Bleed the fuckas for all they're worth

I hate banks. I've never held an account with a bank in my entire life, unless you count the account I had in Norway with the government owned Postbanken, which was a Post-office / bank service.

Lately the NDP has been taking on Canada's Big Banks in an attempt to undermine the fact that banks have been charging people ridiculous fees in order to add to their already ridiculous $4.7 billion profits last year. Paying fees to banks is almost as ridiculous as subsidizing oil companies. Oh, wait.

This has been a theme that's been popping up a lot in the last few months. The Conservative government has taken up the issue, probably due to some pressure by the NDP to "get results". Earlier this month The NDP brought up the issue of interest rates for Big Banks while Globe and Mail writer, Rob Carrick brought up bank fees last month.

To be sure, this is both an issue of interest for anti-capitalists and people concerned with the economy. Most of the people who decide to buy houses these days do on the hope that their interest rates will not skyrocket...if they do, their once affordable mortgages become super-expensive, the banks get to forclose and working people become working poor. Banks meanwhile are, by definition, a node of financial capital, the seediest, greediest, slimiest form of capital that I know of. At least venture capitalists do something innovative from time to time. Charging ATM fees and other service charges that only make up 5% of revenues, is ridiculous.

Norway and the UK banned services charges of this sort years ago, and we should do the same in Canada as the Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition has been arguing for years.