The business (Republic Windows & Doors) has not said anything about this that I can tell - other then telling their employees that they blame BoA.

I'm still wondering if there is more that Republic Windows & Doors has not said - and just blamed BoA as an excuse they told their workers... and now that it has blown up to a major story..... it will be interesting.

I don't know whether this is good or bad overall. It seems good because its sticking it to BoA (which is needed) and good for employees, but also seems that maybe this was a little harsh? Unfortunately (or fortunately =P ) companies need harsh results to learn from things anymore.

Bank of America get its comeuppance. They are the single worst bank on the planet. Every time I hear that tag line, "bank of opportunity," all I can think is "Yeah, opportunity to shaft me!"

I like this decision. I hope more states adopt this policy. "If you want to do business here you'll release your lines of credit. No business license or government contracts for you."

The gov. should be putting pressure on banks that participated in the great $700 billion bail out to lend that money to local companies. But should BOA be lending to a company that makes windows and doors when the construction industry is in the crapper? Who gets to make that call?

I like this policy too. Failing states like Illinois can pull their business from BoA and free up more credit for more productive states to utilize.

Come on people, Republic Windows and Doors is obviously a failing company that would default on any additional credit BoA gave them. Otherwise BoA wouldn't have yanked their line of credit in the first place.

Just funny how banks are getting our tax dollars, and instead of doing what Congress told them to do with the money, they are buying up smaller banks, increasing fees and credit card rates, hoarding the money and basically not using it to help the economy at all.

I just hope they are asking for both BoA credit and a reopening of the plant. If the plant isn't going to reopen BoA has no choice but to stop the credit. Maybe the plant did close because BoA initially pulled the credit, but does the parent company want the plant open? Do they think by spring they will be making money again? BoA cannot give credit if they know they will never get paid back. It sounds like the state of Illinois should be offering a bailout loan. If they don't trust the company enough to offer their own loan, it's absurd to attack BoA.

@SadSam: Yep, it's hard to know if BofA are being asshats or being responsible. I read that Republic has been making payments on time to BofA, but BofA may know something about Republic that prompted the shut off.

@SadSam: It's not so much about taking care of this company, which has already decalred bankruptcy. It's about not leaving the workers in the lurch.The workers really just want to be paid for the work they've already done. The company is closing down, but the workers aren't being given the severance pay that is due to them

Wait, aren't we upset about the banks making bad loans to start all this? What's the point of the bailout if they keep loaning money to people (or businesses) who can't pay it back? See here: Many Borrowers Re-Default After Mortgage Is Modified ([www.cnbc.com])

I agree that BoA sucks, but did we keep them from failing just to encourage them to fail later?

@TWinter: Yep, it's hard to know if BofA are being asshats or being responsible..

That's what the media and politicians are for..sorting out the finer points of such thorny issues. At least they've always done such a great job with it in the past.

/switching sarcaso-meter off...

@Corporate_guy: Doesn't this company still have a lot of merchandise? I think that even if the factory closes, BOA should be able to recoup their losses with those items.

@Anathema777: Since when did B of A have an obligation to the workers of the company? They're a CREDITOR.

Welcome to the "Strings Attached" part of the bailout. Get ready Detroit, you are next!

As I understand it, the business closed down. The company didn't have the cash to pay the workers, hence the closing.

BofA (and believe me, I hate them too) is refusing to loan money to a company which has already shut down, on the basis that they won't get paid back. That seems reasonable to me. It sucks that the company went out of business, but the fact that BofA won't lend to a business which has no revenue stream and is probably already in debt seems smart to me.

Am I missing something>

I'm strongly in the liberal Democrat column and support the workers, but being from Illinois this looks once again like Blagojevich is making a silly PR move before all the facts have been laid out.

While this story makes me quiver because it's government and buisness...I realize two things.

1. That the bailout was supposed to trickle down but it seems to be stuck in the wallets of the banks

2. I really fucking hate Bank of America, if Ken Lay went to Guantanamo, I'd end up being a hypocrite because I'd be the first one on the phone with his congressman begging to keep it open "Cant we waterboard him just five more hours!??!?!?"

Oh and yes as far as "being a threat to America"

Terrorist < Bank of America

/bitter

@rpm773: You just 'sploded my head

@Anathema777:

So the company has already declared bankruptcy and the workers and state are mad at BOA for cancelling a line of credit. Not knowing the details and recognizing that it sucks for the workers it seems reasonable for BOA to cancel a line of credit for a bankrupt company as it seems unlikely that BOA would ever get paid back on that LOC. Shouldn't the workers be looking to the company for compensation?

I got an interesting phone call from BofA this morning. I have/had a line of credit with them, and they were looking for me to somehow pay more than the minimum payment each month like I used to.

I ran into some financial difficulty (unemployed for nearly a year) I was late on a few payments and frankly, they treated me like I was some kind of criminal. I have diligently paid them on time for months now, Called repeatedly and begged for interest rate decreases and was always told no.

Right now I am doing Dave Ramsey's snowball plan and have managed to pay off quite a chunk of my debt. They offered to lower my interest rate to 4.42% (from 16.89) if I agreed to close the account and pay it off in 60 months. I was planning to close it anyway as soon as I pay it off. They emphasized over and over, that they wanted me to consider my experience with them as being a good one and that they were aware that their reputation was not the best and were making efforts to change that. I still don't know what to think of it.

@mookiemookie: What the State of Illinois is angry about is that many banks who received bailout money are sitting on that money, instead of using it to continue lending.

The point of the bailout was supposed to be to purchase bad debt so that the banks could continue to lend funds. Lending increases businesses at all levels and stabilizes the economy from the bottom-up. Unfortunately, that isn't what is happening. The bailout has been used to save AIG, to let big banks gobble up little banks, and to keep many financial institutions afloat, when they should have closed their doors two months ago.

@mookiemookie:

Ever since BoA received a slice of $700B cake funded by taxes paid by those same workers. Whether you (and BoA) like it or not, BoA is now indebted to pretty much all the tax-payers of USA. Perhaps we should reduce the limit on their credit card and bump up the APR...

@m4ximusprim3: Often states have work clauses which require businesses to notify workers within a certain time that they are being laid off - for any reason. I just heard on the radio this morning that the company had not complied with any of the State of IL requirements to lay off workers.

@mookiemookie: They're a creditor that got bailed out by the government because they argued that they were too big to fail. In return, they were supposed to help prop up the failing economy that bailed them out. I think that gives them an obligation.

@ohiomensch: Wow lower your deal to 4.42% from 16.89%??? Some people would love 16.89% versus 29.99%.

It sounds like they are trying to get you on a different loan (60 months)versus paying down your exisiting CC debt.

@Anathema777: Isn't that money usually kept by the company in reserve for just such an event? You can't declare bankruptcy and THEN promise workers severance, then complain that you were already broke.

@econobiker: Right, which is definitely very naughty of the company.

I still don't see how that should force BofA to loan money to an insolvent company who obviously won't be able to pay it back. It seems like bailout by proxy to me.

Which is fine, I just wish they'd call it what it is.

@Andr0: Then by that definition, shouldn't the state which received money from the employees paychecks ALSO be held responsible for paying their severance?

It does not matter if BoA gives money to Republic or not.

What does matter is that the State of Illinois is trying a grassroots tactic to get the bank to do what it is supposed to do...

@Anathema777: Let me get this straight: B of A makes crappy loans and gets a government bailout. They're then supposed to use the bailout money to make more crappy loans.

Riiight...

Interesting that it takes a smaller government body (as in state rather than federal) to hold BoA accountable for their mismanagement on the bailout funds it received. It's amazing how the banks promised to make more credit available to everybody... if only they could get a bailout. Seems very similar to what the auto industry is promising and likely won't deliver on.

@econobiker: Agreed. What strikes me as funny is sometimes the people on the other end of the phone don't seem to understand "having a bad-luck streak". Yes, I was un-employeed for a year, BUT now I have a job and want to pay off my bill quickly. Then they offer you low payments over 17 years.

@radiochief: No, the bank is supposed to extend credit to people who, _in their opinion_, deserve it. It is absolutely 100% insane to have the government start dictating to private establishments who does or who does not make a good credit risk. The bail-outs were similarly nuts, IMHO.

Atlas Shrugged is coming to life, and I am completely terrified.

@K J: This wouldn't even be news if there wasn't a trend of banks not opening up credit lines to consumers/businesses. It's the static behavior that has everybody concerned, not just this incident, per se.

Besides, BoA-bashing is just too much fun to pass up.

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy->★:
The bank though is a private business. Where as the govt is well, just that. It's not private and its funded by everyone and not for profit. BofA is a for profit business. If you help out a for profit business they should help back.

I can see it from both sides, why BofA said no and why the states pissed. I think the state is just using this as an example to run with the idea. More of a scapegoat if you will.

@Anathema777: @Andr0: You're welcome to think as much. That does not mean the law agrees with you.

This is totally stupid. BOA should not be forced to extend a loan to a company that cannot pay it back. If they company is having troubles, they need to figure out how to bail themselves out and then work on restoring a line of credit. This is how we got into this mess to begin with, the goverment softening up standards so that people with no business getting a loan were extended one. The bailout is only making matters worse.

So, to be consistent, will Illinois stop doing business with every bank that yanks a business's credit line because the business is failing? Because this isn't just a show, right? There are obviously no other banks doing this?

Just because there was a bailout doesn't mean that all common sense is abandoned.

If the governor is mad at the people being laid off improperly, go after the business owners, who are doing the misdeeds. The bank, and every other bank like it, is just operating by normal rules.

Please remember a very important part of the situation here: Gov. Blago is ONLY doing this to try and help himself politically. He doesn't really care about the workers, he is just trying to score points to help out his reputation, which is in the crapper.

This angers me as much as the entire situation. While BOA is supposed to be loosening lines of credit, they aren't, but I don't think it's gov'ts. role to be telling private enterprise who they can and can't lend to. But since the bailout, the entire system is fucked and it seems the rules don't count anywhere anymore.

If the workers are entitled to severance pay and vacation pay per their contract, it should be honored, plain and simple, regardless of who or what caused the company to close its doors.

But again, Blago's motives are purely selfish and politically motivated.

Meanwhile John Thain is going before the compensation review board today at Merrill Lynch because he feels he is ENTITLED to his 10 million USD bonus!!!!

@socalrob: Well, if the state is a "for loss" business, then they should have no problem paying out if there is no expectation of return. The bank has a responsibility to it's share holders and it's employees to try to stay afloat. Just giving out money with no hope of getting it back doesn't go towards that goal. I also doubt we as tax payers want BofA giving our money away.

@Erwos: And these financial geniuses will up and leave us?

...Not seeing the problem here.

It's a PR stunt, that's all our governor does. He's a shmuck, a politician in the worst sense. The newspapers reported last Friday that the feds put a wire on one of his cronies. He's the focus of a federal corruption investigation. The lieutenant governor hasn't spoken to him in months. The Dems control the governor's mansion and the statehouse and he can't get along with anybody, nothing gets done here but corrupt back room deals. And the scary thing is, he ran for governor as a Democratic congressman promising reform and a new era after an unpopular Republican executive. Sound familiar? Obama, anyone? They both have ties to jailed felon Tony Rezko. Look for Osama to steal a few pages from Blago's playbook. BofA should say "suck it" to Blago and go about their business. He's an impotent jerk.

@radiochief: Banks are not SUPPOSED to loan money to business who can't pay it back because they're INSOLVENT.

This would result in more insolvent banks and more bailouts. Shitty business owners aren't BofA's fault.

@Anathema777: Yeah, but who knows how many other creditors will be scrambling over that merchandise as well?

Brilliant. The government telling banks who to lend to was NOT AT ALL the cause of the current meltdown.

Let's fast-forward six months and read the story about Republic going bankrupt on accusations of corruption and bad books.

@Erwos:
Absolutely right, God save us from bipartisanship.

I bet BoA will provide a line of credit again with Blagojevich co-signed. If BoA won't extend their credit shouldn't Republic Windows & Doors get it from other bank.