$39 billion: The Wall Street bonuses for the big five investment banks last year.»

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/39-billion-the-wall-street-bonuses-for-the-big-five-investment-banks-last-year/

$39 billion: The Wall Street bonuses for the big five investment banks last year.»

ABC News reports:

In 2007, Wall Street’s five biggest firms — Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley — paid a record $39 billion in bonuses to themselves.

That’s $10 billion more than the $29 billion loan taxpayers are making to J.P. Morgan to save Bear Stearns.

Those 2007 bonuses were paid even though the shareholders in those firms last year collectively lost about $74 billion in stock declines — their worst year since 2002.

These company executives are still fiercely fighting to protect their pay. Politico notes that the Bush Treasury Department is “resisting efforts” by House Democrats “to impose pay limits on Wall Street executives and bankers.”

[hisownpetard]

1. Make them return the money, which they received under false pretenses, i.e. deserving it.

Some guy buys a $26,000 shower curtain, and now the American taxpayers have to bear the burden?

Talk about a system being BROKEN!:nuke:

[babylonsister]

6. I'm waiting for some brave Dem to float that idea, but not holding my breath. nt

[hisownpetard]

9. Talk about not having a conscience! I truly expect every one of those CEO's to take a quick trip

to Hell when they die, with our without their gold-lined caskets.

[Selatius]

2. Rescind Bush's tax cuts and make them pay for the damage.

And fight any and all efforts to repeal the estate tax.

[On the Road]

3. As the Saying Goes

"Where are the stockholders' yachts?"

What I want to know is what the bonus arrangements and severance packages are this year. Fannie and Freddie executives have apparently been denied golden parachutes, but I haven't heard about executives in other companies.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. OK. Now we have a $661B bailout to deal with.

We're making progress.

And since this crisis is several years old, we can trim another $150B from the tab.

OK. Now we have a $511B bailout to deal with.

The next 45 biggest compensation packages over those years has got to be equal to worth another $100B.

OK. Now we have a $411B bailout to deal with.

Since we pay banks in excess of $250B a year in interest on our national debt, I think it is their patriotic and world benevolence duty to forego this years payments.

OK. Now we have a $161B bailout to deal with.

The IRS has $300B in uncollected taxes from last year.

OK. Now we have a $139B surplus.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. The mills of the gods grind slowly

The outrage is spreading. Many people did not care about exceutive compensation excessives as long as they got dividends or the value of the stock appreciated. Now that the opposite is occurring, people are finally waking up and they are ANGRY.

A lot of the Executives and BODS will be tied up for years in civil litigation brought by both both shareholders and employees for breaches of fiduciary duty, malfeasance, possible fraud, etc. etc. etc.

[Rambis]

7. I heard this am

that companies that are in trouble right now gave 1/3rd of their net worth in bonus $
fuck me!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

10. That is outrageous! That is what I mean when I use the word looting.

"Conversion" is also one method of frauds.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. When we reward failures of this nature, no wonder everything else is

tiered according to cronyism, and not results.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

11. K&R

:toast: