Wall Street does it again!

It was recently reported that Wall Street gave away $18 billion in bonuses to various executives. Now, usually, this would just be the everyday game on Wall Street, but there was one little, or rather big thing last year, the $700 billion bailout. Some of these institutions received some of this public money. How did they use it? This is completely ridiculous! These people have no idea what is really going on with the average American.

President Obama, usually a level headed guy, was outraged. These bonuses were given, “At a time when most of these institutions were teetering on collapse, and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them – and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult positions that the entire system could come down on top of our heads – that is the height of their responsibility. It is shameful.” President Obama had these remarks Thursday.

So you can be happy in knowing that while you are struggling to keep your head above water, your taxpayer money is being used to buy Wall Street executives nice little rafts to float on. Really, can you believe this? I know I can’t.

This shows that absolute disregard for regulation that Wall Street has had the pleasure of having, and it is that same lack of regulation that got us into this mess to begin with. I strongly believe in a free market system, it is what makes our economy thrive, but if the past year and a half have taught us anything, it is that we must have regulations in place over the free markets. These people on Wall Street have enjoyed years with little to no regulations hanging over theirs heads and in that time they have gotten greedy and just down right slimy!

Obama Thursday, commented on the lack of responsibility shown by the people on Wall Street, “We’re gonna be having conversations as this process moves forward, directly, with these folks on Wall Street, to underscore that they have to start acting in a more responsible fashion if we are to, together, get this economy rolling again. There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses, now is not that time.”

I just cannot begin to comprehend what must have been going through these people’s minds when they wrote out these checks. I mean, do they have any morals at all? They pleaded for this money from Congress, and Congress gave it to them with extreme caution. Did these institutions use extreme caution when spending it? No. We should really think about where the next $350 billion is going to go. I think that any business that used previous TARP funds to give out huge bonuses, should not be entitled to anymore, not one penny.



Senator McCaskill lays them out

Don’t worry though, someone is trying to do something about this problem. Senator Clair McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, recently spoke out about these events on the Senate floor, and I’ve got to say, I like this woman. “They don’t get it. These people are idiots. You can’t use taxpayer money to pay out $18 billion in bonuses. Merrill Lynch is unbelievable. They saved $3-$4 billion from the pot of money that was going to Bank of America.” (FYI – Bank of America is set to buy Merrill Lynch this month.) Now, usually, Merrill Lynch gives out its bonuses in January, but this year, they gave them out in December. Could that have anything to do with the fact that they did not want Bank of America to see what they were doing with their TARP funds? Senator McCaskill continued, “Merrill Lynch paid out $3-$4 billion in bonuses in December. In that quarter, Merrill Lynch lost $21 billion. What planet are these people on?"

I have to say I agree with Senator McCaskill, what is wrong with them. They must have something seriously wrong with them, oh yeah, they’re STUPID. You don’t use public money to give your employees over $3 billion in bonuses. Unfortunately, they are not breaking any laws yet, but…

Senator McCaskill also introduced some legislation yesterday, “Going forward, you want taxpayers to help you survive? You want the people at your financial institution to have a job tomorrow? Then you are going to have to limit everyone’s pay at your company to the same salary the President of the United States makes.”

I completely agree with this idea. No other public official or government employee is allowed to make more than $400,000 a year (the President’s salary). In my eyes, if the taxpayers bailout these companies, that makes the employees public officials, because they are paid by public money. I will follow this, see where it goes, and keep you updated.


Welcome back to the White House labor unions

Obama welcomed back to the white house yesterday, labor unions. Former President George W. Bush (that is still nice to type), was not to fond of unions, but Obama gave them a hand up yesterday by signing Executive Orders that make it harder for federal contractors to hire non-union workers. This is great, unions are a great thing for our economy where it is now.

Special Update

Yesterday in my post, I talked about the bitter partisanship shown by House Republicans, although they claimed it was bipartisanship. Well, the plot thickens. Republicans went on a weekend retreat, I don’t know why, perhaps to bask in their failure and get in some great self pity? Anyways, while on said retreat, House Minority Leader, John Boehner, showed the CSPAN replay of their failed effort at obstructing the stimulus bill, and for doing this he received a standing ovation!

To me, this sounds like the Republicans are happy being bitter partisans and this also shows they probably never planned on voting for the bill anyway. So why are we still trying to appeal to these guys?

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.