The death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore is not just a story of police brutality or the lack of socioeconomic mobility for the urban poor. It\u2019s also a story of how deregulation allowed corporate banks to strip middle-class families of their financial stability and walk away, leaving behind payday lenders and check-cashing stores to plunder low-income and minority communities.<\/p>\n
To better understand and communicate that story, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform took their Middle Class Prosperity Project to Baltimore on Monday. It was the latest in a series of forums that started in February to focus \u201ccongressional and public attention on challenges faced by the middle class.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baltimore was hit especially hard by the 2008 economic collapse. In 2008, 3,909 foreclosures<\/a>were filed in the city of Baltimore. In 2009, the number increased to 6,213 \u2014 an almost 60 percent increase. The city\u2019s median property value dropped by $10,500 <\/a>between 2007-2012. And as of 2014, the city is ranked\u00a069th out of 100 by Brookings on the strength of its economic recovery.<\/p>\n Even while Baltimore and other cities struggled, the federal government held corporations in higher regard than the American people; $1.2 trillion in post-recession bailouts<\/a> from the Federal Reserve to private banks was equal to the money lost by homeowners holding 6.5 million foreclosed mortgages.<\/p>\n