First the Feds Bail Out BofA, and Now They're Trying to Destroy It

The federal government is a fickle mistress:

Holding up a plastic debit card on the Senate floor this afternoon, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had some advice for Bank of America customers angry about the new $5 monthly fee: leave.

“Bank of America customers, vote with your feet, get the heck out of that bank,” Durbin said on the Senate floor. “Find yourself a bank or credit union that won’t gouge you for $5 a month and still will give you a debit card that you can use every single day. What Bank of America has done is an outrage.”

The fact is it was Dem legislation (Dodd-Frank) that created the situation that resulted in BofA needing to charge for debit card services. By restricting interchange fees the bank was faced with losing money on debit card transactions. Of course they passed that charge on to their customers.

Durbin may end up causing a run on the bank and putting it under completely, which will result in billions of dollars in federal deposit insurance payouts when the bank fails.

The Dodd-Frank legislation that started this was irresponsible, and Durbin's comments are very irresponsible.