DISQUS

dad · 10 months ago

set them on fire

we need a raze

benb · 10 months ago

CNN said that Thain's limo driver earned $200K /year.

Soundboy_jeff_meanie · 10 months ago

I hope he didn't invest it with merril lynch.

paulbot5 · 10 months ago

Wait I thought you guys loved bailouts lol

jimkhm · 10 months ago

Please tell me that BN stands for Bananas and Nuts, and not billions.

vkobaya · 10 months ago

he government should demand that money back.

Just for starters. Should also prosecute with realistic, long, long sentences upon conviction. Take you pick, fraud, theft, etc. When bank robbers steal more than a few hundred dollars, their sentences are measured in 5, 10 or 20 years. Well, in this case the robbers are the banks who are robbing the American citizens. Make them serve comparable sentences. If a bank robber's sentence for stealing $10,000 is ten years, these guys stole billions of dollars, so send them to jail for proportional numbers of years, millions of years. Always building new prisons for us blue collar citizens, well, lets build more harsh prisons filled with these hard core white collar criminals.

Soundboy_jeff_meanie · 10 months ago

I like that idea... and it goes to the rising unemployment issue as well.

create TONS of jobs: designing, building, maintaining and operating white collar prisons.

I'm sure if they're all prosecuted, we'd create a good job niche.

truebluecoondog · 10 months ago

I didn't get a Christmas bonus because my boss is concerned with the economy. Also, my retirement funds, held by Merrill Lynch, have plumeted. Happy New Year.

pat · 10 months ago

salary caps:


While Any bank is under receivership, no staffer may collect salary exceeding that of a GS-15 in the
metro area.

That will encourage them to get the bank fixed.

timncguy · 10 months ago

that was wriiten as "salary" specifically so they could get around it with other forms of "compensation" such as bonuses etc

Rob Mule · 10 months ago

Along with the money the government should demand a finger or, better yet, a whole hand...

Diogenes · 10 months ago

And Martha Stweart got five months in jail for $45,000 in "questionable trades?"

What's wrong with this picture?

Soundboy_jeff_meanie · 10 months ago

To whom it may concern at the Fed:

I'm tired of investing in banking, I'd like to cash in my shares now. Please send the check.

Thank you.

Indigo · 10 months ago

Concerning the expression "who you bailed out," the syntax requires an object pronoun rather than a subject pronoun (unless you're the governor of Alaska). "Whom" not "who."

wearing out my F key · 10 months ago

"The government should demand that money back."

that money is gone. we'll never see a dime of it. and really, what did you expect? the only way there could have been less oversight is if congress tossed $350 billion out of the back of a truck going down the interstate.

but thanks for playing.

PatD · 10 months ago

Undoubtedly a lot of that bonus money went to suspiciously senior executives at Merrill Lynch. That being said, my understanding is that the compensation norms for workers who fall between senior exec status and the support staff(clerical, mailroom etc) is a rather skinny salary which is typically augmented with a year-end bonus. So a good portion of that bailout cash was arguably not pissed away.

I suppose the whole situation calls for quite a bit more oversight. At the same time lots of Americans need to open their minds to an ongoing education in how the world works outside of our personal bubbles. There is no doubt in my mind that as we go forwards there will be many so-called contradictions that simply melt away with a broader understanding of the issues and the context from which they arise.

Of course the wingnutty fringe will seriously pounce on any and all, real or imagined, gaps between our stated governing philosophy and our statements and actions. A well rounded understanding of the issues at play and their inter-relationships will allow us to better shelter the wobblier portions of the non-aligned electorate from the shrill, fear based rhetoric which the Conservative base feeds upon.

VJBinCT · 10 months ago

In China, people (assuming they get caught) who do this get 9 grams of lead behind the ear. Very environmentally incorrect, but bullets without lead just don't seem to have that punch. Plus the charge to the decedant's family is more.

timncguy · 10 months ago

I thought the theory behind bonuses was that you earned them if the company made a PROFIT. How do you earn a bonus if the company loses its ass?

2008 · 10 months ago

And we're still paying a handsome salary to both Bush and Cheney to send us back to the Dark Age.

News on record unemployment in California:
Los Angeles Times | January 23, 2009 | 9:39 a.m. PT

---

California's unemployment rate hits 9.3%

California's unemployment rate jumped to 9.3% in December, the highest level in 15 years. Unemployment in Los Angeles County in December was 9.5%.

More at: http://link.latimes.com/r/OZHORT/Q1ZAC/XTP3K4/D...

JustAGuy · 10 months ago

How much was the average bonus?

They have about 60,000 employees but their Global Markets and Investment Banking division is listed as having 12,300 employees.

If we were to divide that 4 Billion evenly amongst those employees, that's 325 thousand dollars per employee in bonuses.

I wish I worked for Merrill Lynch last year.

-S

tbhull · 10 months ago

Be sure and look at Merrill's and the pig executives' political contribution activityy as well, for they have to pay the appropriate vigorish to the corrupt government that opended the door to the Treasury in the first place.

wearing out my F key · 10 months ago

meanwhile, bank of america is in line for more money to help absorb the losses they've incurred after buying out... wait for it... merrill lynch.

lucky hussein · 10 months ago

Of course! thanks Nancy! thanks Harry - you guys are the best! I loooove neo-liberals xxx ooo !!

Older_Wiser · 10 months ago

I would suggest that since BofA shareholders approved of the purchases of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch that BofA not receive a penny more in bailout money (they've already received $40B and have guarantees of up to $180B more). I remember that small shareholders raised hell about this, but since most of the stock was owned by the BigWigs, they weren't listening to them.

Additionally, the Univ. of NC system is the largest investor in BofA (going back to its NationsBank days). This means that the university system is going to probably have to raise tuiition, its retirement system is probably trashed, and that means they will turn increasingly to the govt to get funding, or lay off and cut out entire classes, if not programs.

BofA is in very serious trouble.

What a total clusterfuck. And all because of the "smartest guys in the room?" No, because of the "greediest guys in the room."

Malcolm · 10 months ago

To Jack R, thanks. Not my field of law, but it certainly seems that a case for fraudulent conveyance could be made. And if it's a jury trial, who's going to vote against it? Just the appellate courts to worry about. More basically, if we're all furious about the bonuses, and it seems fair to say we are, what are we going to do about it? I 've written to my Senators and Congress person to say I'm outraged and a claw back is needed, but there ought to be a more organized way to go about this. Any suggestions?