These banks are something else

Wells Fargo issued a press release yesterday in response to an Associated Press report about a company trip to Las Vegas. You can find the press release here. Paragraph 3 states:

The Associated Press story also misleads readers by implying Wells Fargo used the government’s investment to pay for these events. As we’ve said before, we’ve used the government’s investment to lend to creditworthy customers and to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

All I'm going to say is, this reminds me of when my co-worker told me that her cousin needed to borrow some money. While he had the $150 or so to buy the X-box or Game Cube or whatever from his friend, he didn't have money to put gas in his car, or buy his mother's birthday present. And her birthday was that very day, and he was supposed to be taking her out to dinner. I said WTF!?!?!? In these times, and any other when the money is tight, it's about making tough decisions. You can't have it all. So, maybe he doesn't get the game system. But don't act like you are truly broke.

I say the same thing to Wells Fargo - what do you mean you didn't use the taxpayer money. You have to make the tough decisions. Either you needed our money, or you were okay and can take the trip. But you can't have the trip and say you need our money too. Maybe literally, you didn't use the money from the government, but if you wouldn't have booked the trip (and paid several other things like bonuses) would you have needed the government money - or at least as much?

It's my understanding that Wells is actually going to lose money from cancelling the trip at this late date, and that's a shame. And Las Vegas is going to lose money too, which isn't good b/c I am trying to go later in the year and I want the casinos to have some money to give me. But back to the topic at hand - the trip shouldn't have been booked, and the fact that they try to differentiate the money pots is insulting.

Besides the PR issue, I would think someone would see some legal or ethical issues with this. I hope President O and the team can get some arms around this.