$25 Billion for New Signs and Renovations

WAMU logo

Ever since my favorite local bank, Washington Mutual (I know it is not a local bank) was taken over by JP Morgan I have been wondering about how its new overlord would handle the name of the organization.  I was thinking that it could keep the Washington Mutual name since it has for me been a good bank and therefore if others feel the same way the name has goodwill in the community and therefore value.  And because of the government bailout to the moneychangers, I thought what a complete waste of money it would be to change the name of all the branches to JP Morgan.

Well yesterday I visited my local branch to do some banking and noticed the receipts the teller handed me said, “Washington Mutual division of JP Morgan”.  I thought, “hooray, they are going to keep the name to save money and maintain the value already inculcated in the WAMU name”.  Just one of those signs on a WAMU bank branch building costs many thousands of dollars to replace.

So I asked the teller, “Please tell me that JP Morgan is keeping the Washington Mutual name”.  She said,  “No, it is going to be changed.  And not only that the entire branch is going to be renovated”.

Today I noticed in an email that JP Morgan has already been handed $25 billion of the taxpayers’ money.

So on top of inflated CEO and top management salaries, this is how our taxpayer monies are going to be used?  So much for using the funds for mortgage re-negotiations, student loan lending, commercial loans to businesses to promote job growth,  paying off the bank’s debt obligations that supposedly caused the crisis in the first place, etc.

When you are in a financial crisis, do you remodel your house?  Buy a new car?  Go on a vacation?  Of course you don’t.  But apparently the people at the head of JP Morgan think spending money on neon signs for the I don’t know how many WAMU branches in the country is a good use of the taxpayer funds.  On top of that, JP Morgan also recently announced that they are laying off a huge number of people in Seattle and closing WAMU’s main center there.

“Signs before Profits, Renovations before People”.  That should be their new slogan.

It also just irks me no end that Representative Brian Baird had the gall to say when selling the bogus bailout to his constituents that the banks needed this money or they would stop making student loans, stop making car loans, stop making mortgages.  And that there would be oversight by Congress on how the money is spent.  What do you have to say for yourself now Brian?  Please stop feeding us utter bullshit.

To the JP Morgan officials out there:  Please tell me I am wrong about the above.  Explain to me why converting the WAMU name over to your name is more important than using those funds to keep people employed, make your mortgages more affordable and your interest rates lower.  Please tell me I am wrong.  I WANT TO BE WRONG.