George S. May Business Blog

JPMorgan flying high on tax dollars

The latest spending plans from beleaguered bank, JPMorgan Chase, have recently surfaced and it can be assumed those plans won’t be taken kindly by the public. JPMorgan Chase, after receiving some $25 billion in bailout funds, is set to spend $120 million on two brand new luxury corporate jets. But the spending won’t stop there, as, they will obviously need somewhere to house their 9 figure “investment”. So, along with the purchase of the jets will come a generous reconstruction of a hangar at the Westchester Airport, located outside New York City. The hangar will be remodeled to satisfy all the executives’ banking needs, including the incorporation of reclaimed wood, quarry tile and even a “vegetated roof garden”. Stunningly, the renovation will only cost tax-payers, excuse me, JPMorgan Chase a small fee of $18 million.

The Gulfstream 650 is quite an impressive bird. According to its website, it is the “latest achievement to come out of the Rolls-Royce shop” as its engine provides “higher thrust” and “quieter operation” in there attempt to satisfy every bankers “need for more speed, range and performance”. The website assures that the G650 will bring you “unsurpassed maximum operating speed” and “excellent hot and high performance”.

But while the Gulfstream 650 provides “greater protection” to the JPMorgan Chase flyers, this purchase/renovation looks to provide quite the opposite to the current employees at the hangar.

JPMorgan’s proposed renovation will be of a hangar which they currently do not have the lease for. The hangar will become available in April 2010, when the current lease ends, and it is expected that JPMorgan will take over the lease due to the amount of money tax payers have, excuse me, the bank has dedicated to the construction of the state-of-the-art hangar. According to Mike Dolphin, president of fixed-based operator Avitat Westchester, (the company who currently runs out of the hangar), estimated that if JPMorgan’s plans are finalized by the county, his business will be instantly cut in half.

Simply entertaining the idea of purchasing such a decadent, gratuitous ‘gift’ with tax-payer dollars lends itself to the notion that maybe the G650 is not the only thing that is “hot and high”. Am I mistaken, or was the idea behind the TARP funds, in its utmost simplicity, to eventually create jobs for the American people by stabilizing big banks, so that they could begin to lend again, thereby sparking the resurgence of small business and the spending of the general public? Is this not the EXACT OPPOSITE? Think about it, rather than hearing stories of JPMorgan’s efforts to loan, they are frivolously spending on multi-million dollar toys. Rather than jobs, being created, they are being destroyed. This latest stunt on behalf of JPMorgan is absolutely egregious, irresponsible, and frankly disrespectful to the American tax-payer.

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