PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Non Illigitamus Carborundum!! That’s a pseudo-Latin phrase that you can Google for a translation. Basically it says don’t let them grind you down. I have read several articles recently about the impending Presidential Election Cycle and the bank bashings that will come with it. We are 12 months out, and the early adopters have already started the next round of bank bashing. It makes me believe that we are in for a lot of negative publicity. The current administration will certainly point to the banking industry as the cause of all sorts of evil. And then we have Senator Warren and the Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders, both of whom would rather change parties than miss a chance to bash a bank. Just last week Secretary Clinton caught the bug and began to play “whack-a-big-bank.” There is some consolation here though. Bank bashing goes back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt and his campaign promise to clean up Wall Street. Since that time candidates have chosen banking and a select few other targets — Big Oil or Pharmaceuticals, for example — to bash
while making their campaign promise to clean up corruption and share the wealth with the common populace. If you wonder why, it is a lot like asking, “Why do people rob banks?” That’s where the money is. To avoid being seen as part of the housing problem or slow economy, they find someone else to blame. Banks are most visible since we house most everyone’s money. One of the articles I read had a Ralph Nader quote that also helps explain bank bashing. Mr. Nader said, “You bankers keep wanting to be loved. But remember, not only do you lend money, but you want to be paid back. Who could love such a person?” What a foolish notion, getting paid back. Who ever heard of such a thing? Well Mr. Nader, the answer to that question is what we will have to remember for the next 12 months. Who could love us? Our 2+ million employees who are committed to our banks and our communities, our shareholders and directors who keep us focused on being the economic engines in our Main Street locations.
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The Arkansas Banker | November 2015
