Everybody knows the GOP's biggest weakness is money, so why not hit 'em in the sweet spot? That's what many amazing Wisconsin firefighters did yesterday when they collectively began withdrawing their funds from Madison's M&I Bank -- whose executives and board members were among the highest donors to Governor Scott Walker's campaign.
Heeding a call by Firefighters Local 311 President Joe Conway to 'Move your money,' union members withdrew over $100,000 from the bank, with some reports stating that number is as high as $192,000. Either way, it was a hefty enough chunk of change that M&I shut its doors and closed for the day at 3PM.
The amount increased to $600K by the end of the day, btw. Think about what unions can do with their pension funds...
More like this, please.
--WT
iQue viva!
Más de esto, por favor.
Posted by: ¡El Gato Negro! | March 12, 2011 at 12:31 PM
walker is soooooooo gone next year.
Posted by: pansypoo | March 12, 2011 at 01:03 PM
What a great idea! I hope this goes viral.
Posted by: Itchy Brother | March 12, 2011 at 02:57 PM
Another Republican't clusterf*** , causing another run on a bank. It just never ends with these guys.
Posted by: MD | March 12, 2011 at 04:33 PM
The problem (as always) is where to put the money after you take it out.
There must be some Credit Unions that they have access to.
Finance Nerd Note: the FDIC doesn't insure accounts for as much money as those 2 fire fighters had; they need to break it up wherever they go to next, and no, multiple accounts at the same institution doesn't count.
"If for example, a depositor has only a single account with a balance of $255,000, he or she would be paid $250,000 through FDIC insurance and would receive a claim against the estate of the closed bank for the remaining $5,000 which is not insured. The depositor would be given a Receiver's Certificate as proof of this claim and would receive payments as the assets of the bank are liquidated. "
Rgds,
TG
Posted by: Tengrain | March 12, 2011 at 05:32 PM
HIT 'EM WHERE IT HURTS. THEIR WALLETS.
Posted by: Lesley | March 13, 2011 at 12:03 AM
Next Republican's house that catches fire can use the garden hose to fight it.
Posted by: Lesley | March 13, 2011 at 12:09 AM
Fuckin' AAAAAAAAA
Posted by: jane_al | March 13, 2011 at 01:18 AM
It's getting harder and harder, though, to make `em hurt by withholding one's business. It's almost impossible to shut off money to the Repugs' backers, because they control so much. In the end, it pretty much means doing without, and doing without a bank today is a virtual impossibility. With luck, there are credit unions in the area who can pick up that slack, but, hell, even the credit unions lobby for what's in their best interests, which may not always be in the best interests of their clientele.
What banks like M&I have forgotten is that their base is not Scott Walker and a bunch Repug assholes. Rather, it is the people in the community--their regular depositors--that provide them with the assets on which to loan money, and if a run created by disgruntled people is what it takes to wake them up, so be it. If they favor politicians and policies that hurt their base, that will eventually hurt them, too.
It's humorous, in a way, that they happily ignore that reality whenever they think their bottom line is the most important thing in the world, because it inclines them to forget what creates their bottom line in the first place. The most annoying thing to anyone is to be treated like a second-class citizen by someone taking one's money, and that's what the execs at M&I were doing. They were just hoping that no one noticed.
Posted by: montag | March 13, 2011 at 04:43 AM
my money, my little bit of money, is in a local bank. not national.
Posted by: pansypoo | March 13, 2011 at 03:15 PM
Ben and Jerry need to start a national bank. Chunky Money.
Posted by: Itchy Brother | March 14, 2011 at 01:51 AM