Make Wall Street Pay: Protests Against Tax-Dodging Bank of America

On March 8, 600 protesters swarmed outside the Bank of America branch on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. They succeeded in shutting down business at the branch and informed area residents about Bank of America’s shameful record of tax dodging.

Under federal law, banks such as Bank of America are required to pay 35 percent of their pre-tax earnings in taxes. But the National People’s Action group has issued a report that Bank of America, along with JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, have all averaged taxes of 11 percent for the past two years, saving themselves a staggering $13 billion in revenue.

In cheating taxpayers, these banks have taken enough tax revenue out of the economy to have paid for three years’ worth of salaries for every American teacher who lost his or her job since the Wall Street bailout.

In 2009, Bank of America pocketed $45 billion in TARP funds and posted profits of $4.4 billion. And the bank did not pay one cent of taxes.

Meanwhile, Bank of America just issued a press release that explains how their new corporate bonuses in the D.C. area are “a plus for the local economy.”

If you’re asking yourself why you haven’t heard of this movement, the shutdown of Bank of America on Tuesday, or other Bank of America protests that have taken place since the end of February, that’s easy. It’s because no mainstream media outlets have covered these events. Only independent journalists have succeeded in getting information about the protests online and on You Tube, while TV networks, financial papers such as the Wall Street Journal, and even area newspapers such as the Washington Post are trying to pretend that nothing has happened.

But even during the news blackout, there are still steps you can take. The National People’s Action website has a form you can fill out: it calculates how much you have lost in the economic crisis that followed on the heels of the Wall Street bailout. The site then generates a “bill” that is sent directly to your members of Congress.

Or, stop in at one of the Bank of America locations in Grand Rapids. The main bank, downtown is located at 40 Pearl Street N.W. Other branches are found at:

3886 Plainfield N.E.

6737 S. Division

2000 Lake Michigan Drive N.W.

1750 Michigan Street N.E.

6464 28Th Street S.E.

485 44th Street S.E.

2005 Breton Road S.E.

834 Leonard Street N.W.

Or, call the downtown location at 616-451-7944.

Tell them how you feel about their tax evasion and how you feel it’s hurting the economy—and making life harder for you and your family.