Thanks to the working Americans who funded the banks' bailouts, banking giants and CEOs were able to get up, brush themselves off, and walk away from the financial crisis relatively unscathed. It is in no way acceptable, however, that their version of 'jumping back into the saddle' means continuing to pay out big figure bonuses to the architects of our economic collapse. Recent data from eFinancialCareers.com shows that financial professionals still think that the middle class should still be taking it on the chin to pad their pockets:

According to the survey, 83 percent of Wall Street professionals expect to receive bonuses this year, and one-third expect to receive even bigger bonuses than they did in 2008.

"You can't change 200 years of history overnight," said John Benson, founder and CEO of eFinancialCareers.com. "...Changing the pay structure is going to be an iterative process, because there are always unintended consequences to every change."

Although just over half of the 1,074 financial services professionals who participated in the survey noted their firms have revised bonus policies, most respondents said the attitudes towards the extreme risk taking that got us here in the first place hasn't changed. After all, why should bankers do things any differently when there is nothing to discourage their behavior? The typical worker has seen their 401k go down 24.3 percent, but Wall Street bonuses remain bigger than ever. The phrase "undeserved entitlement" comes to mind, to say the least.

It's time to end the notion of "too big to fail."

Welcome to the Showdown in Chicago, where the American people have come together to reclaim America and hold Wall Street accountable. It's Day 2 of the annual meet-up of the American Bankers Association, and nearly a thousand taxpayers decided to facilitate a little meet-and-greet between the people that created the financial crisis (and got rich from it), and the people who paid the price for Wall Street's greed--and footed the bill to bail the banks out.

Unfortunately, the banksters letting loose in the Sheraton's lavish ballroom couldn't be convinced to leave their posh party to attend our rally....but 40+ policemen and numerous onlookers turned out and I even saw several cops taking pictures of us. Around 60 taxpayers went into the hotel to invite the bankers to join us one last time, as well as deliver a letter to ABA CEO Ed Yingling. Access to the 2nd floor reception area was completely blocked off, so the taxpayers asked ABA's security to deliver the letter for them instead....and were refused.

Photo © 2009 Heather Stone Photography

Since we weren't allowed to deliver the letter to ABA CEO Ed Yingling, the taxpayers inside the Sheraton decided to speak out demands to the ABA from down in the lobby, loudly but respectfully. We're pretty sure Mr. Yingling he heard us...along with all the other partygoers. Onlookers who gathered to watch seemed surprised at what was going on--but not why we were there to demand an end to Wall Street greed.

I've been to my fair share of great protests, but I was particularly wowed by tonight's energetic chants and stand-out visuals. The hundreds of people chanting "ABA, you're the worst, time to put the people first" and "Enough is enough" rang out pretty powerfully. I think the police's personal favorite though, was our chant "Police need a raise!" The rally featured huge "Wanted" posters showing the poster children of greed, including cutouts of Bank of American CEO Ken Lewis, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Diamon. A rendition of soulful classic "Shame Shame Shame" by Shirley & Company was also belted out by the rallyers (and some of the audience too, I suspect).

"They said the banks were too big to fail," said rallygoer Keya Alvarez from the Alliance to Develop Power. "Well, I got news for them--the people are too big to fail!" We're gathered here in Chicago because we're sick and tired of being sick and tired. We're also here because we have hope--and we know Wall Street and America can do better. Stay tuned tomorrow for more coverage of our Chicago banks showdown, and be sure to follow our live updates on SEIU's Twitter feed.

Ken Lewis is on his way out at Bank of America. But not without one more parting gift from all of us.

Despite helping to drive us into one of the worst financial meltdowns in history, it's been revealed that Bank of America plans to send Ken Lewis out the door with a $53.3 million pension on top of the hundreds of millions he's already made during his failed tenure as CEO.

We're the ones paying billions in tax dollars to bail out Bank of America for the mistakes Ken Lewis made. We shouldn't let him take one more penny of our hard-earned money.

The Obama administration has appointed a 'pay czar,' Kenneth Feinberg, to make sure our tax dollars aren't being used to pay outrageous earnings to bank CEOs.

Will you tell the pay czar to stop payment on the Ken Lewis bailout? http://seiu.org/stoppayment

SEIU Secretary Treasurer Anna Burger will be delivering a letter to Mr. Feinberg, asking him to withhold Lewis' absurd compensation until Bank of America agrees to stop hurting our communities with reckless financial practices. But we want you, as a taxpayer, to sign on to the letter before we deliver it to Mr. Feinberg: http://seiu.org/stoppayment

The changes we're asking for are simple - and they're necessary to stop greedy banks from driving us toward another financial meltdown. Help make sure Ken Lewis doesn't get another dime of our money until Bank of America cleans up its act.

Sign on to Anna Burger's letter at http://seiu.org/stoppayment

P.S. It's not just Ken Lewis. CEOs at all the major banks are continuing to rake in millions, but they've done nothing to fix the problems that got us into this mess. Help us put them all on notice by signing the letter to pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

On the eve of the first G-20 summit since the global financial collapse, SEIU has a new report measuring the severe impact the economic crisis has had on working families. The report breaks down not just the cost of the bailouts, but also the (much, much bigger) associated costs that came along with them.

Here are some of the astounding highlights:

• Taxpayers have committed $4.7 trillion to the financial sector over the last year--only $700 billion of that $4.7 trillion was through TARP.
• The bank-induced economic crisis has cost American families $11 trillion in wealth in 2008, nearly 18% of their net worth.
• Americans have lost $6.1 trillion in homeowner wealth since June 2006.

Even banks like Goldman Sachs that returned their TARP funds earlier this year continue to benefit from other bailout programs, such as the $12.9 billion that Goldman received as an AIG counterparty that it will never have to pay back.

Meanwhile, banks continue to...

• Pay themselves millions in bonuses: the nation's top six banks paid out $31.2 billion in bonuses this past winter.
  
• Set aside $$ for future bonuses. In the first half of 2009 alone, banks set aside another $74.4 billion for bonuses and compensation--an amount alone that would solve the budget shortfalls in 15 states, including California.
  
• Make excessive profits on the backs of consumers: banks continue behaviors such as refusing to modify mortgages to prevent foreclosures and reducing their small business lending--they actually now give out less money than they did before their TARP infusion.
  
• Gouge us on overdraft fees. Americans will pay more than $38 billion in overdraft fees alone in 2009, more than $125 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.

The worst part? Big banks and other financial institutions aren't merely back to their old tricks and the same practices that caused the crisis in the first place--they're actually standing in the way of real reform that would protect consumers and prevent a future crisis.

Companies in the financial, insurance, and real estate sector spent $321 million lobbying against federal reforms such as:

• The creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency
  
• Limits on bonuses
  
• Loan modification proposals that could help keep millions of Americans in their homes,
  
• And the Employee Free Choice Act--which would provide a much-needed check on corporate power by giving workers a real voice in the workplace.

Read and download the report here:

Trillion Dollar Bank Job -

"We now understand that the actions of a small group of greedy CEOs and Wall Street investors can wreak havoc on the global economy, yet we still haven't taken the necessary steps to prevent a future crisis," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger at a briefing to release the report. At noon tomorrow, outside a secret meeting of the Financial Services Roundtable at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C., workers and community groups will kick off a month of actions in more than two dozen cities across the country.

Download the report here: The Trillion Dollar Bank Job: How Wall Street and the Big Banks Are Holding Up America's Economic Recovery.

"When Lehman Brothers fell, they took not just the rest of Wall Street, but all of Main Street, down with them. Yet, one year later, the greedy CEOs who caused the collapse are unremorseful, unrepentant, and virtually unchanged," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, following President Obama's speech yesterday on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. While the economy continues to recover, President Obama warned, "normalcy cannot lead to complacency."

Watch President Obama's speech yesterday from Wall Street's Federal Hall:

'Business as Usual'?

"You'd think that the collapse of over 90 banks in one year alone would be a powerful 'lesson learned' for the titans at big financial houses, but on Wall Street, it's back to 'business as usual,' said Burger. After bailing out banks to the tune of $4.7 trillion following the financial collapse, American taxpayers were then hit with the hidden costs of our bank-induced recession: foreclosures, unemployment and bankruptcies.

Now the big banks and financial corporations are hitting us a third time, by lobbying against meaningful reforms that could prevent a repeat of the crisis in the future.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Tom Donohue and his CEO allies might not think so, but America can't afford their reckless and selfish behavior any longer.

The current regulatory framework simply doesn't provide adequate protection to consumers--we need Congress to reform our financial system, fund strict enforcement of the rules, and give long term shareholders the power they need to reign in the out-of-control corporate elite. Let's stop this cycle before more jobs are lost, more homes are foreclosed, and more retirement accounts are wiped out. Don't let the U.S. Chamber and Big Banks delay consumer protection any longer.

Worker Pay vs. Executive Pay Ratio between average CEO pay and average U.S. worker pay: 319 to 14 Ratio between average CEO pay and minimum wage: 740 to 15

A new report out today from the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) shows the extent to which Wall Street's continued practice of paying out big figure bonuses to the architects of our economic collapse continues. The study found that the CEOs of the 20 financial industry firms that received the largest bailouts were paid nearly 40 percent more last year than other CEOs at Standard & Poor's 500 companies. The average CEO pay was 430 times larger than for the pay received by the average workers.

The new report shows how many of the CEOs responsible for our country's economic downfall are now using the crisis as a jumping off point for even greater personal windfalls. Some of the study's findings:

• $32 million: The amount the top five executives at each of the 20 banks that accepted the most federal bailout money received in personal compensation from 2006 to 2008.


• 1,000 years: The number of years 100 average workers would have to work for to make as much as these 100 executives made in three.
• $90 million: That's how much stock options soared in 2009 for nine of the 20 bailout banks, based on IPS's examination of corporate proxy statements.
• 160,000: The number of employees who have been laid off since January 1, 2008 at the top 20 financial industry recipients of taxpayer funded bailout money.
• A quarter-billion dollars: The total amount of compensation the 20 CEOs at these bailed-out companies made. When you break it down, the payout "rewarded" to each exec averages $13.8 million.

This alarming study should serve as yet another reminder that giving astoundingly huge rewards to corporate executives only serves to give executives a much greater incentive to behave outrageously--and engage in reckless behaviors that put American taxpayers and our economy at great financial risk. Download the report "America's Bailout Barons: Taxpayers, High Finance, and the CEO Pay Bubble."

Big banks and CEOs didn't mind quick action from Congress when they were begging for billion dollar bailouts--but now that they've got them, they're back to thinking about their next bonus or the latest and greatest way to delay action on President Obama's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).

USA Today dishes out a scathing critique of Wall Street's continued practice of paying out big figure bonuses to the architects of our economic collapse. "Wall Street's economic well-being is totally based on taxpayers' money saving them from disaster, and they've already forgotten that," said SEIU's Stephen Lerner. "Americans lost trillions of dollars in wealth from the economic collapse, and while Wall Street got bailed out, it will take years for workers on Main Street to get jobs and work their way out of this economic catastrophe."

The consumer protection reform bill was passed on July 31 and will be brought to a vote in the Senate after the August recess. We need action sooner, not later--click here to fax your Representatives and tell them the U.S. Chamber and big banks shouldn't set the agenda on financial reform.

It appears that big bonuses are back on Wall Street....er rather, maybe they never really left.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that "Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the US... Highly paid employees received nearly $2.1 trillion of the $6.4 trillion in total US pay in 2007, the latest figures available." Let me repeat that -- more than one-third of all pay in the U.S.

Adding to the slew of evidence that big banks are already returning to their old (economy-crushing) ways, the Washington Post reports that the top six U.S. banks have set aside $74 billion in 2009 for bonuses and other compensation--up $14 billion from last year alone. These six banks -- Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley -- are all TARP recipients, and we're not talking chump change here either.

So today, we thought we'd highlight one particularly egregious example of "old habits dying hard." And that's putting it lightly.

To date, Citigroup has received $45 billion dollars in bailout money. Curious as to what this deeply-wounded bank has been doing recently to get back on their feet and pay American taxpayers back? Raising interest rates on as many as 15 million credit card holders, organizing a call to "build opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act" and and doling out million-dollar bonuses to their "star" company bigwigs, of course! Because who deserves an $100 million bonus more than a big deal energy trader who works for a bank that's 33 percent owned by the government? (As Citi helpfully points out, giving company higher-ups compensation bonuses they can't really afford is how they retain talent and turn such monumental profits. Oh wait....)

"As millions of families struggle just to hang onto their homes and get through the next month's bills, the architects of the economic crisis are using our tax dollar bailouts on the kind of bonus money that finances glitzy Upper East Side Penthouses and glamorous Riviera getaways," said SEIU president Andy Stern. Rather than focusing on paying back the billions they borrowed, financial institutions like Citigroup continue to hold onto the failed policies of the past that enrich the very few at top while indebting the rest of America.

The White House's executive pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, who's charged with reining in what the administration sees as extravagantly oversized bonuses, will most likely vet whether or not Citigroup's energy trader Andrew Hall--who owns a 1,000-year-old castle and extensive modern art collection rumored to be valued at around $60 million--gets his $100 million bonus. Which begs the question: Are wealthy Americans truly turning back to pre-crisis habits, even as most of the country remains in deep economic stress?

Watch MSNBC's take on the situation:

Bailout architects have stuck to their story that the government will probably to get most of the bailout money back. But since the bailouts began almost a year ago, Wall Street's refusal to scale back dangerous pay habits like these make it seem probably that the federal government--and taxpayers--can say "sayonara" to some of their money.

Now more than ever, we need the Employee Free Choice Act to level the playing field against this kind of excessive corporate greed.

On every major initiative to help restore our economy, from healthcare to financial reform to the Employee Free Choice Act, banks and corporations have the same unproductive mantra--"we need to wait"..."now's not the time"...and "action now will hurt the economy." Today, another repeat performance, as reports hit the news that Congress is delaying action on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency after a series of lobbying efforts and a letter from the U.S. Chamber and big banks. SEIU's Anna Burger had this to say:

"Big banks and CEOs didn't mind quick action from Congress when they were begging for billion dollar bailouts. Now that they're flush with cash they want to stifle recovery for the rest of us and hang on to the same reckless business practices that toppled our economy in the first place.

"It's past time for the U.S. Chamber and big banks to stop thinking about their next bonus or the latest and greatest way to scam consumers and taxpayers and really commit to being a partner in our country's economic recovery."

Unfair financial products--like "exploding" mortgages with skyrocketing interest rates, and credit cards with incomprehensible and unfair terms and fees--are a large part of what caused the economic meltdown that resulted in millions of Americans losing their homes, their jobs, and their retirement savings. Which is why President Obama's plan to create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency is the next step toward stopping the dangerous and deceptive products and practices that got us into this mess.

Yet once more, Wall Street and big banks are doing their best to stand in the way of the financial reform this country needs to get back on its feet by trying to block the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by President Obama. And (surprise!), they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars to do it.

It's starting to feel as though it's never going to be a "good time" for corporate America's army of of corporations and the lobbyists they hire to push their agendas to take a hit and do what's best for working people in this country. So we'd just like to remind them one more time why it is they're still in business: taxpayer bailouts.

We have to make sure our representatives hear from us, and not just the big banks' lobbyists. Please call your member of Congress right now and ask them to support the new consumer financial protection agency.

This is Andy Stern, President of SEIU.

I wanted to write you about the recent news about the Employee Free Choice Act. The New York Times reported on Friday that the Senate is considering dropping majority signup from the Employee Free Choice Act.

Majority signup is based on a simple idea: if a majority of workers say they want a union, they should get a union. It's the best way to make sure workers have a free and fair choice to join a union without intimidation or harassment.

It's important that both the House and Senate consider majority signup. Working people want to see where Congress stands on this common-sense idea to level the playing field against corporate greed.

I created a petition to Congress for you to show support for majority signup. Can you please add you name?

In the last week, we've seen that Wall Street is back to business as usual. Bank of America and Citigroup posted billions in profits. Goldman Sachs made $38 million a day in the last three months and is set to pay out record bonuses.

Corporate greed alive and well, despite billions in bailouts. Meanwhile, unemployment is still rising, and many working people are still struggling to get by in the rough economy.

That's why we need the Employee Free Choice Act. At its core, the Employee Free Choice Act is about fairness. By giving employees the free choice to join unions - and not their bosses - majority signup allows workers to have a voice on the job.

Congress needs to hear about your support for majority signup. Sign my petition to Congress in support of majority signup and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Thanks for all you do.

Upon hearing the news that bailed-out insurer AIG plans to reward top executives $2.4 million in bonuses next week, SEIU's first reaction was...sheer and utter disbelief. As in, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING US. How is it possible that the same company that received the largest of all taxpayer bailouts, at a total cost of $173 billion to the American people, would decide it's a good idea to reward themselves for doing such a fantastic job of losing more money?

In a Fox News Sunday interview last month, Chamber president Thomas Donohue defended the bonuses. In his answer to interviewer Chris Wallace's question, "So are you saying if AIG wants to give million-dollar bonuses, so be it?" Donohue said:

I'm saying if -- AIG is in a lot of trouble, but I'm saying if it took the right people to fix AIG, you're going to have to pay them. Same thing right here in this network. You know, if you lost your -- you couldn't pay your very best people, I'm not sure they'd stay. They'd probably go to another network.

Never one to stand quietly on the sidelines while other financial services and business lobbies are publicly flaunting their corporate greed and lack of accountability, the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) made a particularly striking 'contribution' earlier in the week to the recent wealth of outrageous "are you kidding me?!" behavior, in an appearance on C-Span, no less. When asked by the host what the Roundtable would support instead of Obama's Consumer Financial Protection Agency to increase consumer protection, FSR's Senior VP for Gov. Affairs Scott Talbott answered "We're not for any regulation."

While Talbott went on to then describe ways he thought the system could be enhanced, his admission confirms what we already knew: That big bank executives, credit card and financial services companies will stop at nothing [even humiliating themselves on television!] to maintain the same haphazard, practically non-existent regulation that helped tank our economy in the first place. "Even as average Americans scrimp and save, there continues to be this poisonous culture in corporate America, that says that greed and corruption and 'what's in it for me' are all acceptable," said SEIU president Andy Stern.

In spite of being crowned the "Bailout King," it seems abundantly clear that insurance giant AIG's executives are still not making business decisions with consideration as for how they would improve the lives of their new investors -- us. So SEIU is offering AIG some advice from the viewpoint of the people whose hard-earned money went to bailing them out: Halt the millions in bonuses you're seeking to give to top executives, AIG. A fundamental duty to shareholders has been violated, and it's time for both AIG and the U.S. Chamber to give up their roles as chief defenders of the broken system.

Bonuses, bailouts, and a broken system: Is this the America in which big banks and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believe in?

The Washington Post reports today that Chamber and the banking industry are intensifying their lobbying efforts against financial reform. Recognizing their parallel efforts to fund campaigns against working families, the unappetizing alliance of big bank executives, credit card and financial services companies is joining forces to intensify their lobbying efforts against financial reform. "It's no surprise that the U.S. Chamber and the big banks that drove our economy into the ground are joining forces to defend a failed financial model that enriches CEOs at the expense of shareholders, workers, and our economy," commented SEIU's Anna Burger, on efforts to block the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by President Obama.

Obama's proposed agency would oversee a range of financial products, from mortgages to credit cards and checking and savings accounts to guard against anti-consumer sales practices and fight for needed reforms to protect front-line bank workers and consumers. The coalition fighting the Obama consumer agency plan views their efforts to protect those on the receiving end of multi-billion-dollar taxpayer bailouts as simply "allowing the financial services industry to serve its customers in the best way possible." Um, U.S. taxpayers who've been forced to subsidize banks' bad behavior with billions of their hard-earned money might not agree. The coalition's prescription for financial reform to make their case so far include rebranding the same reckless policies that will drive families deeper into debt and launching a massive PR campaign to scare Americans with 'Harry and Louise' style TV ads.

BofA "encourages" its employees to help consumers rack up debt

This comes a week after current and former Bank of America workers stepped forward to expose harmful anti-consumer practices by the bank that encourage customers to sign up for high-interest-rate credit and cash advance services to max out customer credit, as well as structuring a variety of check and debit card services resulting in overdraft fees and other charges. A former BofA employee from Landover Hills, MD, Gabby Inaleis, said that although initially she thought she was taking financial services job, it didn't take very long to realize BofA had no interest in helping customers reach their financial goals. Under constant pressure from her manager to meet unrealistic sales goals (example: sell at least 40 checking accounts every Friday), Gabby reported she would often sell multiple checking accounts to clients that didn't need them by offering to waive the account fees for a couple of months. "It became standard practice to make a customer who wasn't planning on opening an account wait for up to an hour to speak with a personal banker," she says.

No employee bonuses until grandmothers everywhere are penniless (and cold): Among the former bank workers who spoke out was Chris Feener, an ex-employee with 15 years' experience in the industry who worked in BofA's collections department. The department's #1 priority, said Chris, was to collect payment from customers who hadn't made a payment on their credit card for 180 days--no matter the cost. "There was a time I was encouraged to tell an elderly woman to sell her stove and cook on a Bunsen burner to pay off her credit card debt that [the bank] had inflated over time," said Chris.

The questionable practices BofA employees were made to engage in to ensure their jobs were safe didn't stop there, for Chris and his coworkers. "In 2007 when BofA's numbers were particularly low, we were given scripts to read on our customers' answering machines, threatening to sue them or collect any assets they had if they didn't," he said. "It was called the Maxwell message, and for three months straight we used that method, forcing customers needlessly to file for bankruptcy."

And that's not all! Enter more violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Chris says he and his team members were pushed to do if a customer had a delinquent account: publicly humiliate the customer to shame them into paying. "We were required to call every customers neighbor on every account--the sole purpose was to embarrass the customer and encourage the neighbor to personally bring a phone note to the neighbor to deliver the messages for us."

The BofA bank workers who shared their stories all acknowledged they felt as though the practices like the ones described above were unethical. But one should not underestimate how powerful the pressure to "sell, sell, sell" can be when it comes from a person of authority, like one's manager--or an entire institution (like Bank of America). Without any real whistleblower protections, most workers are too afraid to speak up for fearing of losing their job--something no one supporting themselves in this dismal economy can afford to chance.

SEIU, U.S. PIRG and the National Association of Consumer Advocates have outlined new protections to ensure front-line bank workers can speak out and create a financial industry that puts consumers and the health of our overall economy ahead of quick profits for bank executives. Read them here. "It's clear that big bank executives and the U.S. Chamber will stop at nothing to stand in the way of real solutions for our economy," says Anna Burger. "That's why it's more important than ever that bank workers be a part of any financial reform package."

Yesterday U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue appeared on Fox News Sunday, and in the course of a 15-minute interview, defended taxpayer-funded bonuses, championed a broken healthcare system, and brushed off concerns about bailed out companies.

Let's take a look at just some select segments:

Bonuses: Donohue went to bat for the bonuses at bailed out company AIG, which was the target of public outrage earlier this year.

WALLACE: So are you saying if AIG wants to give million-dollar bonuses, so be it?

DONOHUE: I'm saying if -- AIG is in a lot of trouble, but I'm saying if it took the right people to fix AIG, you're going to have to pay them. Same thing right here in this network. You know, if you lost your -- you couldn't pay your very best people, I'm not sure they'd stay. They'd probably go to another network.

Bailouts: Immediately after defending AIG's outrageous bonuses, Donohue brushes off any and all concerns about bailout companies.

WALLACE: We're also not taking a huge bailout from the federal government.

DONOHUE: But I'm not particularly worried about those few companies that took the bailout. That will work out. . .

Yes. Just close your eyes, cross your fingers, and it "will work out." That's responsible governance for you.

Healthcare reform: Donohue defends the status quo of healthcare in America, asserting both that a.) businesses are doing enough for healthcare already, and b.) a public option shouldn't be used to cover those who don't already have health insurance. Does Donohue prefer the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" option for healthcare reform?

DONOHUE: But what we're saying -- there should be a bill that does wellness. There should be a bill that helps us perhaps have a mandate on individuals. There should not be a mandate on companies. We now cover 170 million Americans.

We -- and by the way, if you're going to do a federal plan, I think you've got a real problem, because you're going to have more opposition to what we're trying to do here than you can imagine, because you're going to put everybody else in a very difficult position and a non-competitive position.

Bonuses, bailouts, and a broken system: Is that the America in which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes? Here's hoping they don't get their way for much longer.

There are two storylines that Bank of America has been pushing about its decision to go through with the Merrill Lynch acquisition, even after it became clear that Merrill was facing billions in losses. The first paints Bank of America as a martyr that decided to bite the bullet and go through with the deal in order to save the broader economy from collapse. The second is that BofA was forced into a shotgun wedding by federal regulators. But recently released emails from Federal Reserve officials raise questions about both of these stories.

As for the notion that BofA returned to the taxpayer trough for a second serving of bailout funds in order to save Merrill and prevent a larger financial catastrophe... According to the Washington Post, the Fed's internal emails show that "the government did not just move to rescue the Merrill Lynch acquisition -- officials also needed to rescue Bank of America," whose "own health still was in a downward spiral. Regulators calculated more than half the decline in Bank of America's capital reserves was the result of internal problems..."

Far from being Merrill's heroic savior, these events raise the question: Did BofA use Merrill as a crutch to garner public sympathy for another taxpayer handout? Or perhaps something even more cynical. The Washington Post reports that when BofA CEO Ken Lewis testified before a Congressional committee on June 11th, "Democrats pressed Lewis to acknowledge he had threatened to leave a major investment bank to a grim fate as a gambit to get public money" (more on that below).

Which brings us back to that second storyline -- the shotgun wedding.

Tomorrow, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis will face tough questioning in his testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at 10:00 a.m.

He'll be asked about his role in the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the excessive bonuses paid to Merrill executives and the billions that taxpayers have provided to bail out the country from the deep losses and economic damage Bank of America's decisions caused. This will be Lewis' first trip to Capitol Hill since Bank of America failed the federal government's stress tests and a coalition led by SEIU delivered nearly 100,000 "Taxpayer Proxies" demanding that the Bank fire Ken Lewis.

Tomorrow, will Ken Lewis....

a) Apologize for his bank's role in bringing down the economy?
b) Commit to transparency and real financial reform?
c) Commit to ending consumer abuses like exorbitant overdraft fees, predatory financial practices, and the bank's irresponsible lending and acquisitions?
d) Commit to providing affordable healthcare for all employees?
e) Stop lobbying against solutions--such as banking reform and pro-worker legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act--that would give bank workers a voice on the job, protect consumers, end corporate excess, and finally build an economy that works for everyone?

We'll hopefully find out the answers to these questions after tomorrow's testimony. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts---do you think Ken Lewis will do the right thing in in his testimony and commit himself/Bank of America to being a partner (instead of a toxic asset) in rebuilding our economy?

Yesterday SEIU launched an online campaign asking senators to stand with working people, not greedy CEOs, on the Employee Free Choice Act.  The Huffington Post wrote of our campaign:

One of the nation's largest unions is making a significant ad purchase targeting four Democrats and one Republican Senator on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Targeting Democratic Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Jim Webb of Virginia, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, as well as Republican David Vitter of Louisiana, the message is at once effective and sharp: To oppose the labor-backed legislation would be to side with the institutions that create the current economic malaise.

In addition to putting out the four web videos, the SEIU is also launching email campaigns targeting the five senators, with much the same message and aim.
The email campaign mirrored the below message sent to our Arkansas activists; you can see all the ads below.

Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, stand with Arkansas' working people, not greedy CEOs

Arkansas

Louisiana

Pennsylvania

Virginia

The fight to keep creditor Wells Fargo Bank from liquidating Hartmarx menswear factory appears to ramping up, as the bailed-out bank said today that it is opposing the $119 million bid by the British private equity firm Emerisque to save the bankrupt men's clothier. But don't you worry, because according to the statement Wells Fargo put out today, they are rejecting the offer in question for the good of the workers employed by Hart Schaffner & Marx.

Riiiight. The same 3,000+ workers who will lose their jobs if chief lender Wells Fargo forces the suit maker into liquidation? Just checking.

The union representing Hartmarx workers, members of SEIU affiliate Workers United, do not plan on taking Wells Fargo's blatant push to doom their company to liquidation lying down. From their statement today:

[...] Wells Fargo's statement is a thinly veiled attempt to force liquidation. It is outrageous for a bank that has received billions in taxpayer money to reject Emerisque's generous bid to save the company and thousands of good jobs.

The union has an understanding with Emerisque that it will assume Hartmarx's obligations to their employees including the union contract obligations. In addition Emerisque will not close the Rock Island Illinois facility. Emerisque is committed to the 'Made in America' label for Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner & Marx. These are the kind of good union jobs that are needed in our currently depressed economy. We call on Wells Fargo, recipient of 25 billion dollars in taxpayer support, to have a similar commitment to American jobs.

The president of Workers United, Edgar Romney, today also wrote a letter to the bankruptcy judge for the bankruptcy hearing Monday, reaffirming support by the union for the sale of the menswear retailer to Emerisque, believing that this sale "will not only produce the highest and best offer for the Debtors' assets, but will be instrumental in preserving thousands of jobs during a recession of historic proportions." Read the letter.

"It would appear to us that Wells Fargo prefers a liquidation."

In a separate statement, Emerisque also expressed their disagreement with Wells Fargo's stance: "There is a significant gap between [Wells Fargo's] expectations and the reality of where asset valuations are in the current market. Hartmarx ran a sale process that has lasted almost four months before selecting Emerisque as the stalking horse bidder. The fact that the highest bid was selected after such a lengthy process surely tells its own story. The Emerisque bid is fully diligenced, and financing and ability to close are as certain as is possible at this stage of the process and in this environment. Any suggestion otherwise is simply not truthful.

"Furthermore, all that a stalking horse does is establish a 'floor' value for an auction. It would appear to us that Wells Fargo prefers a liquidation."

As we've previously reported on the SEIU Blog, Hartmarx workers in Des Plaines, Illinois and Rochester, NY stand ready to protect their jobs with the 130 year-old Chicago-based menswear factory--even if it means occupying their local factories in a sit-in.

Will you stand with them?

How is Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis feeling a day before shareholders vote on whether or not he gets to keep his job? Stressed out, apparently. A Wall Street Journal story today reports that preliminary results of the Treasury's 'stress tests' of the major banks show that BofA may need to raise "billions of dollars." An analyst at FBR Group, a DC-area financial firm, projects that BofA's capital shortfall could be up to $70 billion.

The official stress test results don't come out until next week, but if BofA fails, the government may have to pour tens of billions more into the bank. Ken Lewis' mismanagement of the bank already has taxpayers on the hook for up to $199.2 billion.

It is time for CEO Ken Lewis to go. Click here to sign your taxpayer proxy card demanding that Lewis be fired and we will make sure it's delivered to Bank of America tomorrow.

While the US taxpayer has been more than generous towards Bank of America, giving the bank up to $199.2 billion in federal assistance, CEO Ken Lewis hasn't exactly returned the favor.

The New York Post is now reporting that Bank of America has "expanded its India-based payroll to 5 percent of its 301,000 employees" this year - a total of around 15,000 people.

While expanding operations in India, Bank of America continues to lay off its American workers. Since 2004, the bank has cut over 34,000 American jobs, and recently announced plans to eliminate up to 35,000 additional jobs over the next three years. These cuts will amount to 12% of the company's workforce, and would be one of the largest rounds of layoffs in the history of the financial services industry.

"I feel bad about firing people, but at least I have the courage to do it." -Ken Lewis, Bank of America CEO

Another note to Ken Lewis: We invested in you. It's about time that you invested in us, too.

"It's as if these guys got a windfall payoff for betting the family's savings on the wrong horse. A fundamental duty to shareholders has been violated, and we expect immediate action by the Boards of Directors to put a stop to these unmerited executive payouts," said SEIU President and SEIU Master Trust Chair Andy Stern.

In letters addressed to the Boards of Directors of 29 major companies in its investment portfolio, the SEIU Master Trust--a consortium of pension funds with approximately $1.3 billion in assets--demand that the companies' boards overhaul their executive compensation structure so top executives do not reap bonuses and other incentivized pay rewards regardless of the companies' performance. The SEIU Master Trust argues that corporate compensation payments based on false economic metrics may be recovered under U.S. Law, and asks the companies to overhaul executive compensation practices to better align them with corporate performance.

Since 2005, the top five most highly paid executives at the 29 financial services firms received a total of more than $3.5 billion in cash and equity pay, and over $1.5 billion in stock options. The companies include the most well-known names in banking, insurance, and financial services, such as AIG, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co. American Express and Goldman Sachs.

"The recent collapse of the companies' stock prices show that the economic metrics used by the boards in justifying these compensation payments were worthless, and that the companies' stock prices were artificially inflated," said Stephen Abrecht, Executive Director of the SEIU Master Trust.

Click here to review the complete list of the 29 companies in the SEIU Master Trust portfolio receiving letters.