White House Defends Billions To Banks, Bipartisan Congressional Criticism Aimed At Possible Use Of Funds To Reward Executives - CBS News
If this whole bailout thing doesn't get you angrier by the day, then you are not paying enough attention!
The White House on Thursday was forced to defend banks doing whatever they want with the (taxpayer's) money after several reports that banks would still pay obscene bonuses to executives, pay billions in owed compensation to executives, as well as issue regular quarterly dividend checks to shareholders, and even use the money to finance mergers & acquisitions.
Let me put this as simply as I can: if these huge financial institutions have money to REWARD stockholders despite incredibly dismal performance and complete lack of fiduciary duty, then they DO NOT NEED TAXPAYER MONEY. If things are really as bad as Paulson, Bush & Co. made it seem, then they should be using every spare penny to shore up their balance sheets and/or get lending going again.
Of course, if you see this bailout as I do- as a naked grab for money- then none of this is surprising to you. In fact, I'm going to go way out on a scary limb and issue a prediction: there will be many more abuses of taxpayer money. Shocking, I know... just remember you heard it here first.
Friday, October 31, 2008
White House Defends Billions To Banks
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Planet Atheism
Posts
Yes, that is some bullshit. My organization realized earlier this year that its financial forecasts predicted we weren't going to make budget for the last quarter. Employees were asked to come up with ways to cut costs - my division agreed to bring our own cups and plates and silverware from home so that the company wouldn't have to pay for disposable ones anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe correct response to a tight financial situation is not to mindlessly waste the money you were given to save your ass.
Yet, was it REALLY a surprise when you saw the first time that $400,000 AIG resort invoice thingy got posted online?
Not that I've ever been the type to rail against big corporations, but seriously. I used to work for a company whose priorities were just as screwed as these people. There's such a disconnect between the people making these stupid business decisions to benefit their own personal lives and the "little" people at the bottom who actually have to do work for these stupid companies.
Ha, at least your organization is realizing that things in the "real" economy aren't going to be business as usual for a while. Mine's still in denial. I think it's reasonable to expect a disconnect of this size when the compensation structure is so blatantly regressive.
ReplyDeleteI work for a company that is primarily nonprofit and partially affiliated with a state-owned entity, so I think that's the main reason we have more of a vested interest in our budgets. Luckily I'm in a fairly recession-proof industry, but even we took some big investment losses just due to the general shock that reverberated through the market. Hopefully we won't begin to have cash-flow issues.
ReplyDeleteI won't pretend not to be grateful that I'm the only staff-level accountant in my company. I don't think they could afford to do without my position.