Now the banks are robbers

I was trying to think of a witty title for this article, but I kept coming back to this one because it’s absolutely true. I was inspired to write this because I recently hooked up with an old friend who is out of work and looking for a new job. His neighborhood bank was looking for a part-time teller, so he went in to inquire. When he found out the bank does a credit check on new employees, he respectfully begged off. He knew that he would not pass that kind of inspection right now. The whole time we were together talking, all I could think about was what absolute nerve any bank has doing a credit check on employees today. It used to be that thieves robbed banks, but the times have changed. Today, the banks are robbing us blind.

Every single person paying taxes in this country has been had. Let’s not mince any words here. George Bush and his cohort, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, did what the Bush administration usually does. They arrive breathless in Congress painting a picture of great distress, spinning falsehoods to our elected public servants on Capitol Hill. That’s the Bush M.O. Hey, it worked with Iraq didn’t it? This time, the story was that if the government didn’t bail out the Wall Street boys and the banks that our entire financial structure was going to hell in a hand basket. They got their bail-out and guess what? The economy is still in the hand basked and in free fall.

Now, I’m mystified by two things. Why do members of the Congress even believe any claim brought to them by the Bush administration anymore? The present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a lifetime member of the Pathological Liars Club. He surrounds himself with other liars. That’s how he gets what he wants. It boggles the mind that anybody could possibly hand these two slugs $700 billion in cash with no oversight or strings attached. I’m equally mystified that the people footing the bill, the average American taxpayers, aren’t angry enough to revolt.

Be that as it may, the Congress handed the tag team of Bush and Paulson $700 billion to bail out those who have mismanaged public funds. This is the Hank Paulson, of course, who - in his previous life as Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs - united with other investment houses to convince the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to release them from the net capital rule. This rule requires that brokerage firms hold reserve capital that limited their leverage and risk of exposure. Wow! What a great choice for Treasury Secretary, at least from Bush’s perspective. Paulson was chosen because he fell right into line with the Bush free market doctrine. Leave the money mongers alone. They’ll figure it out and police themselves. Take a good look around you. I’d call that a failed doctrine, just like so many of the other Bush doctrines.

Let’s talk about how Wall Street got into this mess. According to Paul Krugman, the average salary of those employed in the ’securities, commodity contracts and investments’ arena was more than the average salary of the rest of the economy. Salaries of a million dollars were considered no big deal, and salaries of $20 million were not uncommon. Can you boast that kind of income? Worst of all, these clowns handling the taxpayers money didn’t even have to be operating in the black. Why? Because Wall Street, in its extreme generosity, would even reward the “appearance” of a profit. These folks (and frankly, it’s mostly men here) didn’t even earn their income. Even when the investors their shirts, the money managers kept their high salaries and bonuses. Most of us go to work every day and try to do our best. If we don’t, we are not rewarded. We should all apply for jobs on Wall Street. Even if you don’t cheat your clients like Bernie Madoff, you barely have to know what you’re doing to haul in the big bucks.

Speaking of Bernie Madoff (oh, by the way, it is indeed pronounced “made off”), the SEC is the gift that keeps on giving isn’t it? The SEC ignored every warning that it possibly could that this guy was a thief. Now, he’s been arrested for running the biggest pyramid scheme in history, with losses of $50 billion or more (dwarfing the size of the Enron scandal), destroying a number of non-profits in the process and resulting in the suicide of at least one money manager who lost big with Madoff’s shadowy investments. The only reason he was caught is that he ran out of money! He may be under arrest, but wasn’t that Madoff in the photo sitting in his posh apartment watching a big flat screen TV and eating hors d’oeuvres? Oh, that’s right! He’s under house arrest. Not quite the same, is it? Would you or I be sitting at home had we been caught in such a scheme? Give me a break. He belongs in Rikers with the rest of the felons.

Stealing from the poor and giving to the rich

More than 10 million Americans are out of a job, according to the Department of Labor. Unemployment hit 6.7% in November. Let’s add to that the 7.3 million Americans who are ‘involuntary part time workers’ (like myself) who want to work full time but cannot find a full time job. Jobless claims are at a 26-year high and 30 states run the very real risk of shortfalls in their unemployment fund pools. What is America doing for them? Taking their taxpayer dollars and giving it to the thieves who came crying for a bail out this year, but received nice big fat payouts last year. Had some control been exercised over their executive compensation packages, the government might not need to fleece the American taxpayer today. Take a good look.

Wells Fargo Bank of San Francisco took $25 million in bail out money, but gave its top executives $20,000 each to pay for personal financial planners. Does your company do that for you? I thought that was a personal investment. Or take Robert P. Kelley, the chief executive of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. He received a $975,000 salary, plus an additional $66,748 to pay for his financial planning services. He also received a $7.5 million dollar bonus and a car and driver that cost $178,879 last year. He also received $846,000 in relocation expenses, including help selling one house and buying another.

James Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan Chase, ran up a $211,182 tab last year for private jets that helped him commute from his home in Chicago to his job in New York. Most of us usually move to the states where we work, don’t we? Not to worry. The firm got $25 billion this year in bail out funds.

And let’s try this one on for size. The Goldman Sachs tab for least cars came to roughly $233,000 per executive last year. The firm told its shareholders that financial counseling and chauffeurs are important because it allows the executives more time to focus on their jobs. You have got to be kidding me. Most of us poor slobs are driving to work in cars that need work. After taking a $10 billion bail out, Goldman announced it’s paying just $14 million in taxes this year. How did they get that break after paying $6 billion last year? By moving its profits offshore. That’s right. Let’s not inconvenience the executives. They might not be able to focus on fleecing us in 2009 if we do.

How many ways can you define the word greed?

So now, after leaving the auto industry out do dry for a while, the government is providing a $17.4 billion bail out. They ponied up more quickly for Wall Street because they were helping white collar criminals. There’s a basic aversion in this country to helping the blue collar workers who have made this country what it is. In fact, the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the workers have made most of the concessions in order to keep their jobs. The executives have been inconvenienced very little.

The right-wingers spread lies and falsehoods about the auto workers and the unions, saying that the unionized American auto worker earns about $70 an hour. That’s a lie, of course. In reality, they actually earn somewhere between $28 and $30 an hour. In return for keeping their jobs, and in spite of the fact that the auto industry executives have caused this colossal mess, it is the blue collar workers who will make the concessions - not the executives. Auto industry workers have been asked to take a pay cut to be more competitive with non-union workers at Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Hourly pay will fall from about $28 to $24 an hour.

In addition, the auto companies must reduce compensation to those laid off and at least half of the company’s investment in retiree health benefits must be made in stock, not cash. That’s right. Let’s make sure we screw over those who have served the company well for years to reward the executives who brought you - and continue to bring you in spite of lagging sales - the SUV. How about Rick Wagoner at GM? He built a Hummer division and convinced the we-have-too-much-money-to-think-clearly members of the American public that they needed a military tank to navigate their way around town. You know, just in case there’s a roadside bombing or something. Now that gas prices have fallen and the auto industry has been bailed out, do you think they’re going to stop trying to peddle the environmentally-irresponsible, gas-guzzling SUV? I’m willing to bet they don’t. They’d rather lay off workers.

I saw a great bumper sticker the other day. It read “If you’re elderly and eating cat food, thank a Republican.” Hey, you don’t even have to be elderly anymore. All you have to be is an average taxpaying citizen. If you’re a bank or corporate executive - or better still - a white collar criminal, don’t worry. You’re all set. You’re limo, driver and financial planner awaits.