People Rally Against Wall Street in San Ramon

Larry and Carol Blair were on their way to a doctor's appointment Thursday afternoon when they noticed a rally in front of the banks off Crow Canyon Road.

They felt like they had to stop. Wells Fargo recently rejected their loan modification on their 6-acre San Ramon home. Even though Larry is still working at 63, without the loan modification, the Blair's will have to dip into their 401k to pay their mortgage on the home they have lived in since 1987. In March, the mortgage is expected to go up another $400.

"I think they are trying to get me to short sale," Larry said. "So they can save money."

It's stories like the Blair's why about 50 people from around the East Bay gathered to demonstrate against America's banking industry in San Ramon. The rally, organized by the progressive group MoveOn.org, was an effort to put pressure on President Barack Obama to authorize a federal investigation of the financial industry for its role in the mortgage crisis.

"There's talk of a $25 billion settlement to grant the people in Wall Street immunity," said Karen Beck, a member of MoveOn that orgainized the rally. "That doesn't even being to makeup for what they did. These executives were paid $156 billion in bonuses in 2011, while the rest of us, the 99 percent, suffered."

The group held signs demonizing the banks, some wore pig masks and there were outlines of dead bodies with messages directed at Wall Street. Along with standing on Crow Canyon Road to demonstrate in front of traffic, the group marched around the banks in the Crow Canyon Commons Shopping Center.

Most of the group were people over 40 that wanted their voice heard on what they see as Wall Street getting away with terrible crimes against the American people.

"We have to find ways to stop this from happening again," Brad Tuvey of San Ramon said.

Ellis Goldberg, of the Tri-Valley Democratic Club, said one of the reasons he's motivated to speak out is from working at food banks for the last 10 years. He's noticed in the last couple years that more and younger people, many with families, are coming in desperate need of food.

When asked why he doesn't believe, like many conservatives do, that people need to take personal responsibility for their troubles, instead of blaming Wall Street, Goldberg said, "I have empathy for people. I reject that people should be punished for their mistakes. The infant that can't get health care didn't do anything to be punished for."

Though people spoke about being unhappy at Obama's for not going after Wall Street more agressively during his term, it didn't mean they were thinking about voting for the alternative.

"I'm 110 percent sure everyone here is going to vote for Obama," Goldberg said.