Bankers get chilly reception in Chicago

Those attending the American Bankers Association gathering in Chicago were greeted by a none-too-pleased (and quite vocal) public last night with protests continuing today.

Here's one of the many clips over at YouTube of last night's festivities.

Apparently, this convention attracts mostly community bankers rather than the much-loathed Wall Street variety, but then maybe the protesters are just using this as a warm-up.

Reuters reports the following details:

The Service Employees International Union, a major labor group, estimates that up to 5,000 people will join the protests over the next couple of days.

Protesters gathered outside the hotel hosting the convention on Sunday night, holding signs that said, "Hold Banks Accountable," and chanting for changes to the banking industry.

"The big banks heard loud and clear tonight that taxpayers are fed up with them taking our money and using it to pay themselves outrageous profits and lobby against financial reform," the SEIU posted on its website.

Yingling said it was frustrating to have traditional banks lumped together with Wall Street firms that engage in risky trading practices and have taken billions of dollars in taxpayers funds.

This is reminiscent of the many town hall meetings over the summer in that a lot of people don't really understand what it is that they're mad about, but they're sure there is something there worth being mad about...