The public trough  

Posted by Mr. Ellsworth Toohey


Since Phoenixville is all about giving away public money, here is a good map of the TARP (bank bailout) money distribution. The two local banks are National Penn Bank that slurped up $130 million and Susquehanna Bank that gobbled up $300 million. I know that the Borough did their banking with Nat. Penn a few years back. I think the Borough banks with Susquehanna now. Isn't that wonderful. It doesn't worry me as much as makes me mad. There is no way that we should give business to any bank that is reckless enough to engage in the kind of banking that got these banks in trouble.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at Wednesday, December 03, 2008 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

2 comments

Anonymous  

In November there was a report in Bloomberg: "Susquehanna Bancshares Inc., a Lititz, Pennsylvania-based lender, last month lowered the value of $20 million in so-called synthetic CDO notes it bought by almost 88 percent...".
Several years ago borough manager Digirolomo and finance director Nease shifted millions of dollars of borough money from Phoenixville Federal into Susquehanna. Borough personnel work on computers every day with connections to Susquehanna.
A month or so after the vote to keep trash operations in house, a significant portion of the money in borough accounts which had been shifted to Susquehanna was shifted back to Phoenixville Federal.

December 3, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Anonymous  

As the communications manager for Susquehanna Bank, I'd like to clarify that our bank doesn't need a "bailout." We received preliminary approval to participate in the U.S. Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program, which the government is using to build capital at financially healthy banks. It is not a government give-away. The Treasury Department will invest $300 million and receive preferred shares of Susquehanna, and we will be paying them a 5% annual dividend on this investment. In the future, the government can redeem these shares and recoup its investment. In the meantime, the capital we receive will help to fund loans to local residents and businesses, which drives economic growth. To learn more, feel free to visit our website, www.susquehanna.net, and look under Susquehanna Bank Safety & Soundness.

December 4, 2008 at 9:20 AM

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