It's worth noting again that Jon Grant is a complete phony and hypocrite. He did the same thing to protest Wells Fargo, yet he still has his mortgage at the bank. He will say or do absolutely anything to get attention. It'd be nice if someone at the Stranger actually called him on his hypocrisy.

Banks sell mortgages without your consent. There is a huge likelihood that mortgage was sold to Wells Fargo from another lender.....the only thing you can do at that point is to pay off the mortgage.

Arrested for what reason?

There must have been eight police cars outside the Chase at 23rd and Jackson today. It was ridiculous.

@2 Most credit unions aren't allowed to sell off your mortgage without consent. He could easily refinance his current loan in less than an hour. But that would mean that he actually cared about the issue, rather than how much media attention he can get. He loves to tell others how to live their lives, but refuses to live by those same rules himself.

@5-How do you figure he (or anyone) could refinance a mortgage in "less than an hour"? Plan on weeks and lots of forms to fill out, as well as significant closing costs. Not saying anything about Grant one way or the other, but a refi is a big pain.

In 2009, out of outrage over the way the TBTF banks crashed the global economy and got bailed out while huge numbers of people were getting reamed by the foreclosure crisis, I refied my mortgage with a credit union in to get out from under my original toxic bank. I also moved my checking, savings and credit accounts to the same credit union. The refi process was every bit as rigorous as qualifying for the original mortgage. I had to get my house appraised (fortunately my CU paid for the appraisal), round and round up a year's worth of pay stubs and bank statements, fill out forms to apply for the loan, and more forms at closing. I also paid points, but lowered the interest rate on my home loan as well as lowered my credit card APR by more than 10%. It is ludricous for CD Dawn to assert all of this can be done in a hour.

Viva le Resistance!

Nothing says supporting the working class like harassment of low wage line staff. This is the left wing equlivant of treating a waiter or fast food worker like shit due to there work status.

Another reason you can't take the Left seriously anymore. You can't trust the Fascists and you can't trust the Commies.

At some point they start to kick the shit out of each other in the streets.

@6 You're right, of course. My entire refi process took several weeks. But my own time spent as the applicant was limited. Maybe 30 minutes to collect the required documents and another half-hour for the interview with the credit union officer who filled out my application. My earlier comment forgot the 20 minutes to go back an sign the final papers, but in total it wasn't really much time. Hardly painful.

And @Mud Baby, I'm just like you. I was moved by Standing Rock. I marched to Wells and closed my account and got to work moving my mortgage from the bank to a credit union. I sent emails to the city council to urge divestment from Wells, understanding that the action would likely cost Seattle taxpayers money to make the change. I felt good making that request because I was making the same sacrifice in my own life. What I resent is someone like Jon Grant urging me to make a sacrifice while refusing to make the same sacrifice himself. Worse still is the person who accepts praise for urging others to make a sacrifice that he is unwilling to make himself. I resent it when politicians pay lip service to a cause while using it for nothing more than a photo op. And that's all I ever see Jon Grant do, on nearly every issue in the news (homelessness, immigration, sexual assault, etc) Just like you, I've actually made the sacrifice personally, so I've earned the right to call Jon Grant a hypocrite.

Grant is no different from the elderly men in DC who believe that they are the ones best suited to make the laws governing women's reproductive health. Fuck those guys! Grant is no different from the health crusader who stands outside of bars and lectures smokers about their dirty, expensive habit before proceeding to light up and blow smoke in their faces. Fuck that guy! Fuck Jon Grant's sanctimony! And fuck Sydney and Heidi for continuing to provide uncritical, fawning coverage to a politician who so clearly makes a mockery of progressive causes through his hypocrisy.

Solidarity!

@7 - Alas, my friend, you are incorrect. Check this map of oil pipeline leaks in the USA from 2010 to present. Also, the Keystone XL pipeline is planned to cross several rivers, including the mighty Missouri...

"Contaminants from a release at the Missouri or Yellowstone River crossing would enter Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota where they would adversely affect drinking water intakes, aquatic wildlife, and recreation.
Contaminants from a spill at the Platte River crossing would travel downstream unabated into the Missouri River for several hundred miles affecting drinking water intakes for hundreds of thousands of people (e.g., Lincoln, NE; Omaha, NE; Nebraska City, NE; St. Joseph, MO; Kansas City, MO, etc.) as well as aquatic habitats and recreational activities.
In addition, other constituents from the spill would pose serious risks to humans and to aquatic species in the river."

"Analysis of the time needed to shut down the pipeline shows that response to a leak at a river crossing could conservatively take more than ten times longer than the 11 minutes and 30 seconds that TransCanada assumes.
After the June 2010 spill of more than 800,000 US gallons of crude oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River (Michigan), an Enbridge tar sands pipeline – (a 30-inch [760 mm] pipe compared to the 36-inch [910 mm] Keystone XL) – was not completely shut down for 12 hours."

Leaks cannot be prevented. Why take such a risk with the dirtiest form of crude oil around -- tar sands?