Yesterday the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saw fit to stand up for Bank of America's disgraced ex-Chairman and current CEO Ken Lewis. Lewis testified to the House Oversight Committee about the bank's purchase and subsequent bleeding of Merrill Lynch.
It's no secret that Ken Lewis set his sights on expanding Bank of America's reach as far as it can go - BofA bought Merrill Lynch despite the firm losing $35 billion in the previous two years. The House committee held the hearing to investigate the acquisition, which allegedly led to Bank of America needing another $20 billion bailout at the end of 2008.
So despite the obvious public image problems of Bank of America, and Ken Lewis's feet being halfway out the door of BofA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce decided to stick up for both Lewis and BofA. The Chamber writes:
Exploring the facts should shed light on the actions of all parties at a critical juncture in the history of our capital markets, and demonstrate that despite circumstances regarding the deal's execution, had BofA not purchased Merrill Lynch, instability in the financial system at the time could have been far worse.
Ah yes. "Circumstances regarding the deal's execution." That's probably Chamber-speak for "failing to disclose $12 billion in losses." You know, no biggie. That's chump change over at the Chamber.
This isn't the first time the U.S. Chamber has stuck up for its buddies at Bank of America. At the end of last year, while the economy collapsed and BofA took on its first $25 billion bailout, the U.S. Chamber saw fit to honor Bank of America with its "2008 Corporate Citizenship Award." Because nothing says "Corporate Citizenship" like milking taxpayers for unprecedented billions.
Of course, there's also the little matter of failing to say whether or not the U.S. Chamber is using Bank of America's bailout money to fight working families. Politico reports:
Adam Green over at OpenLeft pushes the Chamber of Commerce to say that they're still accepting dues from bailed-out companies.
The goal is to make the case that the Chamber is using taxpayer dollars to help fund their anti-EFCA campaign (of which they have launched new ads targeting moderate Democratic senators).
The Chamber's Brad Peck says they're not using bail-out money for the campaign.
I've asked how exactly they know that to be the case.
Crickets from the Chamber since then.
So, U.S. Chamber of Commerce: are you using Bank of America's bailout, or any other bailout for that matter, to fund the fight for your legislative priorities?
We'll wait patiently for a response. In the meantime, we'll keep up the fight to hold Bank of America - and the U.S. Chamber - accountable to the American taxpayers.