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Honorable:
Robert Wexler, Bill Nelson, Mel Martinez, Corrine Brown
Also sent to both banking/finance committees in Senate and House
As you know, Congress recently wrote a blank check on the taxpayers to the tune of $700 Billion dollars to bail out Wall street from their own mess. Congress left Main Street out of the deal even though it is Main Street who must pick up the tab.
Even as banks are taking welfare in huge chunks they continue to steal more money from the poor.
An example: Today a good friend of mine went to his Bank, Merchantile Bank in Interlachen Florida where he has a checking account. Let's first understand he is not employed now. His wife works part time at McDonalds and one of his two young children has a disability for which they receive a check from Social Security, direct deposit. Yesterday his funds were zero.
Today over $140 dollars in "fees" were taken from the child's SS check, in part, because of an over draft on his debit card in the amount of $1.39. Even though he has asked them not to accept charges if it would go beyond his balance the bank continues to "honor" these debits then charge huge fees for doing so. To me it is usury to charge anyone $40 to "loan" them $1.39. Even when they decline to accept a charge they then charge another fee for the same amount.
Bob is struggling to feed his family and just recently was admitted to the local hospital with a stroke. ( second time in just over a month ) He has no health care and now also has medical bills in excess of $60,000 for which he has no hope of ever paying. Yet these banks keep draining excessive fees, taking food from the mouths of children in order to put BMW's in bankers drive ways. This is greed at its worst and you continue to let it happen.
Bob and his family live with me. I am presently facing bankruptcy and foreclosure. I can't afford to keep this up, yet where is our bail out? Are we not wealthy enough to deserve a bail out or are those special priveleges limited to only the "Fortune 400" lists?
There was a great rush to bail out the rich, yet now nothing is being done to help the rest of America. Where is the moratorium on foreclosures and the cap on excessive bank fees and so on...where is something for the rest of America?
Do you want to keep your job ?
Paul Kruger
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