Taking Our Jobs
Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
America’s largest bank, Bank of America, played a leading role in the subprime lending scandal that brought down our economy and put millions of Americans out of work. Just a year after receiving nearly $200 billion in taxpayer bailouts, Bank of America joined other big banks in setting a record for CEO compensation. Last month, CEO Brian Moynihan set another record by announcing that the bank would be laying off 30,000 workers—the largest layoff announced this year. Now that its stock has plummeted, Bank of America’s financial troubles could wreak further havoc on the U.S. economy, thrusting even more American families into unemployment.
Taking Our Homes
Jamie Dimon, CEO, J.P. Morgan Chase
Chase bank shelled out $30 billion in subprime loans, leading to the collapse of the housing market and the U.S. economy. Now, Chicago now has the nation’s largest inventory of foreclosed homes, and one third of area homes are underwater. It took Chase only one year to begin profiting off of the problems it caused—it is now the most profitable bank in America. As CEO, Jamie Dimon has it particularly good, receiving a 1,500% raise in 2010.
Although Chase accepted nearly $100 billion in taxpayer bailouts and is currently being sued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for allegedly misleading the public about the soundness of mortgage backed securities, CEO Jamie Dimon feels he has the moral authority to lecture the millions of Americans struggling to make their mortgage payments: “We should teach the American people, you’re supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them.”
Taking Our Schools
Terrence Duffy, CEO, CME Group
As the Executive Chairman of Chicago-based CME group, Terrence Duffy earned $4.7 million last year in total compensation, and his company is posting record profits. But being enormously profitable doesn’t stop CME group from lobbying for our tax dollars. Recently, CME Group received $15 million in tax increment financing (TIF) to renovate its downtown headquarters—money that should be going to struggling neighborhood schools.
CME Group is now threatening to take our TIF money and run—announcing that it may leave the state because it doesn’t want to pay the same tax rates as the rest of us. Duffy, who has stressed the importance of having “a moral compass to do what's right even when no one is looking,” seems to have lost his way.