WASHINGTON–During a Senate hearing here one Senator used a Q&A period to point out credit unions do not pay income taxes.
With Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen before the Senate Finance Committee, which is looking into the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) was critical of the “bailout” of the banks at the expense of American taxpayers.
In a statement released by his office, Lankford noted he “questioned” Yellen about the “full bailout for billionaires, including the potential for bailing out foreign investors in China, and how Oklahoma’s community banks and taxpayers will be on the hook for a bank failure they had nothing to do with.”
Communists Over Americans?
During his time to question Yellen following her testimony, Lankford stated, “It has been reported publicly that SVB had a large number of Chinese investors that are there including some that are companies directly connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Will those individuals, companies, entities, and investors that are Chinese investors be made whole based on assessments in my banks in Oklahoma? So, what I’m asking is, will my banks in Oklahoma pay a special assessment to be able to make Chinese investors whole from Silicon Valley Bank?”
Yellen responded by saying, “Uninsured investors will be made whole in that bank, and I suppose that could include foreign depositors, but I don’t believe there’s any legal basis to discriminate among uninsured.”
‘Every Oklahoman Will Pay’
Lankford then said, “I get it, but I’m just saying, my community banks are going to pay this additional fee. It’s always fascinating to me as well the conversation that taxpayers are being made whole in this so taxpayers are not going to have any kind of consequence on this. I’m sure my bankers are going to be very excited to know they no longer pay taxes and their banks no longer pay taxes. Credit unions don’t pay taxes, banks do, and so they’re definitely taxpayers as well and all banks make their revenue off of rates and fees and such to their account-holders, which means every Oklahoman will pay higher fees in their community bank.”