I do not see calls for a general strike working but what about a mortgage strike

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

what do you think ?

Even if is was a last and final reason, to stop paying that loan on that house, that is worth less the what is owed on it.
It would hit the big banks where it hurts and they can't foreclose on every house without hiring people.

[Sherman A1]

1. Okay

You go first.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

3. okay, I will

after all it's not like after defaulting on a house 3 years ago, my credit could get any worse.

[Sherman A1]

13. Well, my home is nearing pay off

so I should risk it for your plan?

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

14. oh hell no

there is sufficent of us under water, that if we did it as a coodinated effert that we wold not expect you to do more then a late payment

[coti]

2. Mmm...why not do the general strike instead of that.

And instead of just being negative and whatnot to demoralize others.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

4. oh i do not see myself as being negative

it's more like too many people can get fired for a general strike.
but i am just offering alternatives

[coti]

5. You're talking about people not losing their jobs, but defaulting on their mortgages

via a classically unrecognizable strategy for making a show of power.

You're talking about people losing their homes, not just their (at the moment) income. That is MUCH crazier than following through on a general, or even wildcat, strike.

And it's not aimed to make the correct point.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

6. well i am looking at it from my perspective

the banks and wall street are the issue.
i can not risk my job, but a building not worth what is owed. loosing it is not really an issue.
it also allows for a "oh shit should not have done that" escape by means a paying up at the last moment.

[coti]

7. It's way too risky, untested, unfocused, will not be directly understood/pieced together,

renters can't participate, and doesn't fall under the powers of unions. It doesn't address anything negotiable re labor.


I can see going into foreclosure in protest, even with others in similar "underwater" situations, but that's a separate issue from what is being dealt with now. Wouldn't be bad to coordinate it for those who could do it, but we should be supporting whatever strikes are put in place right now.

I think what most irked me about your post was the pessimism about striking possibilities, which are the most effective response.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

8. just looking for a way to lower the risk

and i did ask want do you think so ...,
i do not want to be taking constructive criticism poorly.
but the powerful do watch Blomberg, and they on the second week of the month do report mortgages behind.

[Sherman A1]

12. Precisely

I want to go after them as bad as anyone, but I don't think either a general strike or mortgage strike do much beyond risking jobs & homes. Now, boycotting the product lines of the Koch Brothers like Georgia Pacific, might not be such a bad place to start, but everything has it's down side.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

15. all ready do that

[TBF]

20. Good try.

You can report back that you have pushed people too far and yes they are going to strike. Should've been in the streets long ago.

[socialist_n_TN]

22. Why not do both?...............

I toyed with the idea of a mortgage strike on here several months ago. There would be several categories of folks who SHOULDN'T participate in a mortgage strike, but as the OP said, there are LOTS of homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages and who's credit sux anyway who whouldn't be damaged much more for doing it.

You could also just delay your payment for 3 weeks. Until it's a full 30 days behind, it's not considered late by the credit bureaus.

People who are almost paid off on their homes shouldn't do this. People who are planning to do ANY mortgage business (refi or buy) within the next year shouldn't do this. People with more than 20% equity PROBABLY shouldn't do this. In all those cases it would make financial sense for the lienholder to institute foreclosure procedures.

Otherwise coordinate it for a particular month and we'll see if we can make it work.

As to the general strike idea, if you do it go all in. Try to SHUT DOWN COMMERCE IN THE WHOLE STATE. Even if people WANT to go to work, do your best to prevent it. Occupy factories and stores with peaceful, but militant sit down strikes. Barricade streets and highways with trucks and tractors. AND people out in the streets. Prepare to be arrested and if you are, ask for a jury trial. I wouldn't call for it until all other avenues are exhausted. Appeals to the courts, etc. But IF Walker actually SIGNS the bill and it becomes Wisconsin law, you might as well. You're job won't be worth shit anyway.

[BlueCaliDem]

9. Unlike the American Corporations, that are united,

the American people, aren't. Just like corporations have been working tirelessly to accomplish.

They've succeeded dividing the American people, and now reap the benefits of it via NO protest, NO solidarity, NO support for their fellow working man and woman.

We might not know it, yet, but we're brainwashed to do the Corporations' bidding like good little milking cows.

Edited to add: Because had we been a united people, we would've been a force to be reckoned with. As it stands, corporations and their political lackeys, have cowed us into accepting everything they demand like obedient cattle, in the past 30+ years.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

17. you R right

[boobooday]

10. Credit card strike

Bankrupt them.

[Sherman A1]

11. Interesting

how would you execute such a plan?

Stop using?

Stop paying on them?

Paying the off, then not using them or perhaps paying them off then doing so each month (I believe the term is freeloading)?


What are the particulars?

[Poboy]

21. In europe this is going on. Look up the "We won't pay" movement.

'I won't pay' movement spreads across Greece
In light of austerity measures, citizens ignore tolls, transit ticket costs, even bills for healthcare

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41723432/ns/business-world_business/

[Sherman A1]

23. Interesting, but different than what is suggested by

the Credit Card Strike concept.

[boobooday]

24. Well, if you stopped paying, you would obviously have to stop using

But if everyone stopped paying, all at once, we could mess them up.

[Sherman A1]

27. Realistically I don't think you could get "everyone" to do so

and by doing so you put people's credit at risk...

I think the best options are

1). Game the system using Credit Cards and paying them off monthly or Freeloading as the banksters call it.

2). Picking a National Day to not shop, sort of a consumer's strike. We all buy things that we could delay or do without, cut sales off (or drastically reduce them) for a day and I bet it would be noticed.

But, I could be wrong.

[boobooday]

28. Well, no, but I wasn't being realistic

And if it would ever work, people would have to stop buying into "credit ratings." If everyone deliberately sabotaged their credit rating, we'd all be the same!

haha

400 is the new 800. :-)

[StopTheNeoCons]

16. March 30, buy nothing, call in sick, stop the economy

March 30, buy nothing, call in sick, stop the economy

[Warren Stupidity]

18. So I should give the bank my house as a protest?

And you view that as a more effective protest than a nationwide general strike? Not very many people are going to sign up to lose their homes as a gesture of protest, a gesture that won't even be remotely visible.

It wouldn't hurt the big banks at all. You haven't been paying attention. The big banks slice and dice mortgages by the tens of thousands and create mortgage securities out of them called CDOs which they then sell to other investors, in a process that turns absolute shit investments into triple A bonds, and then turn around and buy insurance (CDSs) against those bullshit CDOs failing from excess defaults. They short their own shitty bonds. They don't care about foreclosures. And we pick up the tab for the failed insurance companies that backed the shitty bonds.

A nationwide general strike, even one that only lasted one day and only managed a small percentage of the work force participating, would be visible, would effect the entire population of this country, and would be an effective organizing tool for a working class opposition to the plutocracy. They need us to run their little empire.

[customerserviceguy]

19. It's already happening

Every day, more and more underwater borrowers are simply giving up. If they can avoid a bankruptcy filing, the foreclosure will come off their credit record in seven years, much less time than it will take to get positive equity in their homes again.

And as long as that's still happening, we're still going to be in a recession, no matter how politicians cook the numbers.

[pinkkillersheep]

25. It's called strategic default.

Many people already are. The foreclosure fraud crisis has forced a lot of people to just walk away from their houses.

[Codeine]

26. Hmm. Lose a few weeks of work or lose my entire home?

No-brainer.