Bank of America Steals From Unemployed People

It's like Brian Moynihan wants to be the biggest jackass in the world.

First, he and his cronies at Bank of America

hatch this stupid plan to charge debit card users $5 a month to access their own money. After consumers move $60 BILLION in money from banks to credit unions, he backs off the plan. This came AFTER the weasel hit American taxpayers up for $45 billion during the bailout crisis. Yeah. Bank of America hit Americans up for $45 billion and then repaid them by hiking up fees on everything. Gee...aren't you glad we saved them from bankruptcy? Not to worry: Bank of America isn't done yet. They've since tried a scheme where they push $74 trillion (yes, with a T) from their books on to the FDIC, so that their stupid, risky housing bets could be paid off by someone else when they go south. They also dumped $63 billion in bad mortgages on to the government, because what the hell...why not, right? Capitalism is for poor people, right? Then, after pulling all these stunts, Moynihan gets mad that Americans can't stand him, his bank, or any of the other corporate whores who are absolutely ruining this country. “I, like you, get a little incensed when you think about how much good all of you do, whether it's volunteer hours, charitable giving we do, serving clients and customers as well,” Moynihan said to his employees. “You (his critics) ought to think a little about that before you start yelling at us.”

Someone had better give Moynihan a tissue to wipe those giant crocodile tears away...and maybe a Midol. I know that giant bankster criminals like Moynihan feel untouchable, like they can do whatever they please and watch the money roll in. Well, news flash, genius. You do not have an inherent right to profit. You sure as hell do not have a right to government money to ensure your bank remains a profitable enterprise. Credit unions do a better job at a lower cost, and they have the added bonus of not employing losers like Moynihan, who are the first to ask for handouts from the government and the last to cut their customers any slack. What else don't they do? How about steal money from unemployed people. Yes, that's right. Bank of America steals money from unemployed people. How do they do it? Once again, by leaning on the government to "earn" profits they otherwise couldn't. In states run by Republicans and idiot Republican voters, privatization is hailed as the recipe for success for government. Any function they can outsource to private industry, they want to do so. I'm a political scientist and can tell you, unequivocally, that these arguments are invalid. Nonetheless, one of the functions that many states have given to private industries is the payment and distribution of unemployment benefits. Rather than cut checks (something one guy with a computer can do, by the way) states hire banks to collect the money from the state and issue prepaid debit cards to the benefits recipients. The banks are then allowed to collect unlimited fees from the debit card holders, who have little to no options but pay the outlandish fees. In other words, the single mom collecting $350 a week in unemployment now has to pay some jackoff bank up to $5 a transaction (which is what Bank of America can charge) just for the right to use the taxpayer money that you and I pay her. Her money is literally held hostage by these criminals, and they steal it — flat out steal food and shelter from her and her kids — to line their own pockets. Yeah. We all pay taxes. Part of those taxes go to cover unemployed people, so they don't starve to death. Somewhere along the way, Bank of America decided it was entitled to a cut of those life-saving tax dollars. They're like the mafia, except we're not allowed to go all Godfather and whack these Fredos. What, exactly, is the Bank of America business model? Screw over the little guy as often as possible? Nickle and dime the poor to death, and then beat them over the head with fees? Then, when things go south, beg those same Americans for yet another bailout? Brian Moynihan can go to hell. And he can bring the rest of his bankster criminal buddies with him. The 99 percent has had enough. #occupyeverything