Letter of Protest to Congress on Federal Reserve and J.P. Morgan Chase Bailout
To download Letter in Adobe PDF Format
Posted on the Black Information Highway and The Mid-South Tribune ONLINE
To: The Honorable Christopher Dodd via Fax
The Honorable Barney Frank
The Honorable Maxine Waters
From: Ms. Arelya J. Mitchell, Publisher
The Mid-South Tribune
The Mid-South Tribune ONLINE
and the Black Information Highway
www.blackinformationhighway.com
Date: March 17, 2008
Re: Federal Reserve System Treasury Bond Bailout of Bear Stearns via J. P. Morgan Chase
In the words of President Ronald Reagan, “Here we go again.” Interesting how the Federal Reserve System cut a deal with J.P. Morgan Chase.
It is even more interesting to note that J.P. Morgan Chase was the ONLY bank to get from under the Enron fiasco without an increase in shareholder equity and how it became the only bank of this caliber not to have to report to the U.S. Treasury Department via the Comptroller of the Currency, Administrator of National Banks.
We ask that you of the U.S. Congressional banking committees look at exactly what is going on here. Of course, we applaud that Sen. John Kerry has delivered $100 million to small businesses and minority businesses; yet, we reiterate that it is time for African Americans and Native Americans to get a piece of the economic pie, as have Hispanics begun to receive in banking (i.e. Banco Poplar and Compass Bank ).
If you were to investigate deeper, you will especially see the systemic discrimination by non-participation and exclusion and by other practices of retaliation and intimidation specifically against African American and Native American businesses and Black/Native American-owned banks and other financial institutions. The practice continues utilizing census tracts and zip codes in re-directing African American businesses to specific banking personnel who will ‘see’ the color of the person(s) applying to further discriminate, retaliate, intimidate and, yes, dear Members of Congress, to blackball .
Again, we urge you to check out Sen. John Kerry’s hearings transcripts to see that economic racism is still alive and thriving in America’s economic system, going back to 1776. Why? Because no one dares to make the parties running the Federal Reserve System adhere to the laws enacted since the Constitution. I look on in complete consternation that this economic terrorism continues to be allowed with multi-national banking institutions even at the tune of getting a $200 billion Treasury note leveraged bail-out. No, this is not so much to help the economy but rather to help the Federal Reserve’s Country Club members to keep their wallets fat at the expense of keeping an African Diaspora exclusionary fiduciary system in place on Planet Earth.
It is interesting to further note that the President has just come off a goodwill trip to Africa; yet, this Federal Reserve System will not allow an African bank to be part of its economic landscape as it does banks from Switzerland, England, France, Germany, etc. which can work directly with the Federal Reserve System as depositories.
Only when America’s African American-owned minority businesses are allowed to prosper to help take on the economic burden of also hiring and financing their own will there be real capitalism and democracy in America. At this stage, for many African Americans and Native Americans there is no Pursuit of Happiness. If the current Federal Reserve System continues to deny private participation by African American and African banking institutions, then the Federal Reserve System may need to be issued a Cease and Desist Order from existence by the Congress of the United States of America to give way to a fairer national and international banking system.
These Federal Reserve Country Club members know how to maneuver Black businesses out of existence as they so blatantly ignore their Community Reinvestment Act obligations with the decorum of Emily Post, which is exemplified by the $95 million lobbying campaign executed by the American Bankers Association to influence legislation of the Bank Modernization Act, led by former Senate Banking Committee Chairman, Senator Phil Gramm of Texas now employed by Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS).
These Federal Reserve County Club members continue to discriminate by any means necessary (under the Color of the Law) to keep an economic foot down on America’s African American/Native American economic entities, and this practice has continued full force as we entered into the 21st Century.
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, we ask that the relationship between J.P. Morgan Chase and the Federal Reserve System be disclosed and further be investigated by an independent group including the U.S. Treasury Department Secretary, Comptroller of the Currency, and Administrator of National Bank as persons who are not intimidated by this country club of the private Federal Reserve System. (This reverses or amends the 1935 Federal Reserve Act which eliminated the Treasury Secretary and Comptroller of the Currency as the official oversight and Administrators on behalf of the United States government and its citizens).
Now let’s get to the point: If members of the Federal Reserve private Country Club can get $200 billion treasury bail-outs; we ask for the same release of funds in helping to grow Black, Native American, and Hispanic enterprises to share the burden of America’s economic system.
cc: Mr. Ben S. Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman
Steve Alvarez, Esquire, Federal Reserve
Cong. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Black Caucus
Cong. John Conyers
Cong. Nancy Pelosi
Sen. Barack Obama
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Sen. John McCain
Sen. Bob Corker
Sen. John Kerry
Sen. Edward Kennedy
Mr. Harry Alford, National Black Chamber of Commerce
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Native American Tribal Councils
Mr. Eddie Rye, Jr., Afra-Genesis Network
Mr. Earl Graves, Sr., founder, Black Enterprise Magazine
Mr. Tavis Smiley, PBS/NPR
Mr. John Smith, Chairman, NNPA
Mr. Tom Joyner