Ousted Goldman CEO and Ousted NJ Governor Jon Corzine to Head Bank of America?

by Don Loos

As the Bank of America (BofA) CEO, one of the first phone calls that Jon Corzine might receive could come from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President and White House frequent guest Andy Stern asking Corzine to forgive SEIU’s $88 million debt or at least to renegotiate the BofA terms. As former head of the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee and a Democrat governor from New jersey, Corzine knows all too well how much the Democrat party owes SEIU bosses. Corzine as head of Bank of America could create interesting opportunities for Stern.

2008 SEIU NHQ LM-2 Loans Payable

SEIU Debt Ceiling

Debts are increasing at every level of the SEIU purple conglomerate. SEIU’s national headquarters reported that at the end of 2008, its total liabilities grew to $156 million, a total debt increase of $36 million from the prior year. And, about $60 million of its assets are receivables owed to it by SEIU affiliates.

Even though SEIU’s national headquarters reports receiving $247 million in dues revenue called “per capita taxes”, much coming from workers who would be fired if they did not pay, its combined “Representational,” “Political,” “General Overhead,” “Union Administration,” “Benefits,” and “Gifts” activities cost the union $285 million.

With the ACORN kerfuffle staining SEIU’s purple branding and causing it to spend resources on an unanticipated public relations problem combined with a continuing costly push for ObamaCare, SEIU resources are under increasing pressure.

And like the politicians he endorses, Stern continues to spend and borrow rather than live within the union’s means or pay down debt. Clearly he is focused on the mother lode of SEIU public sector membership drives, also known as ObamaCare or PelosiCare. SEIU’s own public estimates reveal that nationalization of health care could quadruple its membership, even if it costs a million of its current members their jobs.

But, are these ceaseless campaign cycles and continuous pumping of SEIU’s income into politics going to payoff?

The number of places where Stern can borrow millions is diminishing and may explain SEIU’s progressively more cozy relationship with Amalgamated Bank’s holding company, also known as UNITE-HERE. In 2008, SEIU’s national headquarters borrowed $15 million from Amalgamated.

Corzine Could Open Up BofA Doors to SEIU Organizers

In his years as Governor, Corzine gave Big Labor pretty much everything it demanded (not to mention his special gifts to one union boss), and he may consider helping out SEIU bosses for old time’s sake.  He could quickly enter into a card-check forced unionism agreement with Stern that would eliminate the opportunity for employees to vote in a secret ballot certification election.  This is a cornerstone to SEIU’s corporate campaigns and BofA has been an SEIU organizer’s target in the past.

Would Corzine as Bank of America CEO help SEIU out of its loan? Corzine perfectly fits the SEIU politician mold. William F.  Buckley, Jr. described Corzine as the “Universalist Candidate … to read from his own campaign literature: Universal health-care coverage; ‘Universal long-term care;’ ‘Universal quality public education;’ ‘Universal gun registration and licensing;’ ‘Universal access and opportunity.’”

Yes, a move to Bank of America could create a delicious opportunity for Mr. Stern. However with a $45 billion U.S. taxpayer investment in BofA and another $118 billion in assets guarantees, it is an expensive opportunity that should be avoided.


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Posted Nov 20th 2009 at 9:47 am in Big Labor, News, Politics | 29 Comments