Rosalea Barker: The weekend that wuz

::Just another hole in the wall::

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On the last weekend of April, a bandit leaned out of a stage coach and dragged me inside: Wells Fargo Bank finally took over all of Wachovia Bank’s branches in California. My hole in the wall is now just a hole in the wall. Wachovia, which was big back East, had only entered the California market in 2007. I opened an account with them in early 2008 because the branch was conveniently located and Wachovia offered to refund any fees other banks charged for using their ATMs instead. Then came the Great Bank Shakeout at the end of 2008, and Wells Fargo snapped up Wachovia, effectively doubling the size of the San Francisco-based institution whose logo is the mode of transport synonymous with the Wild West.

This past weekend, I called Wells Fargo to make sure they wouldn’t let ATM transactions go through if I didn’t have enough money in the bank. Wasn’t this one of the great consumer fixes the Obama Administration was going to do? Back in November 2009, the Federal Reserve Bank announced that it had created a new Rule that required financial institutions to ask consumers if they wanted to opt in to having ATM and debit card transactions go through even if they had insufficient funds—in which case they’d be charged an overdraft fee. “For consumers who do not opt in,” the Fed said, “the institution would be prohibited from charging overdraft fees for any overdrafts it pays on ATM and one-time debit card transactions.”

Well, silly me. First of all, banks’ compliance with the rule isn’t mandatory until July 1 this year. And in the meantime, banks have kicked up such a fuss that the Fed has now provided them with a way around it. Pages 9120-9125 of the March Federal Register detail the changes, but you need only read the explanatory examples given on page 9125 to weep.

::Petty in pink::

On Sunday, the two major contenders in the Republican primary to decide who will be on the November ballot for Governor of California held a debate at the Tech Museum in San Jose. The debate was sponsored by several cable TV companies and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. eMeg Whitman wore a pink jacket and was petty. Steve Poizner was poisonous. If you have the stomach for it, you can watch the debate here. Or read this summary of the major jabs. I didn’t have the stomach for much more than five minutes of it when it was broadcast live.

And it seems the Silicon Valley Leadership Group wasn’t too pleased either—not with the questions from the reporters, nor with the snark from the candidates. Interviewed immediately after the debate by a local TV reporter, an SVLG spokesperson said he’d hoped to hear questions—and answers—about the things that concern its members most: higher education, housing, and transportation. Instead, all we got was pigtail pulling and name calling in the playground.

Lord forbid either of those two idiots buy their way into office.

--PEACE—

rosalea.barker@gmail.com

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