$81B in bonuses - The most brazen disdain for democracy in modern times

[bik0]

The most brazen disdain for democracy in modern times

Bumper banker bonuses are back. And what is it really, if not grand-scale theft – from treasuries, customers and taxpayers

o guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 January 2010 21.00 GMT


There will be a tidal wave of rage. Over the next two weeks the executives of the leading British and American banks will announce that some £50bn ($81B) is to be taken from accumulated profit and handed over, not to shareholders or taxpayers, but to themselves. It will be the most outrageous contempt of ­democratic authority in modern times.

The sums will be breathtaking, starting with Friday's predicted payout of £18bn at the American bank, JP Morgan Chase. This is almost exactly what it cost the US taxpayer to rescue the bank a year ago. A similar sum is predicted at Goldman Sachs. This is happening at the heart of the western economy that has just endured its worst crash for 30 years, almost entirely through the doings of these banks and executives.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/12/disdain-democracy-bankers-bonuses-theft

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Disdain for stockholders.

Not Democracy.

Still pretty funny.

[Winterblues]

3. I didn't vote to give the banks our money

They took tax payer money and are now distributing almost the exact same amount to themselves. Yes I would say it is a blow to Democracy in that our treasury was pilfered without our say so.

[happy_liberal]

6. yes, it is proof our democracy isn't working

we have no way to hold them accountable, no free press, no working judiciary, no Congress, no real elections...what we do have is learned helplessness and hopelessness. Every time they get away with something like this, they become even more brazen.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I say we send Skittles to kick their arses.

[Buns_of_Fire]

25. Yes INDEED. :-)

Barring that, Nekkid Airlines is proud to announce a new subsidiary -- Pitchforks R Us (your local resource for hot tar and over 31 varieties of feathers!).

[happy_liberal]

4. Why do people accept this?

There must be something we can do.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. American Idol.

[whathehell]

22. Take any money you have in the big banks

and put it in smaller community banks or credit unions.

It's what I'm doing..It may not be enough, but it's something.

Moveyourmoney.info

[Frustratedlady]

5. Why aren't the shareholders screaming?

Why aren't they dumping their stock?

[cbdo2007]

20. Because they're all making money on the stock as well.

Sure they don't make $$$ Millions on it in bonuses but would you rather have stock in:

Goldman Sachs which is increased by 127% in the past year or

Nike which has only increased by 22% in the past year???

Any smart investor is going to pick 127% over 22% and morals don't really play into investing. Typically investors will pick the companies that will make them the most money.

[unabelladonna]

7. publish the names

of the banks and recipients of the bonuses. hopefully, they're in the public domain. ...and let's not use the term "bankster", it sounds kind of cute and hip. these people are nothing but pigs and crooks.

[TornadoTN]

10. It better damn well be public domain

Especially given that it's the American taxpayer's money that they are playing with. Do we not deserve to see where our money is going and taking it even further but entirely accurate, the money of our children and their children's children are being billed for?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. Probably are not in public domain actually

Most private company compensation plans are not.

[Quantess]

9. We've been robbed.

[happy_liberal]

11. big time

:kick:

[slipslidingaway]

12. knr nt

[KakistocracyHater]

13. we're going the wrong way. the proper way is what happened in the 1930s

why does a wealthy bankster steal?

why reward, & therefore enforce, such as these?

[bik0]

14. To be fair - JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and 8 other banks all paid down TARP.

In June of 2009, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and 8 other banks all paid down TARP. So to be fair these banks should be able to dole out bonuses for the second half of the year, but not for the first half of the year when they were using TARP funds.

The other big banks like Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo didn't repay TARP until the end of 2009. They shouldn't get any bonuses or if they do - they should be minuscule.

[Hydra]

18. That wouldn't be fair

As they said on the newshour this evening, TARP was only a sliver of the money they got and the smallest fraction of the damage they did to the economy.

But we can't talk about fairness in a country where the laws are applied selectively, can we?

[Aeon10101110]

15. they're paying bonuses instead of hiring

The world has managed some recovery after capitalism attempted to devour itself once more. But those who led us down the path of their inevitable destruction are now the loudest whiners. We are discovering that it was worse than imagined. Also we know that the socialistic measures instituted were once again the saviour of the capitalists (read - bailouts). But now, when hope appears in many facets of economic indicators, jobs aren't being created. Who's fault? Well, who hires people? You guessed it, the capitalists. But they are content to let the government pay unemployment compensation to people who would otherwise end up rioting. History is proven in blood.

Predictable even by their own equations, the most greedy among us plunged the entire world to the brink of a labyrinthine abyss of depression. And those who represent the capitalists the most, who are the Republican Party of the United States, refuse to participate in the recovery. Now these same people refuse to do any hiring! How often can history repeat itself without society learning? Apparently, ad nauseum. The Republicans should sicken any person with merely a consciousness, perhaps even simply a pulse. They have refused any measure of assistance for not only the economy but also to it's very backbone, the workers.

Of course we need people to take risks with their money to keep it circulating. But if they didn't and just hoarded it, what would it be worth? Who would want it? It is the duty capitalists owe to themselves to keep their money in circulation. But as everyone knows, labor is the source of all wealth. So, is it the duty of labor to bail out the capitalists when their excesses become brinkmanship? Pitiably, yes, and so do labor's children and even their children by way of taxes to pay off the Republican binge of spending and tax cuts for the wealthy. And of course the wars of the Republicans rage on, maximizing our debt, again ad nauseum. But they couldn't be bothered with 'details' like infrastructure - roads, bridges, information, et cetera.

Republicans are shamefully opposed to providing for such basic human needs as healthcare. But if the businesses they own would be better providers of such minimal services, the government would not need to step in to fill this very desperate need. Instead, their concern is merely to funnel wealth to fewer and fewer people. Theirs is the legacy of the Whig Party, essentially bankers' interests who also led the U.S. into a severe depression!

There is no credible doubt that unregulated financial machinations were responsible for the banking collapses and global recession of 2007-2009. The Republicans are thoroughly aware of this, they are the party of deregulation. When they had sizable U.S. political majorities in recent years, they in fact deregulated financial sectors to unparalleled levels; the distinction of "bank" was even blurred. While such irresponsibility allowed a temporary boom, it was short-lived. Now while Republicans sock away former profits, they complain about jobs. But primarily, they are the ones with wealth and companies, they must create the jobs. They appear to be creating unemployment artificially for political gain.

[malaise]

16. The people want it so n/t

[flyarm]

17. but the middle class and Unions will be taxed by Obama and dems on their health Insurance! Sick.

[ddeclue]

19. Last time anyone was this tone deaf they said: Let them eat cake.

[BolivarianHero]

23. 81 BILLION?

You know that means?

If 81,000 get a bonus, the average bonus is $1,000,000.

If 810,000 get a bonus, the average bonus is $100,000

How many people are getting bonuses?

[xiamiam]

24. 140 billion but i need to find the link...nt

[happy_liberal]

28. good question!

nt

[harun]

26. They can just roll this money in to increasing their base pay. Then no one

could complain about the bonus's any more.

[DisgustedInMN]

27. Maybe Barack can ...

... give them another stern "talking to." His browbeatings have worked so well in the past...