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Students beware.

A little history. Last spring, I was on financial aid, and taking 3 courses – Calculus 2 (4 credits), Physics 251 (4 credits), and orienteering (1 credit). I was also working on the first project at my last job. When I signed up for the job, I agreed to occasional day trips, but a monthinto the semester, the requirements changed. I was to go to Greensboro (and shortly enough, travel around the country), and to be up there the whole week for quite some time. I wasn’t happy, but I worked with my Calculus and Physics professors, and came to a resolution. Orienteering didn’t matter, it was a weekend class for 2 weeks. My second weekend for the class came after my first few days in Greensboro (anyone who knew me then should remember I had the flu, running a 103 degree fever…).

The next week, I tried the arrangement, but realized the only person I was cheating was myself, so, against my principles, I withdrew. Prior to withdrawing, I spoke with financial aid, and they said I wouldn’t have to pay anything back, which helped seal that fateful decision.

Well, apparently you can’t trust everything your told, even by a college official that specializes in that particular field. After returning from my nationwide tour, installing equipment for the US Trust transition, I registered for a summer course. Unfortunately, I couldn’t register. The system showed I owed the school $819.

So I went up to the school, spoke with financial aid, apparently the person I spoke to forgot some, uh, important stuff. Thanks guy! Then I go to the cashier’s office. I admitted that fine, whatever, I owe the college money. Tried to set up a payment plan, since $819 is a large chunk to swallow, especially when your told that you would owe $819 less! Oh, they would, but they wouldn’t let me register until it was paid. According to the supervisor I dealt with, that was financial aid, not the cashier’s office. Talk about accountability. “You’re a representative of the college.” Yea yea, he was a boneheaded jerk. Sure, I know there are people who try to scam their way through, but given I had never owed the college anything (I always paid my tuition, that was only my second semester on financial aid), and the fact that at the time I had a 3.7 GPA. Ok, whatever, he’s a jerk. I ended up paying for it on my credit card (shooting it back to the limit, but hey, I got my financing), and was told that I owed no more money to the college.

Fast forward a year. Today is May 11th, 2009. I just took my 2 finals today (Calculus 2 and Physics 251, only a year later), and after my first exam, I went to the graduation office. I had some concerns about what showed up on my program evaluation, and I wanted to ensure that I would get to walk Thursday and I would have no issues with getting my degree in July.

One of the issues was that it showed that I had no PE class, yet when I check my transcript on CPCC’s MyCollege, it shows I passed it with an A. I noticed that on her system it showed a status “NP,” and she had to call someone to find out what it meant. Means Non-Payment (which was my guess). But hey! I paid this thing a year ago!

So once again, I trudge up to the cashier’s office. After standing around for about 15 or 20, they finally showed me where, according to their system, I didn’t pay it. Here’s how:

• 11/9/07 - I registered - $526.50+
• 1/2/08  – I bought books, supplies, and a new calculator – $352.22+ , new balance – $878.72+
• 2/7/08 – Federal Pell Grant payment pf $472.00, new balance of $406.72+
• 2/7/08 – NC Community College Grant payment of $337.00, new balance of $69.72+
• 2/7/08 – NC Education Lottery Scholarship payment of $310.00, new balance of $240.28-
• 2/8/08 – Financial Aid Refund of $240.28 dispersed, new balance – $0
• 2/21/08 – Dropped Calculus and Physics, account credited then recharged $526.50, balance still $0
• 3/24/08 – Federal Pell Grant charge-back of $272.00, new balance $272.00+
• 3/24/08 – NC Community College Grant charge-back of $337.00, new balance of $609.00+
• 3/24/09 – NC Education Lottery Scholarship charge-back of $310(including refunded amount), new balance $919.00+

Apparently, this is the amount that I should have been charged for, and had I been charged that at the time of payment, I would have paid it. When you want my money, best to ask me while my wallet is open. However, check out the next bit of, umm, curious accounting that I have yet to understand the purpose:

• 3/25/08 – Account credited $526.50 (price of tuition), new balance $392.50+
• 3/25/08 – Account now charged $426.50 (price of Calculus and Physics), new balance $819.00+
• 5/13/2008 – Payment of $819.00, new balance $0

For some ungodly reason, they dropped my PED class. Why? I don’t know. I had already completed it (0ver a monthbefore), and had a grade associated with it (A, the easiest A ever). That is a financial obligation, yet they arbitrarily didn’t include it. The only thing I can assume is a sick joke, but irregardless, at this point, I will not pay it. If they wanted the money for it, they should’ve asked then. They didn’t. They told me they would not allow me to register if I did not pay my financial obligations to the college, so I paid. I’ve now registered for my 4th straight semester, yet they say I didn’t pay for a completed class,which is a financial obligation.

In fact, from the Students’ Rights and Responsibilities, Code of Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedures section of the CPCC Student Handbook, section V (Sanctions), number 6

Withholding transcript, diploma, or right to register or participate in graduation ceremonies: Imposed when financial obligations are not met—the student will not be allowed to register until all financial obligations are met.

At the time I paid the $819, I was informed that all financial obligations are met. Now they say I didn’t pay for a class, which was financial obligation at the time I paid. As I see it, they have forfeited their right to make that claim, given that the policies explicitly state that I would be unable to register for further classes. By the fact that I made payment and have continued my studies at the college, that explicit statement also means that I have no financial obligations with the college (I have already paid the summer tuition, so I owe $0).

So sorry Charlie, don’t come to be and cry about spilled milk. The college (or as that jerk in cashiering would state, “the cashier’s office”) informed me at the time I made that payment that I was paying my financial obligations to the college. So the cashier’s office can now fix their mistake, and eat their $100. Because I will graduate this summer, and I will not pay a financial obligation that was resolved a year ago. Paying an extra $100 then might have hurt, but now it is outrageous, and will not be tolerated. Even if I were still working, I’d still tell them no.

So where’s the scam? Make sure that when making payments to the college, insure that your full payment is covering everything it is intended too. The cashiering department, including the supervisors I have had experience with, will not get you anywhere, even when you have a valid claim. The department cares little of fault, and through experience claims allegiance to any other part of the college.

Tomorrow I am going up there to speak to the supervisor, or the supervisor’s supervisor, or God knows who else. If I have to make an appeal I will. But don’t hold it against me to try and get Action 9 involved. The last thing we need in a bad economy is for public colleges and universities to screw around with their students on financial matters.

I’ll post an update tomorrow with whatever I got out of my meeting.

Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America

Read an interesting article on the Dow Jones Newswire today. Of all of the criticism that Ken Lewis, CEO and former Chairman of the Board at Bank of America, has received, he got a bit of praise from an unexpected source: Barney Frank. Rep Frank commended Ken Lewis’ bold move to forge ahead with Merrill Lynch, and in doing so saving the markets from another fatal blow.

 

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Lewis needs to get credit for acting in the broader public interest by going through with the deal.

“People say ‘What’s the matter with these financial executives? Why are they only thinking of their own narrow interest? What about the public interest?’” Frank said. “That’s what Ken did. It ought to be acknowledged.”

 

Now the shareholders seem to have a different thought, being upset that the public interest prevailed over the interest of the shareholders. Yet as a shareholder, you should also recognize that the public interest is YOUR interest too. And if we want to get technical, the people of the United States, by proxy of the United States Government, have a vested interest as well.

Unfortunately, shareholders look at the world via tunnel vision. Sure, they realize that things are happening, but their only concerns are their shares. I can understand that, I am defensive over my money too. While it is understandable, sometimes we need to take a step back and look at the larger picture. Merrill was perilously close to failing, and probably would’ve declared bankruptcy at the same time as Lehman Brothers. Lehman dying was bad enough, imagine the shockwave of Merrill went too. I highly doubt that the pain would’ve only been doubled; instead, I think we would be looking at EXPONENTIALLY worse issues. In other words, not an outcome we wanted to consider. To oversimplify it, things would’ve gotten much worse for all players involved.

But what would’ve happened if the Merrill deal wasn’t approved? Merrill, just reeling off of its $15 billion loss, would’ve been toast. Since September, Merrill was on life support, and if the bank had pulled the plug, I fear the markets would’ve gone into another painfully fast spiral. Bank of America would’ve been hurt too in the process, so don’t believe otherwise.

Instead, Ken Lewis and upper management did some questionable things, but ensured the deal went through. A large portion of Bank of America’s 1st quarter profits are a direct result of Merrill Lynch, and as the transition and cost cutting measures continue, I believe we will quickly see even more gains related to Merrill. Ken Lewis helped to avoid further disruptions in the market by snatching up Merrill, and provided the best value for the shareholders by getting Merrill before its reputation was marred with bankruptcy. You don’t hear the names Lehman Brothers or Bear Sterns doing business anymore, because those names are worthless. Merrill Lynch does have a longstanding reputation and incredible brand recognition, which is going to prove to be additional value down the road.

I was reading my latest issue of Conde Nast Portfolio, and in it they had a list of the Best 20 and Worst 20 CEO’s of all-time. Names like Henry Ford, Lee Iacocca, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, John D. Rockafella, and Andrew Carnegie fit in the best, while names like Fuld (former CEO of Lehman), Lay (former CEO of Enron), and Pandit (CEO, Citigroup) filled up the worst 20. So what defined a great CEO over an average one? Most were defined by their innovations, but many were defined by their ability to make tough choices regardless of criticism during difficult times. Its easy to make decisions when things are going good. But when the economy is crumbling all around, and everyone is looking for a decision to be made, those who made those tough decisions and made them work, those were the guys who earned their right to be called a best CEO. I think Ken Lewis has done an outstanding job leading Bank of America, especially during these murky times. Only time will prove this, but I honestly believe that he has equipped the shareholders with the best tools to get through this recession, and to emerge a much more powerful, and valuable, investment on the other side.

Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis has resigned from Chairman of the Board of Directors. He was replace by Dr. Walter E. Massey, an independent board member

That’s right. SEIU won this battle against the board, by getting this proposal through with right at 50.34% of the vote. The recount makes absolute sense now, given the .6% difference. But wow, I honestly didn’t think it would make it. I figured it would be close, but, wow. Coincidentally, this is the first time the by-laws of an S&P 500 company has ever been amended through a proxy vote.

The good news is that the entire board was re-elected by a comfortable margin, according to the PR Newswire. Lewis is still the Chief Executive Officer, and given that everything else went through, there shouldn’t be too much disruption in the leadership of the bank. Dr. Walter E. Massey has now replaced Lewis as the Chairman.

Why am I so concerned about this? I mentioned earlier that I had points I wanted to address but wasn’t able too. Well, here’s my points:

• As was pointed out during the meeting, “you don’t change captains in the middle of a hurricane or a tornado, and right now we are in a hurricane and a tornado.”
• Beyond the current economic crisis, Bank of America is in the midst of two major transition projects. Countrywide, which is winding down some, and Merrill Lynch, which is just kicking off
• Bank of America, under Ken Lewis, has a strong history of successful integrations of acquired companies into the format of Bank of America. This is achieved by stable senior management, identifying key factors, and ensuring their respective teams are on the mark
• Merrill Lynch is a massive acquisition and requires an all out effort to be realized fully. The success of this project is directly linked with stable leadership.
• Ken Lewis and his team have earned a great deal of respect from a majority of the employees of Bank of America (at least from what I have witnessed from across the country, meeting bank associates in 10 different states, at about 40 or more different sites)
• Disrupting senior management at this time would be a poorly calculated move. We risk devaluing our shares off of a purely emotional move.
• As for the accusations of not looking out for the shareholders, until all of the facts are fully known, we cannot make a sound decision regarding those actions. Nothing is cut and dry, and this is America. Innocent until proven guilty.

What it all boils down to is that the last thing we need to do at this particular moment is to shake things up to the point that we inadvertently hurt ourselves. There is a time and a place for this, and while the shareholder meeting might be the right place, the timing is too soon. We, at a minimum, need to ensure that we can fully realize the potential of Merrill Lynch before we make rash decisions. Ken Lewis has a proven track record of making these acquisitions work, which says a lot about him and his team. These transitions are extremely complicated and time-consuming. Transitions were my favorite projects by the way, the only true challenges I ever saw on the job. I worked on the Print Optimization project for the US Trust transition (which after 6 years of so, Charles Schwabb STILL couldn’t integrate properly), and trained technicians in Chicago for BAND refresh (hardware upgrade) at the LaSalle bank transition. I’ve seen this stuff in action.

Irregardless of my personal experiences, it is well proven that these things are difficult to do, and even more difficult to do right. The current leadership of Bank of America has excelled in the category, and at the current moment, this is the talents we need on board. So we need a wait at least until next year, or the year after that, before we even begin to consider forcing Lewis out. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?

As a footnote, for the record, I am a strong supporter of Ken Lewis. He may not be perfect, but he’s a damn good CEO, and in the world of the biggest banks, BofA may have the highest standards of ethical and moral practices out there. Not saying I agree with everything, but given a corporation with the size and scope of this place, few can compare. Ken Lewis does have a drive to do the right thing, which is why I think he pushed ahead with Merrill. Had Merrill been left hanging in December, the shockwaves through the system would have been tremendous, and may have claimed even more casualties along the way. If the shareholders of the bank have a problem with putting our neck out there to protect all parties involved, then they may need to begin to question their own American spirit. Could the whole thing have been handled better? Probably. Should Ken Lewis has reported the larger than expected losses? Probably. Do I regret BofA buying Merrill? Absolutely not. In the long run, we the shareholders will have a lot to gain through the additional revenue generation of Merrill Lynch. Not to mention the pride and respect for being able to take on the risk to save everyone’s asses.

I guess I do have one other final thought. Some of the individuals who spoke, especially the olders one who were complaining, because it was affecting their retirement. Maybe next time they should read the damned disclosures, and maybe pay attention to the single most common piece of advice about saving for retirement. The older you get, the further away from equities you should be. If you’ve lost $75,000 in retirement because of Bank of America, and you are old enough to be able time to retire (or already retired), then you’ve got WAY too much money tied up in equities. Way too much. So stop your bitching because you refused to read basic, sound advice, don’t bitch because you refused to read a word on the disclosure statements, letting you know the risks of owning equities, that all they can show you is past performance, which does NOT guarantee future performance in any way, shape, or form.

Bank of America Corporate Center - Charlotte, nc

I just got back from the 2009 annual Bank of America shareholder meeting, which started at 10AM at the Belk Theater, adjacent to the Bank of America Corporate Center. After some confusion as to which line was which (me and several other shareholders ended up standing in line with associates), the theater was full to the brim, and it was standing room only outside of it, watching the meeting live on TV.

Right at the end of the 3 board proposals, I managed to get in on the balcony. What a show it was. The speakers were extremely diversified, ranging from pension fund managers, risk analysts, the head of habitat for humanity and the united way, a retired fish peddler, an incoherently slow woman, a 90+ year old man, and the battle between two older Jewish women: one rich, one not. Needless to say, the reactions were diversified as well. Some were accusatory, some quoted Thomas Jefferson (more on that one in a minute), a modified biblical verse, to praise and adulation for the Chief Exec and Chairman.

Let me begin with some of the harsher remarks. At some point, a representative of probably a Georgian aristocrat (who else sends personal representatives?) spoke, addressing with the words and language of Thomas Jefferson. He equated the banks with aristocratic control, with power being in the hands of but a few. Unfortunately, as much of a fan of Jefferson that I am, these comments were well out of place. As another speaker mentioned, Hamilton or Lincoln would be more relevant. Plus I found the whole think a hypocrisy, given the man sent his own personal representative, and it was written and presented with an air of snobbishness.

Then there was our favorite not so rich Jewish lady. More than one person in that audience was ready to disconnect her mike. She would go on and on, go off topic, ask the same questions repeatable, make arguments with false information, etc. She was wearing a shirt that said “Fire them all!!! Kenneth Lewis & the board of directors!!!” She even brought a small sign that read “FIRE LEWIS!!! FIRE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS!!!” Every single person in that audience was fed up with her, and she was the only one in the entire event (that I noticed) had even been interrupted.

One of the more aggravating shareholders to speak. I'm all for free speech, but can someone get her some thorazine? Even the Lewis opponents were moaning

To diverge on this lady for a second, I just figured I;d throw in one of Lewis’ responses. She was misreading the proxy statement, accusing Mr. Lewis of lying about his executive compensation. Lewis has a base salary of $1.5 million, plus any bonuses and options he is entitled to. Last year he received $0 compensation beyond his salary. Yet she saw 2008 and $10 million, and went into a fire and brimstone accusation process. Finally after sitting down, THEN coming back up again on the same point, he managed to get her to understand. Then she said he should go ahead and donate it all to charity, but he was too cheap to do that. That’s when he came back “Because of my pledges, I am already donating more than I am made.” +1 for Lewis, -1 for the old lady. The crowd cheered.

Yet others were not so tough on him. Some who wanted him out were still thankful for his years of service to the bank and praised him on the assets and talents he brought to Bank of America, although the believe his time has passed. Then there were a number of supports, including one man who told Mr. Lewis to “look behind you, we are all standing there.” Another gentleman asked him to keep standing there amid all of the criticism and attacks, because we need him to lead us out.

The reoccurring theme amongst supporters were the need to maintain leadership during this storm. As one lady, MRS. Davis, an affluent old Jewish lady who told it like it was (and was extremely funny), reminded us that when a ship faces a hurricane or a tornado, it is not the time to ditch the captain, and right now we are facing BOTH a hurricane and a tornado. A little unusual, but still very effective.

I wish I had managed to make it inside in time to speak about the re-election of the board. I have a number of points that I wanted to convey, points that I will post about a little bit later this evening.

Unfortunately, the votes were not totaled by the time I left. Mr. Lewis asked for the results, but was informed that they were still being tallied up. There were rumors floating about Sloan being ousted, and Lewis stripped of his Chairman titled. As of the latest reports, it appears the board may be safe, but they are recounting the votes for Lewis. Too close to call. It doesn’t surprise me, given the LARGE number of people there, and the mixture of attendees.

Once I hear word, I’ll keep you posted.

Update: Please check out these videos for some takes on the meeting

Protestors call for Lewis to be fired - notice the first lady they speak with, this was the one mentioned earlier, and was truely a pain to listen too. Upset, but rarely had any facts together

BofA delays release of votes on Lewis

Quick apology: this article would have been posted much sooner, but due to technical difficulties beyond my control (batteries died in wireless keyboard), I was unable to finish until now.

The Belk Theatre, adjacent to the BofA Corporate Center, and location of the 2009 shareholder's meeting on April 29th, 2009

I have elected to vote my shares in-person this year at the Bank of America shareholder meeting this Wednesday. I have already voted the bulk of my shares, and needless to say, the dissident holders won’t like me. Either way, nothing like free tickets to a suit-and-tie cage fight between Finger and others against Ken Lewis and the board.

I’m not inclined to agree with their arguments that Ken Lewis didn’t do his job by protecting the shareholders. I think he provided them far more protection than they want, plus a long value gem in Merrill Lynch.

With the upper echelons of the money side of the government stomping on his feet, many claim he was only protecting himself and the jobs of the board members. But consider this. Had Paulson and Bernanke done what they claimed they were going to do, what was not to say that they could have used that position to tear apart the bank at the expense of the shareholders. Plus if they had done that, the bank stock would’ve plummeted anyway.

If Merrill had not been purchased, consider what effects that would’ve had on the economy, especially the banking system. When Lehman and Bear died, panicked investors rushed out to sell who they thought was the next to go. Although BoA may not have felt the worst of that pain, the banking sector, and potentially other markets, would’ve crashed. We have not seen another major bank outright fail since WaMu, and if my memory serves me correctly, Wachovia was the closest we came after that. If BoA backed out of Merrill there in December, the nasty cycle would’ve been unleashed again. Who in the hell would want to buy Merrill when one of the largest banks, that is still relatively healthy, doesn’t want it.

Finally, BoA got some long term value out of that acquisition, but the only way we are going to be able to extract that is via a smooth transition. I can vouch first hand for the abilities of BoA to make solid transitions, after being a part of two of them myself (US Trust and LaSalle bank). You can knit-pick micro issues at the execution phase, but overall they do a tremendous job of eliminating overlap, streamlining systems, integrating products, etc. into the new combined units. Countrywide, which I wasn’t a part of, has been a tremendous success, especially with the current refinance market. Many chastised Lewis for this deal too, but it is already paying its dividends, albeit to the government.

Pulling out Lewis and the other senior management at this time would be a grave mistake on the part of these shareholders. If they want to extract the most value of their ownership, then don’t pull away the leaders during mid-transition. Believe it or not, Lewis has earned a tremendous amount of respect within the bank itself. Many employees, many of whom are also shareholders, have an understanding of why they stuck to the deal, and this was even before anything came out about it (many theorized it, based upon the morals of Mr. Lewis).

And I guess, finally, I’m tired of hearing about Lewis being chastised for being an outstanding corporate citizen. By sticking with the deal with his feet pinned, he did a great deal to help our economy out, and in the end, provide a good day for many of the investors such as myself who found new opportunity to own some equity of BoA. This is an outstanding corporation that will continue to churn out profits for many more years to come.

So for all of you BoA shareholders out there, vote against these dissident views. They are held by frantic tunnel-visioned companies, activists by their own name, yet history proves that activist investors are rarely the people we need making decisions.

The ears are shut in the capital

Before I begin, I must note that I personally received my North Carolina State refund after about 5 weeks by in March. My parents though are a different story.

They submitted their tax returns back in mid to late February… Almost eight weeks later, and all the North Carolina Department of Revenue can say is that it has been received and is in process. When they contact a real person, they send them to the website, which gives them the same answer they get on the phone.

All year long we pay taxes. Most of us allow the government to hold on to more than their fair share, since having the IRS wanting to collect in April makes no one happy. When the IRS is due, they can make your life a living hell by garnishing your wages, levying tax liens, putting you behind bars. Who wants that?

But who can we turn to when the IRS owes us money? Apparently no one, unless you can afford a very good lawyer, and in the middle of this recession, half the lawyers I’ve ever met couldn’t even afford to hire themselves. We try to make a lot of noise, but inside Raleigh, no one is listening. They are too busy trying to slice up budgets, force teachers out of schools, redirecting lottery funds from education to the general budget. Bev Perdue promised change in the state seat. Guess what, we got it. Things have changed for the worse. At least I can say I didn’t vote for her.

Some may argue that there shouldn’t be a huge rush for the refunds to come through. Some people may be able to swing it waiting longer. I didn’t sweat 5 weeks, I was employed and could go by a while without it. But what about my parents. My dad’s retired, living off his retirement and social security, and is unable to work. He spent 30 years in protection of this county, and upholding the laws of this state. My mom is a bus driver, who is scared to even note down her overtime with the lay-off slicing all around her. And with the prospect of no summer-school, this will be the first summer in years she will have to find some way of earning money for those 3 months. After many good years, now they can barely afford to even get by.

So how did honest, hard-working American’s, who had nothing to do with causing the recession or the budget deficit, get shafted. All they are doing is asking for their hard-earned money to be returned to them in a timely manner, so that they too can afford to pay their bills. Yet the state can’t even give them a straight answer as to why they haven’t received it.

If the tables were turned, the IRS would already be assessing interest and penalties, along with garnishing wages. Why can’t we get a two way street here. Maybe we can send them a bill every month, for the total amount of 1% interest and additional penalties? Like that would happen.

A few months back, I read where they determined the 13 to 30 demographic to be recession proof. Two words: My ass!

In November, my wife (23) was laid off. She found another job in February, after having 2 solid interviews canceled hours before they were to happen. The cost? $26,000 a year less. Thanks to living below our means, we made it through. She also had received 8 weeks severance plus 1.5 weeks worth of vacation payout.

Then on Friday, I got the call I had been worried was coming. “Due to lack of work… you are being indefinitely laid off.” Just what I wanted to hear on a Friday. I had already left early because of lack of work, and still received this call before I should have gotten off. No severance, but I do get whatever vacation I had accrued. Which is probably nill. I wish I had used more.

So now what? For months, I had no plan B. I think I have one now, but we’ll see. Thankfully I’m a student, so I get to bypass the whole waiting a week bit from the Employment Security Commission. Now I have to look for work.

Every job I’ve found so far though, has been paying much less. Every time I have ever quit a job or was laid off I got paid more. I mean every single time since my very first job getting paid $5.85 an hour bagging groceries at Food Lion. And the last time I was eligible, I refused to apply out of pride. Not this time.

What gets me is the way they do it. I’ve been with them since June of 2007. I’ve been forced to withdraw from classes because of them. Have worked on three special projects, have done every way I know how to bust my ass for them. Yet they call me out of the blue on a Friday and just lemme go. No warning, no nothing. What a farce.

Honestly, maybe the government needs to modify the WARN act. Sure, it’s great. But far too many companies find their way around it, and we are left trying to deal with the bureaucracy of unemployment. We need modify it to give more workers a proper heads up. I don’t mind being laid off. I do mind being kicked out to the curb with lightning fast speed on a Saturday. At least I wasn’t like the guys in another department, who were told to go home in the middle of working on a Friday, Guarantee that none of my work would have been finished. I would’ve clockled 8-4 and then done. And bet that I’m clocking 8-4 Friday then done.

I really do understand that the economy sucks, and it is hurting businesses. Yet there is no excuse for being so rude to the employees that busted their asses and made those businesses successes when the economy was still good.

One World Trade Center - formerly the "Freedom Tower" - as of February, 209

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have announced that the Freedom Tower – the new building to be erected over “Ground Zero” – will instead be named One World Trade Center. They are claiming that for commercial and leasing reasons, the new name is more marketable. They also announced that Vantone Industrial Co. has signed a 20.75 year lease  ”that will create the China Center, a 190,810-square-foot business and cultural facility, to be on portions of the 64th floor and the entire 65th through 69th floors of One World Trade Center.”

I understand the practical business concerns, yet it is still a shot in the patriotic gut. This building is to be a sign of America’s triumph over terrorism, although honestly we have yet to triumph. We can maybe say that it is America’s response to the threat of terrorism, that we won’t back down and we will emerge stronger (and more beautiful) than before. I’m sure most of us can still see in our mind’s the moments when the U.S. stopped on 9/11. I can still remember walking into Family Dollar to buy a new lighter, first hearing on the radio as the second plane crashed into the towers. I asked the girl at the counter if that was some sort of sick joke, and she was hoping so. I walked back out to the car dazed, telling my friends “I think we’re under attack.”

I can still remember turning on the radio, changing it to every station I knew, just to hear the same results. We went back to my house and watched as it all unfolded, the news of the Pentagon, the news of the plane that crashed in Shanksville, PA. I remember thinking to myself that the south tower – the second one hit –  was probably going to collapse. The hijacker drove that plane into the center of the building, and I just knew all of that heat and structural damage was going to make it go. I was just praying that the first one wouldn’t fall too.

I was one of the lucky ones who had no family or friends who were there. However, I had many friends who lost some family members or friends, and in some cases, an entire branch of a family tree was wiped out. I remember feeling the sadness for everyone, and the anger at those responsible. Feelings that solidified when we invaded Afghanistan and nearly eliminated the Taliban. Feelings that were warped to entrust us with the wisdom of invading Iraq.

This building and other memorials were to be our reminder of the strength we have as a people and a nation. A strength that screams that we refuse to give up but instead carry on stronger than we were before. A strength to make sure those who follow who will remember the willing sacrafice the heroes made, the victims who had no choice, and as a stark reminder that there are people out there who unmercifully kill because their priorities are not aligned with reality.

The Freedom Tower also reminded me of the poem I wrote shortly after the attack.

 

 

The day the Lady cried

She’s stood in pride 

Our tears she’s cried

Through her eyes

She watched the demise

From the planes we fly

That ended their lives

Yet she still stands there

Without any fear

Keeping our love near

Our hope she hears

On this Fourth of July

We put forth our cry

And show them our pride

That our freedom will never die

For anyone who needs any reminders of what happened that day, there is a great write up of it on Wikipedia.

We got we wanted against the AIG bonus recipients. Now what?

Be careful what you wish for: it may come true. For the last couple of weeks, the public has been in an outrage over the AIG bonuses. Things have calmed down slightly, and now we get to have a good look at what we’ve done.

These bonuses were retention bonuses, signed legally and in ink, continually promised to the employees who stayed. Why else should they stay? They are literally working themselves out of a job, their only job to piece apart and sell AIG, then the last guy out gets to turn off the lights.

Sure, we can scream, “Hey, they got us in this mess!” Well, most of those guys aren’t around anymore, so we are blaming the wrong people. These people have a very important job, one that the taxpayer owners should be grateful for. They turned down more stable positions (because of the retention bonus) to stick around and extract every potential dollar out of AIG.

Now a number of them are leaving. We’ve demonized them, stripped them of their promised bonus, and put them in a precarious situation. When they had opportunities to go elsewhere they didn’t,  but since this has hit the fan, well. We take the chance of shooting ourselves in the foot now.

How? Consider this. Now these people are leaving, taking key skills with them. Sure there are loads of unemployed bankers, but seriously, who wants to go work for next to nothing working 80 weeks (being overtime exempt), no bonus, and if you are lucky, you get to be the one to turn off the lights on the last day. There isn’t a lot of appeal there.

Plus a lot of the work done is very complex and requires extremely specialized skills – I can’t just grab the recently unemployed trader and get him to work on this. There are applications running things that they don’t even teach in college anymore.

So now how do we screw ourselves? Simple. Intelligent, specialize people are needed for the task of taking apart AIG. Without these skills, AIG may be parted out for way less than possible. Just remember we’ve dumped $180 or so billion into this company, and the only way we are going to ever see any of that back is if AIG does an excellent job. Scaring away talented employees and potential employees is just plain stupid.

So you can scream all you want, but when your company takes a nosedive and they offer you enough of a bonus to stay around till the end, you do you job then get villianized for doing you job, you’ll think differently.

When it comes down too it, as I said before, the government is not in the business of running business. It may be just one of the worst things a government can do. Sure, they won out on the populist rhetoric over the bonuses, but in the end, we’re the ones who are going to get hurt.

Ironic that this is the Chase FREEDOM card?

I’ve heard on the news about some of the dastardly moves the credit card companies have made to try and lower liabilities and put the dollar weight on the people. Well here is a true story of yet another of their schemes.

My mom had a Chase credit card up until last year. They were going to raise her rate for arbitrary reasons, but allowed her to opt-out if she canceled her account and repaid the current amount at the current interest rate. She promptly opted out. She had been making her payments as required, yet Chase decided to up her interest rate on it without notice. After several long calls with them, she contacted the OCC – Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – and told them what happened. The lady couldn’t believe it was legal that they up the rates in this case, but the can. However, they failed to provide a 15 day written notice. The informed her that the best route to wage the complaint is online, so this evening I will be helping her do just that.

What is wrong with this picture? Once she closed that account, it is no longer a line of credit but a loan. If my bank sent me my truck payment one month and arbitrarily decided to take on more interest, they couldn’t. However, when a credit card company does it, they can. And in this case, the bank was a recipient of $25 billion in TARP funds.

This also goes with another Chase policy that added a higher minimum payment and a $10 a month interest accruable fee on certain promotional card holder accounts that was announced back in February. Read more about that here on firedoglake.com.

As for now? Tonight I’ll be helping her place her complaint online. Then we are going to be working on a letter to the members in Congress that represent us.

Does this tick you off? Have you been hit by unfair/unethical practices by your credit card company? Then post a comment, then write your congressman a letter. Washington is so busy barking after a couple of hundred million at AIG and screaming that the TARP recipients aren’t making loans, while they are going around and raping the individual taxpayer on exorbitant fees and interest rate hikes. Enough’s enough.