Wall Street needs a reality check, not another bonus check. It has often been said, “The wife is always the last to know.” In this case Wall Street seems to be among the last to get the message. Wall Street is not king… not any more. The American taxpayer who has never set foot on Wall Street now owns the bricks in the footing, and perhaps a commode on legs.
The fact is that Wall Street now exists at the expense of Main Street. And, Main Street is getting angrier by the moment.
One day after a report that Wall Street firms paid out an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses even as the financial industry was imploding and requiring a federal bailout, outrage flowed—from the online grass roots to Washington, D.C.
I guess BernieHund is among the grass roots, and proudly so. Now, it is time for the White House and Congress to get angry at the Wall Street firms who stood on the corner with hat in hand, begging for bailout money so it could pay billions in bonuses to those who least deserve them.
Of course, there is lots of talk about the necessity to maintain the expertise of those who work in the towers that line Wall Street. Each firm feels the need to keep their employees happy at any cost rather than lose one to the competition.
Perhaps, someone needs to tell the greedy Wall Street workers that they are no longer the kings and queens of the golden era of prosperity. It is over. All that remains are groups of former golden stars sitting around patting one another on their backs, reassuring each other that they are still players in a world in which play has all but stopped.
Obama, sitting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, made clear that executive compensation—already expected to be a central focus of the new Congress—would be a key factor in his economic team’s proposals to stabilize the financial system and improve regulation in the sector. But “part of what we’re going to need is for folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility,” he said.
Calling the bonuses “shameful” Obama blasted the firms who had begged for bailout funds and funded bonuses with the fruits of the TARP.
Senator Chris Dodd agreed with the American people.
“You’re never going to get any support for the continued tough decisions we have to make if this kind of behavior continues. So I’m going to look at every possible legal means and otherwise to see that this money gets paid back,” said Dodd. “This infuriates the American people, and rightly so.”
Perhaps, now is not the time to say “I told you so” however, it must be stated that while the past administration, the members of the present administration, and Congress touted the Wall Street bailout as essential to the survival of the American economy, the taxpayers of America overwhelmingly protested the support.
As the next round of TARP money is about to be handed out, it bears saying that if the bull on Wall Street poops on you one time, it’s the bull’s fault. If the bull poops on you the second time, it’s on you. As a reminder, call it nationalization of the financial institutions or call it something else, Wall Street now exists at the pleasure of the White House and Congress. And the White House administration and Congress serves at the pleasure of the American taxpayer.
Enough said.
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