Smear campaign success! Maddow/Iglesias VIDEO + Bank of America pulls ACORN funding

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: My pal Jason Leopold beat Rachel to the punch by 3 days, and had asked her producer to credit him in her on air report. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. His great post is here.

Let's be clear: ACORN itself reports attempts at voter fraud. None of those giving fake names on voter registration forms have voted. They have been turned in by ACORN. In addition, they get minimal funding, and the ratio of questionable employees to by-the-book employees is a yawner. Okay? Okay.

Troubled community organizing group ACORN suffered another setback on Monday, when Bank of America announced it is pulling its funding of ACORN Housing.

In a statement, Bank of America said that is it "suspending current commitments to ACORN Housing and will not enter into any further agreements with ACORN or any of its affiliates" until it is satisfied that all issues related to the organization have been resolved.

Don't believe me? How about a former, unfairly fired U.S. Attorney:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

VIDEO- Debtor's Revolt over "Financial Rape": Woman Refuses To Pay Off B of A Credit Card

By GottaLaff



She made a few factual errors during the rant, but, hey, she's livid:

Minch announced that she'd be dumping Bank of America, refusing to pay off her credit card debt unless she was offered a lower rate. She explained that she'd been a reliable customer even though she'd lost her job as a mental health case manager. She said bank reps refused to negotiate her interest rate when she called them to complain a few weeks ago.

"You are evil, thieving bastards," she said in her video. "Stick that in your bailout pipe and smoke it."

The video made a splash online, getting links from all kinds of venues and garnering over 96,000 views as of Monday morning.

Minch told the Huffington Post she fulfilled part of her threat on Saturday, when she went to her local BofA branch and closed out her checking and savings accounts. She took her money (around $5,000, she said) and put in a local community bank. She brought printouts of web pages that had linked to her video, but a manager wasn't interested in looking at them.

More here. Much more.

It's getting more and more difficult to read news stories these days. Americans are at their breaking point, as is apparent nearly everywhere.

H/t: Gr8RDH

Bailed-out Bank of America spent $10 million on Super Bowl party

By GottaLaff

Maybe they held the Big Do inside a private jet on their way to another Big Do... or an $800,000 tent:

ABC News reports, however, that the bank managed to scrounge up millions of dollars to be an NFL sponsor and for “a five day carnival-like” Super Bowl party just outside the stadium:

The event — known as the NFL Experience — was 850,000 square feet of sports games and interactive entertainment attractions for football fans and was blanketed in Bank of America logos and marketing calls to sign up for football-themed banking products. […]

The bank refused to tell ABC News how much it is spending as an NFL corporate sponsor, but insiders have put the figure at close to $10 million. The NFL Experience was on top of that and was inked last summer, according to the bank.

The NFL said it was a “multi-million dollar” event and that it was also spending money to put on the event. A Super Bowl insider said the tents alone cost over $800,000.

Calling Attorney General Holder...

AUDIO: Bailed-out banks spend money to defeat key labor bill

By GottaLaff

Time to get angry, folks. Via DKos:

Your TARP money at work:

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Trade Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it." [...]

It's unconscionable for the recipients of government handouts to spend their time and money to try and defeat the Employee Free Choice Act -- the cornerstone of long-term economic revitalization. It's time for change in the boardrooms.

Audio of the conference call [above], which was obtained by the Huffington Post, is excerpted throughout this piece to provide a clearer insight into the pitched battle surrounding the Employee Free Choice legislation. At one point, relatively early in the call, Marcus joked that he "took a tranquilizer this morning to calm myself down."

I can assure Marcus that I'm about to do the same thing. Only I'm not joking.

H/t: Joeyess

Bailed-out financial firms using offshore tax havens

By GottaLaff

Teeth-gnashing time:

Washington Post: a GAO report shows that bailed-out financial firms are using offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes. The all-take-no-give companies include some of the biggest bailout recipients -- A.I.G., Citigroup, Bank of America & Morgan Stanley.

However:

It is all legal, but it could come to an end, given the dire condition of the U.S. economy and President-elect Barack Obama's campaign pledge to close this popular business tax loophole. The Treasury estimates that it loses $100 billion a year in tax revenue as a result of companies shipping their income off shore, and congressional leaders are vowing to introduce legislation forcing big companies to pay full freight.

Thank you, BushCo and Friends. One more example of how you've helped drive this country into the ground.

VIDEO: Idled workers occupy factory in Chicago; "Si se puede"

By GottaLaff

Videos via. Cross-posted from Gapers Block.

Standing up:

Workers laid off from their jobs at a factory have occupied the building and are demanding assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay that they say they are owed.

About 200 employees of Republic Windows and Doors began their sit-in Friday, the last scheduled day of the plant's operation.

Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down.

Workers also were angered when company officials didn't show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged by U.S. Rep Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, she said.

I'd be mad too:

No severance. No vacation pay-out, as per their union contract. Nothing. Why? Because the business is plunging towards dissolution, unable to get a line of credit, and Bank of America was instructing them not to honor their obligations--no line of credit to honor obligations. [...]

Members of Local 1110 need your support. Make checks payable to the UE Local 1110 Solidarity Fund, and mail to: 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, IL 60607. Messages of support can be sent to organizer Leah Fried. For more information, call UE at 312-829-8300.

At the Jobs with Justice Web site, you can send a message of protest to Bank of America.

http://nyc.indymedia.org/...

Donations of food and money are requested, as are solidarity actions targeting the Bank of America. The factory is in the Goose Island neighborhood, at 1333 N Hickory (right near Division and Halsted).