Katie Porter slams bank CEO with common sense line of questions. Any thoughts?

I thought she was very good in the clip I saw.

Yes, she was impressive. She sure didn’t come across like a beginner. I think I would like to know more about her.

I didn’t see this. Do you have a link?

https://youtu.be/YlJnznzkSf4
I just learned how to share a link using this phone.
There it is. She rips him a new one.

I liked the fact that she was straightforward about her questioning and she didn’t let him off the hook too easily. But I think there are other things going on with her hypothetical that needed to be addressed as well. And while she (and the MSNBC host) were both looking for the answer that he would pay her more, you need to remember, he is the CEO of the bank, but he has to do a lot more math than just what was being asked to determine the impact of making a statement like “I would just pay her more”. Committing (which is what that would be considered) to bumping up the entry level pay $4/hr and assuming 50,000 workers would see a pay increase (there are over 256,000 employees working for JP Morgan Chase), that would cost the company over $400M per year. That’s a huge commitment without getting board approval. His answer of “I’d have to think about it” is probably the correct answer in a situation like that.
Another thing that would have to be considered would be the cost of living in Irvine CA. Why does a 1 bedroom apt cost $1600/month? I bought a 3 bdrm house on an acre of land in NC and had a mortgage of under $900/month. Why does housing cost so much in CA? That alone contributes to the huge homeless problem in CA. What about taxes? CA taxes are among the highest in the country. Wouldn’t cutting taxes help put money back in the worker’s pocket?
There are several problems with how things are run today. Companies pay their upper echelon huge money…more than I believe is reasonable. I compare Jamie Diamond’s $31M with Takanobu Ito’s (Honda CEO in 2011) salary of $1.5M. It is a gross mismatch. Also, the Japanese companies often tie the CEO salary to the performance of the company. Good year, it goes up a little. Bad year, it goes down. So executive compensation is a huge problem. But the other side of the coin impacting workers is the cost of living. And state taxes play a huge role in impacting that. State taxes impact not only money withheld from their paychecks, but also the profits of every single company operating in that state. Gas prices go up. Food prices go up. Rent goes up, Utilities go up. And it is all to compensate for the extra money going to taxes.
$16.50/hr is a good wage for an entry level position. But entry level positions, again, were not designed to be the end-all be-all of supporting a family. Over time, that wage will go up for someone that stays with the company. Promotions lead to more money. And it is those jobs that were designed for supporting a family. My mom worked as a bank teller when I was a child. She ended up being the only source of income for the family. And guess what? A bank teller doesn’t make enough to support a family. She ended up working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to make enough money to get by. She eventually moved up at the bank and did make enough money to support us.

Good points, for sure.
I wonder if she will approach the other problems you mention with the same fervor.
I just think for that particular instance she took it by the throat and would not let go. But it was only one aspect of California woes. That is why I say I would like to know more about her. If she takes on other issues as relentlessly as that, she just might be someone to get behind.

She did not seem to be afraid of dealing with Diamond. She was, as I said, very straightforward and did not let him off easy. It is always good to see that. I’d suggest checking out her web page to see what her stance is on things. I have also found that sometimes writing my representatives and senators is even more telling as to how they are. I have written ALL my representatives and senators at one time or another. Pretty much all of them give you the generic response of “thanks for showing interest in this topic! We appreciate hearing from those we represent!” You can tell it is a canned letter. Some of them let it drop at that. Others will write you back and give you the political double-speak. You know…ask them if it’s raining outside and they talk to you for 10 minutes and then walk away and you still don’t know if it’s raining. But the really good ones will give you a coherent, well thought-out response. I may not agree with their position, but at least they have the chutzpah to take a position and stand behind it. Those that take this approach I know are engaged and actually care.