CHESSNOID

Obama calls $18B in Wall Street bonuses ’shameful’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama issued a withering critique Thursday of Wall Street corporate behavior, calling it “the height of irresponsibility” for employees to be paid more than $18 billion in bonuses last year while their crumbling financial sector received a bailout from taxpayers.
“It is shameful,” Obama said from the Oval Office. “And part of what we’re going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility.”

The president’s comments, made with new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side, came in swift response to a report that employees of the New York financial world garnered an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses last year. The figure, from the New York state comptroller, drew prominent news coverage.

So, Obama’s punishments were his words.  Listen, if that is all the consequences for stealing money from taxpayer’s legally because Congress approved the FRAUD bailout bill that way, then future bailouts will continue to be corrupt!

What is truly shameful is that senators Obama and Biden approved that bill last year along with the rest of Congress.  No one is being held accountable.  No one is being arrested for fraud.   The taxpayer money was not intended to pay out $18 BILLION in bonuses! I do not support any bailouts and these companies should be allowed to fail.  I think Congress should pay that money back with their own salaries since they broke there promise for strict oversight and transparency.

President Obama needs to step it up in this area and get that money back or arrest those employees and CEOs for fraud.  Silly “shame-on-you” rhetoric is worthless, and the crooks will not learn their lesson that way.  They will continue to exploit the loop holes in the system especially when you are talking about billions of dollars.    They need to be held accountable, punished to the fullest extent of the law, and made an example. The promises of change in Washington need to be kept and enforced.