America Discovers That Bailout Will Be Used To Pay Wall Street Bonuses

U.S. taxpayers have suddenly noticed where much of the first tranche of the Wall Street bailout is going. Bloomberg's Christine Harper talks to the people:

``I may not understand everything, but I do understand common sense, and when you lend money to someone, you don't want to see them at a new-car dealer the next day,'' said Ken Karlson, a 61-year-old Vietnam veteran and freelance marketer in Wheaton, Illinois...

``Even really sober people are saying this is the worst financial crisis since the Depression, and they're saying bonuses are just going to be reduced?'' said Patrick Amo, a 53-year-old retired merchant marine in Seattle. ``Oh my God, you read that and your jaw drops.''...

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[research]

Spend those trillions on energy, infrastructure, states, unemployed, facing foreclosure.

Order a trillion dollars in Wind turbines to install

200 GW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (600GW nameplate)

Don't ya think that would jump start the economy?

Cover appropriate roofs with a trillion dollars worth of Solar Cells:

Generate an Average of 125-500 GW !!!!!

Electricity sells for roughly 1$ per Watt per year.

100 to 500B$ per year.

10 or as little as 2 years. Only Maintenance cost, from then on for 20-40 years.

ROI of 100% to 500% over 20 years

And that doesn't even include carbon credits!

[one4obama]

Wow, there are sure a bunch of you nuts coming here throwing out conspiracy theories.

Personally, I believe this is nothing more than greed - from the bottom down. Starting with Bush/Cheney, the Wall Street Gang, the Banking Industries.

And now everybody who thinks they can is jumping on the bandwagon for their handout.

What do the American Tax Payers get for their money being used in this vile manner? Crumbs and an assurance that this was the right thing to do so this country would not fall into another complete Depression.

Did we buy into it? No. Is there anything we can do? No, short of refusing to pay our taxes. And should we choose to do that who will it hurt the most? Our incoming President who will be trying to clean up the hog slop that the Bush Administration has left for him.

[deepfreezevideo]

Why won't any of these Wall Street types visit Texas?

[deepfreezevideo]

Here's a novel idea...and I bet few people will try it unfortunately.
REFUSE TO USE CREDIT.

Yeah, it's gonna hurt but think how much it will hurt if we keep playing
the game THIS WAY. Make no mistake about it the Fed is actively involved in
destroying the dollar so that it can introduce a new monetary system based SOLELY
on CREDIT. Not talking about the stupid Amero conspiracy, I am talking about
destroying the economic system so that they can take complete control and
do it THEIR way.
Whatever the "new" money ends up being called, it will not be represented by any
physical asset and it will be100 percent fantasy, 100 percent deleted at the flick of a finger,
and we will be forced to use it.

Starve the beast. Continue the depression. Try and convict the thieves.
Otherwise bow to your new masters.

[eahce]

This bailout was nothing more then a continuing looting of the american taxpayer. It is not over yet,ther will be more to come. This was a strategy of the world elites to further their New World Order designs.

[LiberalBuzz]

WOW, what a freaking surprise.

The Thug party hands out "thank you's" to their Wall street buddies for helping to ruin this economy and Congress, AS USUAL, does nothing about it.

I'm surprised anyone bothers going to work at Wall Street, why bother? Just sit around and wait for another 55 billion to be put into your bank account, pay yourself a bonus in the millions and "compensation" in the more millions and never leave your poolside.

Paulson needs to be fired AND sent to prison along with all the CEO's and top execs who accept these bonus' and so called compensation.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Yet again, Pelosi and Reid have been fleeced by the Repugs.

Between this, and Monday's WashPo (and HuffPo) article about the hidden $120B rule change break for banks...

But at least they got that $110B in above-the-line pork through.

[cyndeewi]

Why don't someone oust Pelosi, Reid and the Bush administration.

[vippy]

Oh make sure you vote for Reid and Pelosi again - I mean reward them for their incompetence!!!!

[eahce]

It's not incompetence the democrats have been accesories to crimes commited on the american taxpayer.

[viflyer]

I agree! They feed at the same trough as the Rethugs! Before they passed the bailout, the banking lobbyists were all over the Congress. You see ANY Dems standing up to stop the looting????? They are all TOTALLY corrupt. Pelosi and used car, tanned up Steny.

ROTTEN!

I am a liberal Democrat, and unless there are FUNDEMENTAL changes, nothing will change in Congress.

[TrooAmerican]

Breaking News!!

America discovers that the Bush administration does everything it can to provide free taxpayer cash by way of debts to the Big Corporate entities that are good buddies with him and his cronies......
Bush Appointee Paulson uses all his wiley knowledge of financial trick accounting and laws to give all our money to his friends.
Remember Goldman Sachs (paulson's other employer) pushed him to hand over tons of cash to AIG, because AIG was in the hole to Sachs. And now they are keeping all the 2 Trillion$ of other emergency loans they gave out a Secret!
????
WTF??

How can these people NOT be in jail yet, and how can Bush still be in office.
I say Impeach him anyway!
Impeach him the day before the inauguration for Barack.

[proudloudlib]

Burn them at the stake! All of them!

NO Bonuses if the company takes any bailout money.

NO bonuses if the stock price is less than it was last year.

Bonuses are supposed to be a reward for doing an excellent job, not loot for the best plunderers.

[MadOzbo]

The current administration has 69 more days to loot this nation for every penny they possibly can.

Is YOUR congressman part of the support for this bailout?
Why not ask them?

They are ALREADY crying for MORE money.
We stupidly fell for this twice, now, and are bailing out AIG, as well as all the other crooks.
Why not KEEP asking for more money?

Stop the Money Madness.

[vippy]

Sorry, your voting showed them you did not care how they handled this bailout!

[bbridges1962]

No...our voting has not had time to have any effect, zippy. Surely, you aren't stoopid enough to not know the old crew is still in until Jan 20.

[watchingthings]

This bailout needs to be stopped dead in its tracks. An independent assesment needs to be done at just what is going on, who did what, how is this money going to help. There is mismanagement involved. All bonuses need to be stopped till these problems are rooted out. Any company that has recieved any of the "bailout money" should not be allowed to pay any bonus under any circumstance. Paying bonuses is like rewarding criminal activity in that company.

[Bettysdad]

Are they telling us that a Republican administration gave taxpayer money to its friends, and its being used for other than the public good?

Next that they'll try to convince us Republicans may have violated the constitution.

[PT6]

Remember those $30 to $100 million Christmas Bonuses at Goldman last year!

Leave it to Bush Administration to Continue Corruption!

Bush Administration = Find Loopholes for Corruption

Paulson + Kashkari = Goldman Sacks Welfare Manager

[fignozzle]

...a government of the thugs, by the thugs, for the thugs...