Kendall Card 2.0

This is a letter that my friend wrote to the editor of his local newspaper. He’s a very successful businessman who in his mid 30’s semi-retired to take on a new career – climbing rock and mountains (on his own dime of course).

As Wells Fargo (a bank that I have an account with) joined the other financial institutions in holding out their hands to accept some of my and your hard earned money, they figured it was time for a trip to Vegas and where else to stay but at the TOP, the Wynn. After the news broke they ended up canceling the rooms, but it begs the bigger question: When will the opulence stop? (that’s rhetorical)

Capitalism, socialism, whatever floats your boat, the disconnect going on in America today is on the magnitude of one of its finer geographical formations, the Grand Canyon. There are many interesting stories out there to pick from, but one that intrigued me most this past week was the Wells Fargo fiasco. Wells, like most offered, took the Federal Reserve handout to the tune of $25 billion+ with more to follow no doubt. This money comes directly from present and future tax payers no matter which printing press is used. When a whistle blower (read previous employee who enjoyed such junkets her entire tenure) pointed out the obvious, something not hidden or masked in anyway, that Wells was planning a typical annual junket at the most expensive hotels in the lower 48 (Steve Wynn’s latest properties in Vegas), it got the Washington folks thinking just a bit, which can be a miracle within itself at times.

If most tax payers, i.e. even successful entrepreneurs, would never consider $400 per night for a hotel room, particularly in a town where many acceptable rooms can be had for less than $100 per night….why should a company needing government subsidization plan a junket (with all the fixins) at such a hotel? I speak for many small business owners who have always pondered who could possibly justify such travel expenses in their business P&L statement. It is one thing to see some heiress or oil sheik peruse the Wynn lobby, but 1000 bank employees?

This is where we have landed in the land of excess, opulence and irresponsibility. I for one am betting on Wells to easily make it through this period, if for one simple fact….I trust Uncle Sam simply can’t and won’t let this behemoth fall. Wells has yet to write down its California portfolio accurately, smartly waiting out the demise of Bank of America and other competitors as they fight for shareholder survival. Every time a competitor stumbles, Wells picks up pure gold: depositors. This is a game in that the last man standing will reap the benefits of its fallen brethren. So the fact that Wells thought they could simply go ahead with such a junket after taking a 25 billion dollar handout comes as no surprise. Let’s face it, the press is not very savvy in reporting this stuff anymore. If only the infamous and sarcastic Hunter Thompson had his typewriter plugged in today.

Instead, exposure of how the “haves” are sticking it to the “have nots” is being exposed by ex-employees (of which there are a growing number), who are playing out their jealous rages as they are now tossed in with the rest of us booking our rooms at the Holiday Inn Express.