Six on "our" Economy: Less Than Year After GOP Tax Scam, Six Biggest Banks Already Raked in $9 Billion in Extra Profits; Sear
philip panaritis
"These latest filings show that big banks have stopped at nothing to make more money—and that the GOP's tax law gave them license to put profits over people," Not One Penny spokesperson Ryan Thomas said in a statement on Thursday, highlighting the enthusiastic earnings reports of Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo.
"These six banks have constantly chosen to use these tax breaks to enrich their shareholders and executives while laying off employees and exploiting consumers," Thomas noted, pointing to the explosion of stock buybacks since the GOP tax bill became law. "These shameful actions—and the Republican tax law that permitted them—indicate just how rigged the system is against working people and the middle class."
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"But most of the coverage has failed to stress the deeper story. Namely, Sears is a prime example of how hedge funds and private equity companies take over retailers, encumber them with debt in order to pay themselves massive windfall profits, and then leave the retailer without adequate operating capital to compete.
Part of the strategy is to sell off valuable real estate, the better to enrich the hedge fund, and stick the retail company with costly rental payments to occupy the space that it once owned."
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