Non-environmental post disclaimer.
Here is the beginning of a letter members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent to J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (full text can be found here):
We are outraged by the potential actions of your company to outsource tens of thousands of U.S. jobs as well as your comments made to the United States Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. We would like to remind you that the taxpayers of the United States of America contributed $25 billion to your company to help stabilize our economy -- not send jobs overseas.
Just yesterday you indicated that the "constant vilification of corporate America" by our public officials is what is hurting our country. This pronouncement comes less than 72 hours after reports surfaced that your institution plans to spend nearly $400 million on outsourcing of jobs to India -- an increase of 25 percent. JP Morgan Chase is not a victim of constant vilification, but it will be viewed and criticized based on actions like this outsourcing policy.
So companies are not allowed to reorganize in the face of difficult budget situations? Read on...
And here is the middle:
In your testimony on Feb. 11, 2009 to the House Committee on Financial Services you said that you looked forward to working with the committee "to help find solutions to our current economic problems, to keep American families in their homes and to begin to restore confidence in our financial markets." There is no better way to make your words immediately ring hollow than taking actions to outsource thousands of jobs that Americans could perform.
Wrong! The money was not to maintain jobs in the banking sector so that individual banks can continue business as usual. Business as usual got us into this mess. The money was to make sure the banking system stayed solvent while individual banks reorganized into a better way of doing business (at least that's what I hope the plan was).
TARP stands for Troubled Asset Relief Program. Notice the emphasis on Troubled Assets. Not one mention of keeping workers or not cutting costs or maintaining business as usual.
I sure as he** hope that Congress isn't outraged that banks aren't continuing the same old practices that started this whole mess. But with politically motivated letters like this, it sure seems that way.
I would hope in this case that change is good. Hope and Change. Hmmmm...that sounds like a good campaign platform.
Now back to your regularly scheduled nonsense.
