Wisconsin Firefighters Shut Down Bank that Funded Governor Scott Walker

Alternet has a few details wrong, if that is what they reported. A coalition of union supporters sent letters to many businesses, the M&I Bank included,promising to be kind if they would support the unions or to boycott if they supported Walker. Some protesters withdrew $192,000 from that bank. The bank did not close because of the withdrawals, they closed on the advice of police because of the protesters. And, so what? I suppose that to you and to me, $192,000 sounds like a lot of money, but it's not enough to close a bank or even seriously affect them. I note that M&I's last shareholder letter lists assets exceeding $129 Billion. Here's some real news on the story: In related news, a group of protestors targeted the M&I Bank branch on Capital Square in Madison Thursday, leading to the bank’s early closure. A bank spokeswoman said the branch was closed under the advisement of Madison police on Thursday. It reopened for business today. Numerous protestors entered the bank on Thursday and withdrew their deposits there. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, protestors withdrew a total of more than $192,000 from the branch on Thursday. It didn't close because it ran out of money, it closed because of the rabble rousers. No business willingly opens its doors to troublemakers and ruffians.

Who cares they are a bank that got a bail out. We need to get unions under control. I believe that all people deserve to make a honest living. Most union workers are over paid. I say Go Scott Walker and may the other state governors take a lesson. I know in my state the newly elected is working on the unions.

The Fire Departments are a government monopoly and we the people have no way to strike back at them if we disagree with them. This is exactly what is wrong with Public Unions we the people have no where else to go. Even in the case of education if I take my children out of school I still have to pay for it. If I try and not pay for it the government will simply take my property and lock me up. Maybe we should push for private fire protection like some cities have and save some money. Lets go to school vouchers and let the parents decide where to send their children to be educated. Lets have a private company or companies take care of street repairs and snow removal. Don't forget private garbage collection. It is their right to do what they did. Several years ago some communities tried to cross train employees so that they could do more than one job. the Unions would not do it. Now maybe we can do that and save time, money and lives. Lets have all the police and fire cross trained as para medics. Think of the money we could save to put into M & I Bank.

The very fact that this action by the firefighters has been publicized will have many people going to that bank to make deposits next week in support of the Governor. After all, there are two sides to this issue. The union members need to realize that with this bad economy they cannot keep going on without paying their fair share just like private sector workers. The unions have brought this upon themselves by constantly demanding that their members be treated "special". Wisconsin is the only state where public union members can look forward to making more than they earned each year when they they retire and receive their pensions and Social Security. Some other states (Colorado) pay out a higher percentage of their saleries at retirement; but, their public workers do not participate in Social Security; so, they don't get any Social Security when they retire.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/515607/awesome%3A_wisconsin_firefighters_shut_down_bank_that_funded_walker Here's the latest: UPDATE: Stranded Wind over at DailyKos has photos of the protest outside M&I, and says the ante has been upped to $600,000! 'What these pictures show are six hundred ordinary citizens descending on the M&I branch near the Wisconsin Capitol after learning of their purchase of the gubernatorial election last November. Two firefighters with old school ideas about saving had over $600,000 between the two of them and they demanded cashier's checks on the spot.' What a clever and PEACEFUL way of fighting back! Hit them in the wallet, the same way they're being hit. I'm not sure what the Koch brothers can do legally other than make a deposit to cover what was taken out! Of course, that would be like a nickel to someone like me. Annie

...Hi gladys, When you a start a brutal assault, be ready for the backlash. Governor Scott Walker may just have a short career as governor. This weekend and going forward hundreds of people will be out on the streets and in the neigborhoods in Wisconsin to collect names on a petition of recall for the governor and six Republican Senators. The word is that at least three senators are vunerable to lose their seats, the Dems are then in control with three R's gone. The governor has ticked off enough people in Wisconsin that he should be concerned about his career, maybe the GOP will vault him into being the nominee for 2012. I for one have no problem seeing him lose his job, the other man should have been elected perhaps he would be less cruel. Close the doors huh, well other banks better get ready. Not good to have runs on banks but the GOP started it all. Cheers.

wow look - capitalism at work!

Who cares? If they want to bank somewhere else they can just go ahead. You really should check a reputable source instead of a liberal group like alternet. That's why you never have your facts straight. Alternet lies and misleads its readers to promote an agenda. They even admit that they have an agenda. If you read a story there, I recommend checking a REAL news source to get the full story before buying the tripe they sell. In this case they regurgitated a story they got from DailyKOS, the absolute worst of the left wing blogs. You may remember them as the scumbags who started that lie that Sarah Palin's son was really Bristol's son. There is no level they won't stoop to and no lies they won't tell to smear their opponents. Either way, if people don't want to bank there for whatever reasons, that's fine. They didn't shut the bank down by withdrawing money like you claimed, but others have already told you that.

So, it is their right to move their money to whatever bank they want. Just hope they get some good deals on new checking/savings accounts at their new bank and that they haven't lost money during the move. (I would have advised them to stay away from BOA or Chase.) Opening new accounts at some banks usually means some sort of fees. They probably closed the bank due to a lack of actual cash at the bank and had to wait for funds to arrive. Banks only keep a certain amount of money on hand. The rest of that money goes towards loans.

I don't think they are hurting anyone by withdrawing their money. They just closed down a branch for a day or so til the next cash order comes in. A place like them will not miss that amount of money, somewhere small like a little credit union would hurt but not M&I.

I am not from Wisconsin and I don't follow the news at all so I don't know what's going on in the world except when I see discussions in Mylot. From what I can see, the people chose to pull their money out of one bank. I have done that before, but not for political reasons. If many people want to take their money out of the bank, that is their right and privilege. After reading all the responses in here, I think I need to get more information and not necessarily from that source. If it has to do with unions, I wouldn't join a union if you paid me to. There was one job that said if I didn't join the union after 90 days that I couldn't work there any more. Needless to say, I quit the job. I generally don't get involved in politics, but sometimes specific parts can be interesting. If we can make a point by pulling money out of a particular bank, then go for it. I would rather not worry about who donated to whom. It is just a headache to me.

Wouldn't it be cool if we the people could write a new bill that says, All Govenors, Senators, House Reps, Presidents and such in those capacities, that there pay match to no more than what the employee's are paid. That if there is a pay reduction to help the economy, they are no longer exempt. That they walk with us and take the pay cuts too.... Oh and have to pay for their own gas, homes, schools, and groceries out of the pay they earn with their jobs. If they want to talk the talk, I believe they need to walk the walk, in other words, NO BACK DOORS FOR THEM EITHER...

And this is a good thing because? They care nothing for the other depositers. So much for the 'democratic process'. Our country is descending into anarchy.