Recently the media has been abuzz with talk of the possible ‘nationalization’ of ailing big banks such as Citigroup. Both Democrat and Republican senators, as well as the former chair of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, have raised the possibility of a temporary ‘nationalization’ or government takeover of big banks.

Yes, I haven’t heard, much less said “capitalist pig” for more than 30 years. But I couldn’t help thinking it when I heard that Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch (three former Wall Street investment banks; Merrill Lynch has been taken over by Bank of America) are planning to pay $20 billion in bonuses. To make matters worse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are receiving $10 billion each in bank bailout money, while Bank of America will receive $25 billion.

One year after the current financial crisis began, the situation has gone from bad to worse. What began with the failure of small mortgage lenders has toppled Wall Street investment banks, the largest mortgage company in the world, and a trillion-dollar insurance firm. Depositors are starting to flee banks and money market funds, putting businesses in danger of not being able to get loans. Banks don’t want to lend to each other and the stock market can’t find buyers. The economy continues to get worse month by month. As job losses mount, companies declare bankruptcy, foreclosures rise and consumers cut back on spending.

Keep the heat on Congress!

Commentary by the editor of Fight Back!

A Fight Back! Editorial

St. Paul, MN – Representatives from the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War meet with the Mayor Coleman, the City Attorney, and other Saint Paul city officials, Dec. 11 at City Hall to press their demands for permits to march on the Republican National Convention and for the city to observe the rights of protesters.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following commentary by Jess Sundin, a member of the Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee and the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call for an important conference that will help prepare for the protests at the Republican National Convention.

Reporting to Congress Sept. 11, General David Petraeus confirmed what most in the anti-war movement have long been saying: The U.S. has no intention of getting out of Iraq anytime soon – unless it is forced to.

In March, U.S. antiwar activist and Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Kosta Harlan attended a historic international solidarity conference in Italy with leaders of the Iraqi resistance ( see “Voices of the Iraqi Resistance,” Fight Back!, March 2007). Since returning to the United States, Harlan has traveled to college campuses and cities across the South, speaking to hundreds of students and antiwar activists about the Iraqi resistance. He spoke at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Chapel Hill, and Charlotte; at Winthrop University in South Carolina; at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and at community centers in Winston-Salem and Minneapolis, Minnesota.