AMERICAN POLITICS/AMERICAN LABOUR:

FEEDING AT THE PUBLIC TROUGH:

It's pretty well inevitable. Whenever public money becomes available it's a guarantee that much of it will be wasted on things not connected at all with the ostensible "goals" of said public funding. The only difference between right wing and left wing governments is what group of parasites eats the honey. The now almost worldwide impulse of governments to throw money at their financial systems (and other industries) is a gigantic magnet for abuse. In the USA the Bank of America has so far received $25 billion in government funds. What have they done with it ? The following item from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) tells the story. What Molly finds most disgusting, if not surprising, about the misuse of funds is the idea that there should be "bonuses" for the incompetent managers who ran the business to the brink of bankruptcy. The interests of management who control corporations is quite often something other than the interests of either the nominal owners (the shareholders) or the workers employed, but this sort of thing sets a new goal post for sheer arrogance.

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Stop payment on the bailout:‏
When taxpayers gave Bank of America a $25 billion bailout, the country's largest bank was supposed to use the funds to help jumpstart the economy.Bank of America instead misspent the money on foreign investments, executive salaries, and corporate jets. To top it off, Bank of America double-dipped, taking more money from our cash-strapped states by not paying for their workers' healthcare.

Yet this morning, the Wall Street Journal reports that Bank of America wants "billions" more in bailout funds.

Well, enough is enough. It's time for Bank of America to either use its bailout to help the economy and its workers - or give back the bailout.Watch this video and then sign our petition demanding Bank of America help its workers with the bailout:

Click here to watch and sign: http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/bankofamerica

What can Bank of America do? To start, it can provide health care for its 247,000 workers using the money it spent last year on executive salaries and bonuses. We're also asking that Bank of America:
***Keep over 12,000 troubled borrowers in their homes with executive bonus money
***End the practice of unilaterally changing credit cardholder agreements.
***Sign new leases with renters who live in buildings that are being foreclosed upon

These are common-sense ideas that will help hundreds of thousands of working people get by in these tough times. Watch our video about Bank of America and join the call for bailout accountability:

http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/bankofamerica

Bank of America has $25 billion of our money - funds from the government of the United States - but so far has not done its part to get the economy going again. And if the company can't do that, it's time to stop payment on the bailout.

Join us in asking for real economic recovery, or a return of our funds from Bank of America:

http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/bankofamerica

Thanks so much - with your help, we'll bring accountability to Bank of America.
In Solidarity,

Michael Whitney

Change that Works

SEIU.org