Household HSBC Watch

President Bush nominated Ameriquest Chairman Roland Arnall as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. Arnall founded the company as Long Beach Savings in 1979. The company paid $4 million in 1996 to settle charges by the U.S. Justice Department that its lending practices cheated minorities, women and the elderly.

Elsewhere in the news, Charles Schwab announced this week that another leader in predatory lending has been appointed to their Board of Directors. After doing a miserable job at AT&T and Household International, William (Bill) F. Aldinger III got the job at Charles Schwab. “If Schwab can’t research Aldinger better than that we don’t want to see their stock research” said one investor. At AT&T as a board member these brain surgeons decided to withold regulatory payments that in part were earmarked for rural schools, saying that AT&T was advertising instead of providing phone service.

Now lets see - two men; cheating elderly, minorities, women, students, overcharging on home loans, sued across the country — are we missing something here?