On Tuesday, the United States Senate is expected to vote on the Dodd-Shelby Bill. The bill is officially named the "FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act of 2008," however some congressional insiders are calling it "The Bank of America Bill" because of how it would benefit the bank. Bank of America even has a discussion document to promote the bill in Congress.Examiner.com gives details on Senator Chris Dodd's sweetheart mortgage from Countrywide Financial, as well as Bank of America's political contributions. Bank of America is buying Countrywide.
Countrywide's VIP loan to Dodd, which saves the Banking Committee chairman $75,000 over 30 years, smells like a potential quid-pro-quo now that Dodd has pushed a bill that will save the company from itself, but what about Bank of America's behavior?To make things worse, the Associated Press is now reporting that President Bush may actually sign the bill despite his veto threat.
Bank of America's political action committee (PAC) has donated $20,000 to Dodd since he became chairman of the banking panel 17 months ago. From January 2007 to March 2008, Bank of America employees have donated at least $50,400 to Dodd's campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. So, while Dodd's sweetheart loan from Countrywide saves him personally $200 per month, his chairmanship earns him politically more than $1,000 per week.
These aren't bank tellers funding Dodd, either, as contributors include Bank of America's director of government affairs John Collingwood and Barbara Desoer, who oversees the merger with Countrywide and will "run the combined companies' mortgage operations," according to The Los Angeles Times.
Only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have received more Bank of America money than Dodd during the current election cycle. Republican nominee John McCain slightly trails Dodd, with $64,000 in reported Bank of America contributions.
Between the PAC and individual employees, Bank of America has showered $1.3 million on presidential and congressional candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics....
Bank of America stands to profit most from a bailout. It will take on Countrywide's bad loans, and under Dodd-Shelby, it could shift the worst ones onto the shoulders of taxpayers, via the Federal Housing Authority. Basically, Uncle Sam will buy Countrywide's stinky loans off of Bank of America.
Bank of America is kind of like an investor trying to "flip" a house: they buy a run-down property (Countrywide) for a discount, shell out some campaign contributions and earn some "sweat-equity" through lobbying. If Dodd gets his way, it will be a good investment for Bank of America.
Again, you can very easily contact Congress and President Bush with a pre-written email opposing the bill by clicking here.
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This is a Sin!
ReplyDeleteMillions of Americans work to pay their taxes and this is a horrible use of these funds.
Business has to be held responsible for its action, or inaction. I have worked hard for over forty years to generate income for my family and myself. You should be ashamed to use my hard earned tax dollars in this fashion a hard working Floridian
I see your blog has something to do with the Bank Of America. Although, at the present time, one can not do without the bank services, still I think it could have been better without them. People face so much problems and misunderstandings because of these financial establishments. Learn on other people’s mistakes from www.pissedconsumer.com. It is a very informative and helpful site.
ReplyDeleteThe Banks greatly benefited from The Great Housing Boom for the last decade, along with builders, developers, Real Estate Brokers, mortgage loan brokers, etc. Now that the party is over, they want help. That is because the huge profits went into the pockets of a few Executives who pay off corrupt politicians to let the American taxpayer foot the bill - while Wall Street steals our retirement funds and the healthcare industry takes what's left. Bye bye Miss American Pie...
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who may not understand, Premier Automotive group has many employees and had a business loan with BOA. As soon as we as tax payers bailed out BOA and many others, BOA decided that they wanted to pull away from loaning companies even if they had a contract. Not that the bills were not paid(because they were, I know), but because of corporate greed. Wanting as much $ as possible to stay in house (BOA).
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem here, however, is that BOA and many other large corportations are cutting out the average persons employement by taking away loans to the small business owners. These are the same people that have credit cards, morgages, bank accounts, ect. Without income, how is the average individual supposed to come up with the $ to pay? If you agree with this, please visit www.thepetitionsite.com