NY POST: Goldman Sachs got $10 bil bailout, gives $16 bil in bonuses--why aren't they in prison?

yurbud

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Thu Sep-24-09 12:14 PM
Original message

NY POST: Goldman Sachs got $10 bil bailout, gives $16 bil in bonuses--why aren't they in prison?

Edited on Thu Sep-24-09 12:36 PM by yurbud

This should be something conservatives and progressives can agree on: our tax dollars should not be given as bonuses to the scammers who crashed our economy. Congress should be holding hearings on this and the FBI should be raiding Goldman Sachs and the other companies that clamored for the bailout and arresting all of their top execs.

The Goldman CEO did suggest a change in compensation I agree with and have suggested before: he wants execs to hold stock in the company at least until they retire. However, this could just be window dressing, and it shouldn't be up to the companies themselves to figure out how to reform--we should be telling them, preferably as we frog march their CEO and other top execs out of the office to make sure the rest get the message.

If you agree, don't just vote this up, but shoot a note to your congressman and senators or call. You can find both at: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/index.html

Let's see if we can wipe the shit-eating grin off that CEO's face.

'Damage' control
Goldman chief drowning in record $16B bonus pool

Goldman Sachs� CEO Lloyd Blankfein

By MARK DeCAMBRE

Last Updated: 10:49 AM, September 24, 2009

Posted: 1:13 AM, September 24, 2009

Goldman's bonus pool is expected to swell to an estimated $16 billion after what's expected to be another stellar quarter, and Blankfein is struggling to figure out how to pay his employees in a way that keeps them happy while avoiding another round of populist and political outrage like the bank experienced over the summer.

In an attempt to beat back the tide of bad press, Blankfein has publicly advocated that the industry should make a number of changes to compensation on Wall Street, including adding clawbacks and moving away from making salary guarantees to new hires. He's also called for employees to hold more stock until they retire.

A Rolling Stone article referred to the firm as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity." Another article in New York magazine suggested that Goldman might have benefited from Uncle Sam's rescue of giant insurer American International Group.

Goldman accepted $10 billion in government rescue funds to help it stay afloat last year as the credit crisis roiled the entire market. The bank, however, bounced back sooner than its rivals, leading some observers to think the bank leveraged its government subsidies to churn out bigger profits.

mark.decambre@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/damage_control_wMcWJrGnm5enlZYGHnwULI">FULL TEXT

Give this some kicks on other social bookmarking sites so more people see it--and act:

http://digg.com/politics/Goldman_Sachs_got_10_bil_bailout_gives_16_bil_in_bonuses

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/9nq2l/goldman_sachs_got_10_bil_bailout_gives_16_bil_in/

http://www.jabberwonk.com/flinker.cfm?cliid=y8hlo