Reprint March 16, 2011
By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd – March 11, 2011
http://www.alternet.org
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 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. This is a very simple, very peaceful way to inflict some serious damage on the money grubbers; super kudos to the Firefighters Union.
Note: M&I Bank received $1.7 billion in bailout money via President George W. Bush’s Troubled Assets Relief Program. The bank was acquired by the Bank of Montreal in December of 2010 for $4.1 billion in stock.
