Job performance and job status? Unrelated!
What's she smiling about? Is she still at the wheel?
I’d take payday loans before I relied upon loans from a regular bank these days… I was stunned by this. How about you? Despite the fact that the top brass of major American banks have been wheeling, dealing and mismanaging billions of dollars for years, MSNBC reports that nine of 10 bank executives were allowed to KEEP their jobs, post-bailout. They’re even trying to use bailout money for new corporate jets. How are these irresponsible greed mongers allowed to stay at the wheel of America’s banks?
This shocking revelation has been confirmed by an Associated Press review: the same executives who were controlling these banks back in 2006 when the subprime market was at its ugliest peak are still in charge – or at least 90 percent of them. And that number is deceptively low, since many of those who did leave left due to death and retirement. The same cannot be said for the more than 100,000 bank employees who lost their jobs under the watch of such reprehensible executives.
Hypocrisy ain’t a city in China
Wait a minute. Since the government bailed these banks out, aren’t taxpayers now technically shareholders in these banks? Where is the opportunity for taxpayers to give these executives a vote of no confidence? We have not been given the requisite power that shareholders would have. Once again, Americans can marvel at their tax dollars at work. At least no fax payday loans can provide temporary succor.
Here is just a sampling of what’s still going on, per MSNBC:
Wells Fargo & Co., for example, once was among the top lenders of subprime mortgages, or loans to buyers with low credit scores. The company received $25 billion in bailout money and plans layoffs in the coming months. But longtime CEO Richard Kovacevich remains the company’s chairman, and the board recently waived its mandatory retirement age for him. John Stumpf, the president since 2005, became chief executive in 2007.
How do they live with themselves?
Julia Tunis Bernard, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman, justifies the dubious decisions regarding upper management this way:
Our senior leadership team of our CEO and his direct reports have an average tenure of almost a quarter-century with our company. Our unchanging vision, values and time-tested business model will continue to guide our leaders and our team into the future, and are now more than ever a competitive advantage as our industry evolves.
Mr. Obama, you suggested that auto industry executives be replaced before bailouts in their industry occurred. What happened with the banks? Why are they allowed to remain in charge? As long as these executives – and how they escape criminal charges is beyond me – remain in power, not only will I steer away from traditional banking services whenever possible, but I will rely upon payday loans when I need some of the emergency credit that fewer and fewer banks and credit unions can be bothered to offer anymore. I’ll go with service; I’ll go with payday loans.
A private jet? The fact that they are looking to get one after the Detroit fiasco is reprehensible, but to address another problem – they should be in their offices trying to figure out how to not layoff any more workers! The ancient Greeks considered this kind of hubris to be amongst the worst of sins, and for good reason. These kind of actions on the part of leaders is how revolutions have begun, be they CEO’s or kings.
First off these bank executives already have “greed” planted firmly in their souls and they show it every day by their tainted financial dealings. They still managed to get their hands on the bailout money. But in the midst of the current economic crisis, they’re more worried about a $50 million private jet!? Are they really that ignorant? Seriously, this is clearly no time to be playing with money.