Dear Justice,

When these economic problems began, I thought I was doing better than many. I have a part-time job as a security guard that pays $10/hour. But a few small problems at the bank wiped me out.

I’d spend $5 on parking and overdraft by a DOLLAR, incurring $35 in fees before the end of the day!
Each $35 fee is three and a half hours of my work, lost to the bank – the same banks that have financially ruined tens of millions of people all around the world, the same banks that took our money in bailouts for a problem they forced on us.

For years now, wages have kept static as related to inflation, but the banks flooded our mailboxes with credit card ads with the intensity of a propaganda air-drop. They’ve made tons of money off that, too, and now consumer debt is at an all-time high. 

Now I see the news media happily reporting that the banks are making profits. But where are those profits coming from? Well, $38.5 billion of it came from overdraft fees like mine, according to Yahoo News.

The Moebs Services research company says, “Banks are returning to a fee-driven model, and overdraft fees are the mother lode.” These fees, which banks cover at virtually no cost to themselves, cripple workers and the poor. And for what? For wealth and profit.

Signed,
(In)Security Guard