June 2, 2011
Elizabeth Murphy
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549
Dear Murphy,
At the very least, defer executive bonuses at big banks, institute claw backs, ban hedging of pay packages, with banks and/or executives held responsible for violations through strong enforcement. The dire problem is our current financial operating system evolving since the 1970s which is now a juggernaut, whose mantra is much like that of Star Trek Borg -- "Resistance is futile!" The only way to deal with this systemic problem is to change, even revolutionize, the current operating system, hopefully from within, despite the fact that the system is headed by Plutocrats, who have captivated the US Government (heads of agencies, Congress & the like), all of whom hold former Americans, now beleaguered Consumers, captive. If you begin with executive pay and outsize bonuses, you will begin to hack away at the crux of America's crisis of confidence, rather than to see continued and perpetuated ad infinitum egregious legal and governmental lapses which are on the verge of destroying America. A few weeks ago, I learned my 21-year-old niece, making her pennies at a fast food restaurant for 2 years, deposited her meagre paycheck in one of our too-big-to-fail banks whose fees are $5 monthly to maintain that savings account. Why is that a savings account? Why does a savings account get to charge outrageous montly fees? Next, she opens a checking account, is falsely told that a large deposit will clear in 24 hours and, had a check been cashed against it, she would have paid $35 fee. I caught it in time. Then I could not believe, three years after the crisis, when so much should have been done to clean up the banking industry, starting with the outrageous bonuses, we're on the phone 2 hours talking with 3 separate reps in a foreign country whose conflicting stories of what the fee structure and rules supposedly are with that bank were not to be believed. Last month (May 2011), my 85-year-old father's consternation to see his name changed on his monthly statement to an abbreviated form, dropping even the .Jr, as well as the TOD eliminated altogether, from a statement holding $80K+, made several on-site attempts through one rep to address the obvious error, without result. (He can barely get around, but his mind is sharp). At a different branch, finally two hours of making numerous phone calls, another rep supposedly cleared up the problem. He stated to my father that, had my father not persisted, the Transfer On Death would not have been honored! That bank was Wells Fargo, who took over Wachovia. Finally, to see savings interest earned drop by 2/3s in my own personal account now with Caltech Credit Union (at least the FDIC and Sheila Bair spared a heavy loss when IndyMac failed -- and I knew it was going to fail, but I did not withdraw because I didn't want to contribute to a bank run), month after month, knowing that the banks are the huge beneficiaries in yet another rip off of Americans, is another outrage I and others live with as the bonuses escalate and profits continue to rise. Did or did not John Thain use tax payer TARP funds to pay bonuses? While the house was burning? "Fiat justitia, et pereat mundus." Give me one good reason why these people, like Stan O'Neill, as one example, walk away with hundreds of millions as their firms burn behind them? Without confidence in the rule of law and our leaders ability to govern, legislate, and write rules that make the privileged accountable, you don't have an America. What you have is a mafia-lite nation. I continue to hold 500 shares of one investment concern changing hands September 15th, 2008. Why? It is the only balm I have when it drops and drops. Will be fine with me to see it go to zero! I know through what I read how reprehensible, to my mind, some of their foreclosure activities have been and still are. I implore you -- do the right things, no matter how difficult, and act honorably and with integrity. You KNOW full well what those best practices are. Don't leave the burden of doing the right thing on single individuals like Markopolis, or investigative journalists, like Gretchen Morgenson, or Dylan Ratigan, who tells it like it is on MSNBC, having left a CNBC options trading program, or subcommittees headed by Carl Levin with a tiny staff of 15. Please. For God's sake. Think, at least, of the sacrifice of those slain on the battlefield. Think of someone like Louis Zamperini, who spent 45+ days the Pacific on a raft during WWII, only to be tortured by the Japs for several years. Think, for example, of what Brooksley Born went through in her time to do the right thing.
We have numerous wonderful Americans among us, both past and present day. Be the great American and human being I know you must be. At the very least, for America's sake, and for all that America once stood for! Thank you for your time and attention.
Referencing Docket No.'s:
OTS: RIN 155-AC49
OCC: RIN 1557-AD39
Fed: RIN 7100-AD69
SEC: RIN 3235-AL06
FHFA: RIN 2590-AA42
FDIC: RIN 3064-AD56
Sincerely,
Ms. Shona M. Brogden-Stirbl