On the heels of the resignation of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, the Service Employees International Union is urging President Barack Obama to oust Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis.Hmmm...
“It defies logic, common-sense, and responsible governance to punish the auto industry while letting financial institutions off the hook,” SEIU President Andy Stern said, announcing his call for Lewis’s job Tuesday.
The SEIU has begun circulating an online petition, calling on the administration to “show the door to CEO Ken Lewis.”
“Firing GM's CEO is a positive step towards restructuring a broken industry,” Stern said. “But the Obama Administration needs to apply the same lesson to the financial sector: replace failed leadership and shepherd the industry into a new era.”
Stern explain that both CEOs “sunk large public companies—putting thousands out of work and toppling the American economy — while accepting billions in taxpayer bailouts. Yet only Wagoner got a pink slip.”
“It’s time for Treasury Secretary Geithner to replace Ken Lewis as CEO and let real reform take hold at Bank of America,” he said.
Just yesterday I blogged about how Obama's blatant takeover of GM could be a move toward payback for the unions who lost nothing and have everything to gain. I wonder if this is an early test of the unions' influence over our fledgling President. Will he follow their suggestion and oust another CEO in a second flagrant socialist takeover, or will he hold back and offer some harsh rhetoric instead?
Another aspect of this is as a measure of how fast Obama's takeover of the financial sector will play out. Will he move slowly and let the heat die down a bit from the GM mess before taking out another CEO, or will he leap forward to implement his agenda, even if it risks public disapproval?
Watch this one, because it could be an indicator of what we can expect over the next two years.
There's my two cents.
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