Obama slams "outrageous" Wall Street bonuses
President Obama (never get sick of typing that) has some strong words for the Wall Street companies who, per the New York Times' reporting, rewarded their incompetence with a whopping $18.4 billion in bonuses last year.
AP:
"Outrageous."
That's President Barack Obama's one-word reaction to a report that Wall Street employees got more than $18 billion in bonuses last year.
Said Obama: "That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful."
The president said he and new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will have direct conversations with corporate leaders to make the point.
Obama said there is a time for corporate leaders to make profits and get paid bonuses but now is "not that time."
"Outrageous" is precisely the word. The same people who two months ago came to Congress with hats in hand and took a boatload of taxpayer money are now doling out billions in "bonuses"? Bonuses? Aren't you supposed to get a bonus when you do something well?
I haven't had a bonae in years
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Is there any such thing as inrageous?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
knows all those directional dimension thingy's like left of center right and such. Let's ask him.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
It's what I feel whenever I turn on the news or read about how or economy is still being raped by these creeps, and we're still being screwed by the Powers that Be. So, far though, I have kept it in....
(the rage, that is)
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
I bet Republicans are inrageous.
I thought he was refering to all those Republicans taking Malkin's advice.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Yeah, it's "outrageous" but what's he gonna do about it? Ask them to stop? C'mon, it's been outrageous for decades how much executives can get in this country while they destroy the lives of more and more working class americans every year.
How about getting some 'nads and quickly getting some legislation limiting executive compensation. Thats something that might have minimal impact on the economy, but the majority of the country will applaud and give him even wider latitude. It will at least appear that the faulkers on Wall Street are at least getting some justice.
See my comment about "Sen. Claire McCaskill took to the Senate floor and unloaded on the corporate execs getting billions in bonuses funded by taxpayer dollars: "We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer." And then the Missouri Democrat reloaded."
See below at Fri, 01/30/2009 - 12:12
I just saw it before I read this post :) No offense, and I am glad she's talking about it, but how could congress be so asinine as to assume that Wall Street would reform? They've been through 8 years of the least amount of oversight in modern history.
They are like kids who have been allowed to run wild for the past 8 years. When the parents finally say "Stop" once, only idiotic parents would assume that this would stop the kids from running wild.
Did anyone honestly think that they would change the way they behave?
Youare correct but it was a very strange deal when it happened. I don't think it was unreasonable to assume that they would do the right thing or that Paulson would make them do the right thing. But you are absolutely correct!! I hope and believe that Obama will act accordingly especially now that he has seen it thrown in the face of the American People so blatantly. Yes I think Obama and Congress have seen the writing on the wall. If not, I give up. Absolutely give up I tell you.
simply pass a law limiting certain executive's compensation, which will simply not work, President Obama should pass legislation making it easier for shareholders to sue corporations which provide top executives with too much compensation.
Let shareholders be the enforcers.
It would be very easy to get these bonuses back and make them not be able to give themselves more until this economy deal is ironed out. All President Obama has to do is say:
"You assholes are going to need hundreds of BILLIONS of $$$$$$ in the very near future. You know it and I know it. You will not get one Jefferson nickel until you give back the bonuses you took for year 2008. Not one nickel. If you don't give the money back your firm will go bankrupt and The United States of America will take your firm(s) over and we will run them the way we want to. Its your choice and you have 24 hours to get the money back. See you tomorrow."
Don't you think that that would work?
I don't buy that they would give it back.
Several banks decided not to take federal funds because of increased oversight as to how the money was spent. A few execituves would rather keep their bonus money from a collapsing company instead of taking money that would instead save the jobs and money of others.
Is it skewed morality, or just plain hubris that makes these peopl feel they are more important than the rest of us.
This is how revolutions start.
And the US is now a corpocracy and no longer a democracy - the corporations having the upper hand because people die - corp[orations merge. And how about the companies that are shedding jobs just so they can get more money from the bailout? And how about the fact that there is no accountability so far and there will be none in the future. These fat cat CEO's know that the economy is nothing without their company and can just sit on their hands and watch people starve and die as the money goes and they (the corporations) gain more power from the economy failing. But we can fool ourselves that the government will sort it all out and the corporations will suddenly care about anything other than money and do the right thing. Remember all the rich friends of George W. Bush? The owners that ran a bunch of murderers that the State Department hired even after they were shown evidence of the murders. Life is cheap and is quickly becoming even cheaper. The government themselves have done something that if the comman citizen were to do would be a crime. Can you see, can you finally see?
and I agree...completely.
...sometimes know as fascism - when the corporations and the government merge, and not in the best interests of the people.
Our gov't has s been like a merry-go-round for decades: people run for political office > the corporations give them money to run their campaigns and steal elections > the politicians enact laws that allow the corporations free reign to do whatever to make more money > the politicians run for re-elections > the corporations re-pay them for their assistance by providing copious campaign funding > the politicians pass laws to deregulate and start a little war some become lobbyists for the corps. > the gov't buys a lot of stuff from said corporations to run the wars > the corporations provide funds for the re-election of the politicians who passed the laws and voted for the wars ..ETC.
It always seems like term limits, or campaign finance reform or lobbyist reform ---- but the people who are supposed to pass the legislation and enact reforms do only what is in their interests - and lately, they seem more emboldened and less likely to do the bidding of the people.
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
Corporatocracy.
Corpulancecracy
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
YOU voted for TARP 1.
YOU threatened a veto of the resolution of disapproval of TARP 2.
The Corporate Trained Seals in our corrupt congress rushed through this ill conceived legislation without public hearings or expert testimony.
This was a vast amount of money.
It is further enriching the rich at the expense of everyone else.
It is a political payoff.
The taxpayer protection provisions are a sham. Even worse, they are a hoax.
Even a small provision that could have restricted anyone who received public money from lobbying congress would have been entirely appropriate, but the taxpayer has no such luck.
TARP was a political payoff that pays off the politicians too.
THAT IS CORRUPTION.
These people should have been in bankruptcy court. That is the standard bailout procedure. The bankruptcy laws are already written specifically for the Fat Cats benefit. That wasn't good enough here.
A number of them, and maybe quite a number, should be in jail.
This vast transfer of wealth is Class Warfare 101.
Here is my last post on who knew what in the meltdown.
Your protestations fall on deaf ears with me.
But, you might as well keep talking about the outrage because it does tend to remind everyone how CORRUPT the entire operation is.
Thank you for that much, at least.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
You are so right on.
McCaskill unloads on Wall St. 'idiots'.
"They don't get it," McCaskill said. "These people are idiots. You can't use taxpayer money to pay out $18-billion in bonuses... What planet are these people on?"
"Bonuses? Aren't you supposed to get a bonus when you do something well?"
They did do something well. They swindled the American taxpayer out of a ton of money. Repeatedly.
... nothing will change. Executives have been looting the till for decades.
Paul Lego, a former CEO for Westinghouse (before it became CBS), began his tenure with the stock price at $50+/share. When he left after two years, the stock price was half that. For his 'hard work,' Lego received nearly $1 million as a severance package, a $900,000 bonus, and an annual pension of equal value.
Down here in the trenches, every time the union contract comes up, the company whinges and moans about giving us a 2% raise in any given year.
Take a look at the board of directors of most companies, and you'll notice that they all sit on each others' boards.
They're going to gang up and pounce on Obama through proxies, or even openly.
this situation shouldn't have arisen in the first place. TARP was fucking terrible. we gave away tax money to people that caused the economy to falter, with nary a rule or regulation.
come on... the expectation that, minus strict guidelines, the banks and financial institutions would be responsible for the larger economy is just plain idiotic.
what is truly shameful and outrageous is the way the congress acted like middlemen for the wall street barons.
What I don't get is why the shareholders are sitting back and letting this shit happen. I'm well aware that they're similar wealthy corporatists, but christ - if I had $20 million invested in Merrill Lynch, I'd want the CEO's head on a goddamn spike on the Wall Street sidewalk. It's almost like the real problem is that not everyone is being greedy enough to look out for their own interests, and as a result people like these idiot managers are able to run riot skimming as much as they want off the top.
because the law of corporate governance makes it very difficult to interfere in how top executives run the firm. Promising huge golden parachutes, bonuses and stock options are generally protected by contract law.
Replacing senior management typically requires replacing the Board of Directors, which is often impossible in widely held corporations. Suing the Board or the executive for looting shareholder value takes too long (years) and the courts generally recognize executive "discretion".
Then just tell them to give the money back or the government will let the firms go bankrupt and we will nationalize the deal. It is really very simple.
Bonuses indicate "Job well done." While this may end up being good for the country as a whole, the businesses issuing bonuses surely did not intend a monster of a bonus for a guy that drove his company into receivership or non-existence. Or some well connected fucker who gets Mid millions for 3 months on the job.
Time to tap the off shores, you greedy thieving fucks.
me-oww!
especially by direct government action is problematic. It would involve the government intervening in private employment contracts, which the courts are not likely to let happen (even if enough politicians would support the effort).
The gov't is intervening in private contracts by issuing a bailout.
The bailout can be tied to the 'voluntary' return of the bonuses. Can't have it both ways.
me-oww!
They can have it both ways - that's exactly what's going on now.
If you tie the bailout to a voluntary withdrawal of bonuses, the people who received the bonuses will refuse to return them. Then what?
If the bailout is a good idea, then the government cannot allow it to be frustrated because individuals refuse to return bonus money.
...fall flat on their faces. I don't believe the crap about being too big to fail. If that's the case, they're too big to exist. Let em fail, fall into smaller companies who will inevitably fill the void and then DON'T LET THEM GET SO FUCKING BIG AGAIN!
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:/...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
outrageous doesn't get it.
Sociopathic, narcissistic, that's closer.
Really?! Then why are you allowing your Secretary of Treasury to appoint a Chief of Staff from Goldman Sachs?! Better yet, why is your Secretary of Treasury an ex-GS executive?!?!
Why did you vote for TARP?!!? Why do you continue to lie about it? Who funded your campaign? Oh! That's right, Wall Street.
You Americans have been fooled again. No Change, No Way. Wall Street owns Barack Obamba.
http://www.counterpunch.org/hudson01302009.html
speaking of foxes and hen houses.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/30/giulia...
Not that the amounts aren't outrageous, but aren't "bonuses" in the finance world like "commissions," i.e., a normal part of how people get paid? Just curious.
Email time and bookmark the email page!! We will be using it often. If another better email address or page becomes available be sure to post it. Go ahead and cliock on the link and send an email. I dare you! Go ahead and do it.
One can literally steal billions of dollars, and all you have to endure is some "stern" comments by the president?
Shit, where do I sign for that gig?
I could use a couple million dollar bonus right about now... Obama can defecate on my family tree for all I care if that gets me the moneys...
Are we going to see the same "strong worded letter" approach that Reid, and Conyers pioneered during the past couple of years? Wow... I am sure them GOPers and thieves must be quaking on their collective boots with fear!
These guys are sick and if you checked the news the Senate is already on this, it's about time.
he said that the prez didnt get it
that the bonuses werent really bonuses, they were compensation, as they were equal to 50 percent of these guys income
they are spitting on all of us
it is time to storm the bastille
Let me sharpen my pitchfork first.
Oh we get it. We get it alright. These sons of bitches think they deserve to make millions and millions and millions oif $$$$$$ even though they have DESTROYED the economy and the firms they manage. Let me at one of these assholes for just ten minutes.
n/t
Just heard Claire McCaskill call Wall street execs "idiots" on the Senate floor. lol
Makes me proud to say I voted for her.
with all of those extra zeros its pretty clear who the real 'idiots' are ...
I'm Boycotting NewsCorp! Heres what not to buy: http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=news...
yes, shameful!
But this is Wall Street 3rd-generation investment bankers. They are SHAMELESS
As Republican/some Democrat Law Makers have been given kick back money for the votes for Wall Street bailouts. Nothing these guys say makes any sence, but it's the money their getting. As more Americans lose everything the GOP is still pushing to make sure Wall Street and the Rich take what little there is left. Voters in John Boehner's district want him to continue to fight even when their running out of unemployment money, losing their homes and life savings. Most Republican voters would rather have an American Pottersville with a Republican President then to have their own home/job/savings and future for their children. Rush is selling the lies so well he could be the GOP choice for President. Sarah Palin who brought racism back is now going to President Obama to ask for more money. McCain is to deep in debt with the corrupt group to support helping even his own State. Like President Obama said it's the American people who will decide with we succeed or fail. It's funny as a few years ago while Bush was yelling hate/kill Chavez, those Americans who had to choose between heat or food got help from the many they said they hated. Seems Americans are users and will treat a person like a dog until they need help, after they get it they again treat the person like a dog. Great example for our youth to follow as they grow to be adults and continue what they have learned..
Seems Americans are users and will treat a person like a dog until they need help, after they get it they again treat the person like a dog.
We're kinda like $5 hookers.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Put those sum bitches (and anyone else earning that much) in their own tax bracket that is well over 50%. Then it won't be such bad thing for the rest of us when they're making that much.
This could be done in addition to industry regulation, not instead of it.
On the surface it's nice to see a Prez talk "tough" to Wall Street after the last 28 years. However I totally agree with above comments which comment on Obama's hypocrisy on TARP, his big biz appointee's, and big biz $ connections.
Additionally, he didn't sound that "tough" to me. To ask for Wall Street to "use better judgment" and "restraint", what the hell is that?????
The fact is you can't let Wall Street or Multi-Nat's regulate themselves at all. He should have talked about how he would RESPOND to such greed with policy and an action plan.
It's so funny how the MSM responds to anyone saying anything remotely judgmental to Corpo-Americano.
really
Make them hand their bonuses over to Madoff so he can "invest" these bonuses for them.
Generally speaking I don't trust anyone making over 150K a year.
Just in case you have plenty of time to do some reading, here is a link to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as passed by the House.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:2:...
I've seen all kinds of comments and remarks posted everywhere about this bill. Read it before you judge it.
So did my girl, my 3yo boy and our goldfish. In fact everyone I know has 'slammed' the bonuses.
Question is: Is he going to do anything about it?
Unalienable rights:
Life: OK
Liberty: OK
Pursuit of happiness: Problem
Democracy is not about the pursuit of happiness but about the establishment, maintenance, nurturing and protection of the common good (a.k.a., common weal). Self-interest cannot the foundation for a family, a town, a state or a country. All of these failed elites based their pathetic existences on the acquisition of wealth and of power which is very old news. And, by the way, any RePug trolls want to take another kick at Nader's gonads?? I saw a quick clip of him just after the 2004 election and he said that "A revolution is coming.". That guy wasn't just reading tea leaves.
"Secular humanism -- a fearless, realistic world view replete with doubt and scepticism that attempts to attain an unachievable state of equilibrium between and among the human qualities of reason, intuition, imagination, memory, ethics and common sense.
...democracy and capitalism are at loggerheads. the notion that "free" markets and "free" trade lead to political freedom is pure propagandistic bull hockey.
the self-declared mavens of global capital (USCOC, WB, IMF, USAID, etc) have successfully tamped down democratic movements worldwide, and propped up oppressive regimes that have used the coercive power of an authoritarian govt to enforce corporate-friendly policies.
Chomsky on two divergent views of globalization here.
Chomsky and Israel's right to defend themselves, but not with force, here.
Michael Parenti on Capitalism here.
Parenti on the overthrow of communism, here.
Parenti on the poor. How and why the uber rich need them, here.
Labor versus Capital Worldwide here.
Nader on almost everything, here.
Nader's ten point plan before the bailout, here.
Nader's 4 point plan to reverse the bailout, here.
Nader on how socialism bails out capitalism here.
Nader: 'The people are going to push back, and when they do, there's going to be a big fumigation in Washington' here.
And support our troops, bring all home immediately!
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Think of the bonuses if these assmonkeys actually turned a PROFIT!
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
per tax form received by the IRS in 2006. So household that files is missing out on over $100 for these bonuses.
me-oww!
..sounds less frugal than a `stern letter,' but it makes for a better busy-body photo-op.
come on coach put me in the game i suited up all season and all i got for saying the same shike about the take over from the money grubbing war mongers was this crappy american lappel flag pin!
My tax dollars are tied up in some hedge fund manager's marble countertops and stainless steel humidor.
Maybe he should politely ask the Wall St brigands to go to their corner and take a timeout.
Nothing will get those bonuses back except action/legislation that has some teeth. If genuinely outraged and responsible for this country & its economy, then Obama and the Dem Congress should scramble to pass legislation that responds to this issue with toughness. Otherwise, they are as guilty as the people doling out and accepting the bonuses. But really, what can we expect in a country where E Pluribus Unum was long ago replaced by 'Everyman for Himself' and 'I Got Mine, So Screw You'?
Of course, we can't forget that bonuses are taxed, and governments need taxes, so I'm not so sure that anything will happen.
Bad! Now you all go stand in a corner while Congress tries to figure out how to give you more money.
Yes - we knew this was coming. Now what we need to do is just go and get our stuff back from these guys. Need more furniture. Go get some from the bank. (The stuff in the Manhattan bank towers is really cool. A lot is original mid century). Need some accessories or a new tie for you boyfriend. Get a job as a cleaning lady for a corporate banker and give yourself a bonus while vacuuming the walk-in closet. Need some objects d'art - while fixing the bankers fridge help yourself to that bronze on the table in the den. Oh, and if you are on vacation. Go ahead and stay at the luxury resort then put it on “that guy’s” tab. Just leave without paying. You really own it anyway.
The ONLY way to stop the Wall St. greed with outrageous bonus' is to put back the post depression 90% tax brackets.
Like all
criminalybusiness activities you must take the profit out of it.Yep
Pinch me, I have finally awakened from a nightmare that felt like it was eight years in the making. I dreamed of two stolen elections by some coke addled marble-mouth Drunkard and a villainous Fat Man. The welcomed destruction of a pair of skyscrapers, two wars, deaths of thousands, treasury thievery, profiteering, economic meltdown of the middle class funneling tax dollars to the wealthy and a failed American State. I awoke in a cold sweat and to vomit covered sheets.
It was if I had forgotten what a true leader is and what it means to have a real President. Now take that 18B and deduct it from those Wall Street firms bailout. Then use that money to finance the OMB, revamp the SEC (move it off Wall Street, please), fund IRS hiring more Corporate auditors and FBI more investigators. If it's one thing Republicans can't stand (sic, sic) is BIG GOVERNMENT so why not give it to 'em!
Frank Zappa - Make A Jazz Noise Here
That was the toughest thing I've ever heard a president say in my lifetime.
BIG BLACK BALLS get us through this!!
Even outside of Bailedout banks it is the same.
Targer: +50% growth
Team: 30% smaller
And by the way, no bonus nor raise (message from CEO) because 2009 will be tough
And by the way we had a great 2008 and I will give myself a big fat bonus check.
And all the companies are doing the same. Word is that CEOs are just using this excuse of recession not to give raise to anyone and people just shut up because they are afraid to lose their jobs.
And at the same time, CEOs such as in my firm can claim margin improvements of 50% or so and get bonuses for their "management skills".
I just can't stand anymore of this bull...
it is time for salary caps.trinkle down economics,bailouts,and financial responsibility have failed.nobody needs or deserves that much money.my dad worked 70 hour weeks his whole life for 40,000$ a year.we dont give a damn where you went to school.ceo salaries and bonuses are out of control.it is time to cap them.we have the right to do so, now, that they are being funded with our tax dollars.this is what we want.we demand it.it is the right thing to do and should have been done along time ago.
bad if I wish they would all just die?
and the very thing that Reps mislead, misdirect & currently control the argument over. As we saw with the Bush administration, the Reps are defining 'up' as 'down' and 'wrong' as 'right'.
It should be a crime that in a single workday one man works as hard as another, but the first man starves on the pay he earns and lives in a shithole, while the other dines on champagne and caviar and has multiple deluxe homes.
Our minds and our spirits are diminished by this mistreatment. We need to shout louder and louder, until the voices of the majority drown out the lies of the minority who drain us of our energy & our wealth and create the change we need for our country to move forward.
If the fairness & humanity in the Lilly Ledbetter legislation is just now dawning on our lawmakers, it will be a long time before they ever reach clarity & enlightenment on fairly compensating a person's labor unless we push politicians toward this understanding.
AmeriKa's evil(a wickedly corrupted system: manipulated by the machiavellian few individuals of wealth and power who are represented by their hired agents supported thur thought controlling(political corrected) institutions that governs over an ignorant, divided, go-along-to-get-along populace of cheap-talking liars and stupidly weak fools.
"War is peace, ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery" - Orwell
$atan Rulz: this life is made for suckas -
Faithlessly and hopelessly yours,
Dr. Know
public intellectual
left/postmodern/anarchist
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