Charlie Wilson's rush to judgement

Congressman Charlie Wilson was in such a hurry to cast blame on a bank that he didn't read the fine print.

Massachusetts' Ambassador from Gomorrah, Barney Frank, sent a letter to the Northern Trust Bank blasting it for, what they thought at the time, wasting money. Charlie Wilson was all too happy to reinforce his new found (maybe not so new found after all) Marxist views and add his signature to this wrongly chastising letter.

Vindy.com story here

"The representatives wrote that they were “dismayed and angered” upon hearing of the banks irresponsible spending habits and said, “...We are demanding you take corrective action.”
“We insist that you immediately return to the federal government the equivalent of what Northern Trust frittered away on these lavish events,” the letter read."

What Charlie Wilson and Barney Frank failed to realize was this was a charity fund raiser that has raised over $50,000,000.

Link to Northern Trust's response

• Northern Trust had net income last year of more than US$640 million, and paid for this event using normal operating funds.
• No Capital Purchase Program funds were allocated for operating expenses, including marketing, advertising, corporate sponsorship or charitable activities.
• Northern Trust did not seek the government's investment under the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase Program, but agreed to the government's goal of gaining the participation of all major banks in the United States.
• Northern Trust pays dividends on the Treasury's investment, and will continue to pay them until the capital is returned. Currently, Northern Trust pays the government US$78.8 million on an annual basis as a return on taxpayers' investment – almost US$20 million per quarter.
• Capital Purchase Program funds are supporting high quality loan growth, benefiting both private and institutional clients. As of December 31, 2008, our loans and leases grew to more than US$30 billion, a 21% increase from December 31, 2007.
• This is the second year of Northern Trust's five-year agreement to sponsor the Northern Trust Open. The tournament agreement was signed in 2007 and all associated contracts associated with client education and entertainment were signed months before the U.S. government’s Capital Purchase Program was contemplated.
• During tournament week, more than 2,000 clients and prospects from around the globe participated in activities including three financial education seminars for our personal and institutional clients.
• Over the past two years, Northern Trust has raised US$3 million dollars for the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce Charity Foundation and the many non-profit organizations it supports. Over its entire history, this tournament has raised more than US$50 million for the Los Angeles community.

If you didn't catch this in Northern Trust's response, look at this bullet point.

"Northern Trust did not seek the government's investment under the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase Program, but agreed to the government's goal of gaining the participation of all major banks in the United States."

This was a huge mistake on their part! They should repay the money (for their own good) and never trust the federal government again.....at least not while Charlie (itching trigger finger) Wilson and Barney Frank are in office. Isn't it ironic that Barney Frank, one of the Congressmen that got us into this financial mess to begin with, is now chastising banks for having charitable fund raisers. Apparently the only charity acceptable to the Marxists is charitable giving to the government.

Looks like Congressman Charlie Wilson needs to look at the facts before he jumps into bed with Barney Frank.

Also, surely I'm not the only one noticing the lack of media questioning. It looks like they just cut and paste Charlie Wilson's press releases without asking any questions. Apparently there are no inquiring minds in our local media anymore.