When I was a young man starting out on Long Island, everyone there banked either with the Meadowbrook National Bank, Central Federal Savings and Loan or the Franklin National Bank.  They were our local institutions, and we were loyal to local businesses.  That’s the way things were done back then.  Today, it doesn’t work that way.
The Meadowbrook National Bank was taken over by CIT Financial, which sold it to The National Westminster Bank of England, which sold it to Fleet Bank, which was recently sold to the Bank of America.  Central Federal was sold to Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust, which was sold to the Chase Manhattan Bank, which was then sold to Chemical Bank, which decided to change its name to Chase Bank and the acquire JP Morgan Bank so that it is now called JP Morgan Chase.  Franklin National was sold to a Dutch bank which renamed it the European American Bank.  That, in turn was sold to Citibank.  Whew!

Merger fever is upon us folks, and it isn’t going to disappear soon.  Our current administration is encouraging big business to become bigger, at the expense of us little folk.  Soon, I expect that there will be one big bank, one video chain, one supermarket, and one company making all of our pharmaceuticals.  Fascism is defined as a system of government in which the needs and desires of corporations take precedence over the needs and desires of the general population.  The unrestricted growth of mega corporations, the outsourcing of our jobs to Asia and countless other policies of the current Bush administration lead me to believe that the current leaders of our country are not Republicans.  They are true fascists, in the mold of Mussolini and Francisco Franco, and that my friends does not bode well for the democratic (small ‘d’) ideals of our country

When I was a young man starting out on Long Island, everyone there banked either with the Meadowbrook National Bank, Central Federal Savings and Loan or the Franklin National Bank. They were our local institutions, and we were loyal to local businesses. That’s the way things were done back then. Today, it doesn’t work that way.

The Meadowbrook National Bank was taken over by CIT Financial, which sold it to The National Westminster Bank of England, which sold it to Fleet Bank, which was recently sold to the Bank of America. Central Federal was sold to Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust, which was sold to the Chase Manhattan Bank, which was then sold to Chemical Bank, which decided to change its name to Chase Bank and the acquire JP Morgan Bank so that it is now called JP Morgan Chase. Franklin National was sold to a Dutch bank which renamed it the European American Bank. That, in turn was sold to Citibank. Whew!

Merger fever is upon us folks, and it isn’t going to disappear soon. Our current administration is encouraging big business to become bigger, at the expense of us little folk. Soon, I expect that there will be one big bank, one video chain, one supermarket, and one company making all of our pharmaceuticals. Fascism is defined as a system of government in which the needs and desires of corporations take precedence over the needs and desires of the general population. The unrestricted growth of mega corporations, the outsourcing of our jobs to Asia and countless other policies of the current Bush administration lead me to believe that the current leaders of our country are not Republicans. They are true fascists, in the mold of Mussolini and Francisco Franco, and that my friends does not bode well for the democratic (small ‘d’) ideals of our country. But That’s Just My Opinion...