Banks under fire for ‘criminal’ overdraft fees – Washington Post- msnbc.com.

If you read my posts with any regularity you know this is one of my hot buttons.  Carolyn Maloney’s bills couldn’t get traction during a hyper-conservative, pro Wall St. era.  Now the banking industries true nature is showing.  They are enemies of the public and must be exposed for their extortion.  This issue should be ON FIRE.

“A backlash is brewing on Capitol Hill against banks that charge large fees for overdrafts without asking or telling customers, the latest sign that the financial crisis is shifting the balance of power from banks toward borrowers.”

Then just look at this article about Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye and calls his office made to influence the distribution of TARP funds to a bank where most of his personal wealth is invested.  The bank did not qualify, at all, for TARP funds prior to his mysterious phone call.  If this continued rip-off by Congress and the banks is not annoying and obvious by now then I have no alternative than to think that most  American’s are dumb ass-hats who genuinely don’t care.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31675539/ns/politics-washington_post/

This week we will find out who rules America: the US Government put in power by the people for the people, or the banking industry lobby and the Republican legislators they hold in their pocket.

Obama is meeting with bank industry leaders to once again ask them to conform to more appropriate consumer protections.  The evil, vile bank lobby will attempt to argue they are too poor right now to ease up on fees and credit gouging.   Why are they poor?  Because of their own greedy lending practices but never mind that little inconvenience.

Even though many Democrats are on board with new consumer credit regulation they are not completely convinced they will get any bills passed.  The banking industry has a way too powerful special interest lobby working to convince lawmakers they must protect the interest of the banks.  It will be close regardless of which direction this takes and what’s at stake is more important than interest rates on credit cards.  It’s a decision of who controls the future of the American economy, lawmakers for the consumers or bankers for well, the banks and wealthy bank investors.

Update: From the NY Times this morning:

“Having won some early skirmishes by teaming with Republican allies, the banks now appear to have the upper hand and may wind up killing — or at least substantially diluting — both pro-consumer measures.”

This is all I want for my birthday.  Anyone who knows me can attest I haven’t asked for anything for my birthday in years.

Paul Krugman is a Nobel prize winning economist and Professor of Economics and International affairs at Princeton when he’s not writing for the NY Times.  He received a BS from Yale and a Ph.D. from MIT by the time he was 24.  I’ve been a fan since January of 2007 when he published an this article, The Dark Age of Macroeconomics.  He was also one of the first people to call out the sinister Phil Gramm as one of the architects of the recession long before it was known he authored the legislation allowing the retention bonuses at AIG.

We need a Wall Street outsider at the helm of this disaster.  Not another former Wall St. Chairman and bankers best friend.  Keeping bankers happy will only do so much to alleviate the crisis we’re in.  Bring in an outsider.  Since before Obama appointed Geithner (which was the moment I first questioned Obama’s commitment to “change”), Krugman was a known contender for the job.  Draft him if necessary but do what should have been done in the first place.  Time and money are burning.

As long as we continue to hemorrhage jobs there will be no economic recovery.  For all the talk about economic stimulus and job creation there is little or no talk about creating financial incentives that will allow companies to keep workers.  Businesses can cut employees in a heartbeat to maintain revenues or stave off losses.  And they will.  Those positions rarely, if ever, return.

Without political intervention to create financial incentives fro comapnies to keep workers the cuts will continue until we are a nation of unemployed.  We don’t need to just look at ways to create “new jobs” that people are unqualified to fill.  We need to find an immediate way to let people keep their current positions.  No one seems to be interested in including this in the agenda if it creates even the slightest hardship on companies to find a way to keep their workers.  It’s an easy out and they’ll take it every time, especially if there’s no embarrassment because all other companies are doing it.

In a time when bank executives would rather eat their own children than give one penny of shareholder profit to help consumers and the economy at large, one bank has stepped forward to support legislation that is way overdue. Citibank has agreed to support changes in bankruptcy laws so that primary residences can be protected in bankruptcy court by judges who can write the mortgages into debt repayment plans.

It’s absurd that someone can file for bankruptcy and protect their motorcycle, vacation home or boat but can’t save their primary residence. This has long been a hold out of the mortgage lenders for no other reason than sheer greed. Why should they take a risk? Loans are suppose to be all profit and no risk for them right? And when the gamble doesn’t pay off we’ve seen what happens. They cry to the Fed like whimpering little children who aren’t getting their way. And big daddy Fed is more than happy to quiet them with $700 billion dollars. Thinking about it makes my stomach worse than it already was fighting this Crohns flare up. I will continue to close all my entries about financial institutions with the same ‘ol quote from Dr. Willis Martin of Rocky Mount who said to me “Son, the bank is not your friend”.