On the backs of the ordinary Americans, big banks have created the worst
economic crisis since the Great Depression.
American taxpayers came to the rescue with bailout money, but the banks refuse
to work to make our economy stronger for everyone. Through unfair lending
practices like subprime mortgages and predatory loans, big banks are continuing
to drag this nation into bankruptcy and foreclosure.
Let me give you two examples of the corporate greed that continues to plague
our financial system.
This month Ken Lewis resigned as CEO of Bank of America because he, among other
things, lied to regulators about big bonuses going to bank executives. Now Bank
of America is giving him $68.8 million on his way out the door! That’s taxpayer
money! We bailed them out, and now they’re using our money to line their
pockets.
Also this month, JP Morgan and other big banks agreed to pay out $100 million
to settle a lawsuit after they helped a subprime lender in Philadelphia take
advantage of American consumers and lie about the value of their assets. It looks like big banks will lie, cheat, and steal
to protect their own, but what are they doing for us? What are they doing to
help ordinary Americans?
It’s time to change the way big banks do business in this country. We’ve got to stand up together and call on big banks to fix what they broke.
