On the front page of today's Washington Post
was a story that should interest all fair minded
folks. The story, entitled, "A Quiet Windfall for
U.S. Banks," details a change in tax law made
by the Secretary of the Treasury that ensures
banks will reap somewhere north of a 140 billion
dollars in profits.
"One hundred and forty billion dollars" in profits
for the greedy money grubbing slime that still
have their begging hats in their hands and are
urging Congress to act as fast as they can to
help end this terrible economic crisis.
These are the same crooks who took the
initial bailout money and used it to pay executives
and shareholders bonuses on the banner year
they had. Then they turned around and refused
to lend money while crying poor, adding to the
crisis.
AIG is also in the news, renegotiating for more
money.
The auto companies want in on the free ride too.
This what happens in Washington when speed
is valued over substance. It's what happens
when bills involving billions are rammed through
in what amounts to a matter of hours.
This is what happens when all the cagey
Washington veterans see a big fat pitch coming
into their power zone thrown by those who don't
quite know all there is to know about pitching.
It's what baseballers would call a spitter, a ball
that looks just like an ordinary fastball, except
for a small piece of slime that makes it jest a
tetch different.
In this case the bailout bill gave the bankers a
wee little advantage, again. And further bailout
bills will help them some more. With the
government handing money out like it's Christmas,
they won't even have to absorb any of their
colossally bad loans. Meanwhile, in addition to
the handouts they'll be receiving, you can bet
your bottom dollar that they'll be raising fees
on everything possible.
A week or two ago I made a rare appearance
at my bank to deposit a check. I didn't have a
deposit check with me, and the teller tried to
charge me $7.50 to make a deposit to my own
account. I must say I didn't react very well to the
proposal, and my reply almost reduced her to
tears, whereupon I asked for a bank manager. I
apologized to the teller, (they don't make policy),
and communicated my dissatisfaction to the
manager in a highly vocal way.
The manager, a bit of a dunderhead, tried to
explain and justify the fee, then rolled over when
I didn't buy in to his argument. The fee was waived,
on what he said was a one time basis, whereupon
I replied that I was thinking of pulling all my accounts,
business and personal, on a one time basis.
That pretty much ended that.
But it won't be that easy with the economy and
all these Ivy League thieves, who like sleeper
cells lie waiting in the dark halls of Congress
until they are called to action. Then they do t
heir dirty work and vanish, leaving the taxpayers
with the bill.
From the big saddle,
Jim Whelan
The Chairman of the Board
thejamesrwhelanagency.com
206 407 3124
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