourages folks to keep your money local. You can check out www.moveyourmoney.info. They even have a spot to plug in your zip code and out pops all the local banks with a B rating or higher. According to Forbes (March, 2010), “Move Your Money is making waves, in a recent Zogby poll, nine percent of U.S. adults have moved at least some of their money in protest to the big banks.”

Tired of dealing with the big boys credit cards? Check out a local credit union. Their rates are typically a third to a half of what “your friends” on wall street charge.

I am not saying all big multinational banks are bad. But like many of you, I like to shop local, eat local and play local, why not bank local? Now, when I read about the thousands of banking lobbyists and multimillion dollar salaries I know my pennies aren’t contributing to their destructive gambling habit.