Thousands March in 3-Day Showdown with Banking Industry

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Protesters hung banners off bridges and out a window of the Sheraton hotel. They crashed a "Roaring '20s" cocktail party and the ABA ball, calling the Roaring '20s theme especially ironic. Speakers and marchers decried the luxurious food and accommodations they are sure the bankers were enjoying during the conference.

"Before they got here, they spent $35 million lobbying Congress to protect life the way it is, where they take everything and we get the crumbs," said Change to Win Chairwoman Anna Burger. "Then they come to Chicago to celebrate what a good job they did."

Marchers had mixed opinions on whether the bankers inside the conference were actually listening to the demands outside. Owens, the home-care worker, thought so.

"They don't want to listen to us, but they have to," she said. "We're too loud."