The I Shit You Not File: Banks Bewail Prepayment Penalties & Pro-Wiretap Dem Laments Wiretapping from Open Left - Front Page

from http://www.openleft.com/diary/12973/the-i-shit-you-not-file-banks-bewail-prepayment-penalties-prowiretap-dem-laments-wiretapping

Two important stories today out of the I Shit You Not File, one from the banks, the other from one of the worst Democratic members of Congress in recent memory.

First, the banks: You know how it has become standard procedure for the vultures in the banking industry to try to fleece you with so-called "prepayment penalties" if you pay back your mortgage earlier than they want you to pay it back? And you know how many banks charge excessively high interest rates? Well, now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the same banking industry is claiming the federal government is trying to charge excessive interest rates via  a "prepayment penalty" when the banks pay back their bailout funds and  - and that banking industry is actually complaining about the situation:

At issue are "warrants" the government received when it bought preferred stock in roughly 500 banks over the past six months as part of TARP...Many banks want to return their TARP money and, as part of that effort, want to expunge the warrants. To do that, banks must either buy them back from the government or allow the Treasury to sell them to private investors.

Bankers say it is unfair to charge what amounts to a "prepayment penalty," which makes it additionally onerous to escape TARP. Bank representatives say the cost of buying back the warrants could be equivalent to paying 60% annual interest on short-term loans. That, they argue, would exacerbate banks' existing problems.

This hypocrisy is topped only by scandal-plagued Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), who has the nerve to complain about being caught in an NSA wiretapping scheme after she spent years as the Democratic Party's chief defender of the Bush administration's extralegal NSA wiretapping program:

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) is ensnared in what critics say was the very danger of the warrantless wiretapping legislation she supported. Harman has led the charge among Democrats for expanded surveillance powers, despite the arguments of her more liberal colleagues that U.S. citizens would improperly get caught in the surveillance dragnet.

Now, having been eavesdropped upon, Harman says she's "outraged" at the federal government's abuse of power...Harman sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder protesting the wiretapping of her conversations as "outrageous."

In both these cases, the culprits in question are publicly demanding a different standard for themselves than they have used their power to create for everyone else. I mean, really - banks complaining about prepayment penalties and pro-wiretap Democrats upset about being wiretapped? This sounds like parody - but it's real. I shit you not.