[Peace-discuss] Why doesn't he call for it to be nationalized and run in the public's interest?

[C. G. Estabrook]

[After all, it received enough public money.]

US Senator Dick Durbin Tells Americans to Boycott the Bank of America  
for Ripping Off Customers
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 9:09pm.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) took to the Senate floor this week to  
denounce how Bank of America is gouging Americans through excessive  
charges on debit card "swipe fees."
Debit card swipes, according to the Federal Reserve Bank, cost at most  
12 cents (as low as 4 cents) to process, but the banks have  
historically charged, according to Durbin, on average 44 cents to the  
retailer. On October 1, a new law went into effect that put a ceiling  
on the swipe fees at about 24 cents. So, the Bank of America and other  
banks "too big to fail" are still getting at least a 100 percent  
profit for every debit card transaction, which is crippling some small  
businesses.
Moreover, the Bank of America represents the greed that is at the  
heart of Wall Street by not being content with a 100 percent profit.  
To circumvent the cap on grossly excessive swipe fees, the Bank of  
America is now going to charge customers $5 a month as a debit card  
"use fee."
"Bank of America customers, vote with your feet," Durbin urged in  
outraged reaction to the new "service charge."
"Get the heck out of that bank," Durbin exhorted. "They are  
overcharging their customers even for this new debit card reform. It  
is hard to believe that a bank would impose [such a fee] on customers  
who simply are trying to access their own money on deposit at the Bank  
of America."
"After helping to drive our economy off the cliff's edge in 2008, Bank  
of America was happy to accept a $45 billion dollar federal bailout  
for their stupidity, their greed and their mistakes," the senior  
senator from Illinois said with disdain. "And it was just as happy to  
take that money and hand out $3.3 billion dollars in employee bonuses  
in the same year 2008."
Remember that if you have a savings account - unless you have a ton of  
money - in many cases you are earning no interest or just pennies,  
even though the bank is lending out your cash and getting double-digit  
returns in loan interest.
Furthermore instead of investing in America, the Bank of America is  
gouging the nation. On top of that, according to the Los Angeles  
Times, "Bank of America said it would cut 30,000 workers over several  
years."
This is legalized criminal behavior. The New York Police Department is  
arresting the wrong people down in southern Manhattan. What's going on  
in the Bank of America and many other New York City financial  
institutions is the looting of the United States.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13057

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