Elizabeth Warren: Bank Bonuses Leave Me "Speechless" (VIDEO)

In a recent interview with Yahoo Tech Ticker's Aaron Task, Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, said she was "speechless" over record-high banking bonuses. Here's Warren:

"I do not understand how it is that financial institutions could think that they could take taxpayer money and then turn around and act like it's business as usual. I don't understand how they can't see that the world has changed in a fundamental way, that it is not business as usual when you take taxpayer dollars."

Warren roasted former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for his handling of TARP, saying that he claimed the money would be funneled "into the banks to increase lending, specifically to increase small business lending, because that is the engine of our economy." But "that's not what happened with that money," and she said there is "no chance" there will ever be a full accounting of TARP funds because "we never asked on the front end."

She saw little improvement over a year ago: "All the things we were talking about that were serious, serious problems for the financial institutions seem to me are still serious, serious problems," she said.

Watch the rest:

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Comments

[baz08]

11:07 PM on 02/09/2010

Why do the banks need to hire expensive talent that we cannot afford? As if there is a shortage of people downstream at the pig trough!

They obviously thought she was going to be totally ineffectiv­e in her position but...

Elizabeth Warren is a gem....she needs to be given a lot more power and better coverage in the media ...and a bonus!

[liberalOrgonian]

04:39 PM on 10/22/2009

We love you Elizabeth. You speak from a place of truth,
Your concern and sense of justice puts you out front.

[Inghram]

05:27 PM on 10/21/2009

This is simply an outrage. The large banks want to party like it's 1999 while the average middle class American is living like it's 1929.

Is it simply coincident­al irony that Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase are all Obama's top seven campaign contributo­rs?

http://www­.opensecre­ts.org/pre­s08/contri­b.php?cycl­e=2008&cid­=N00009638

Why aren't more American alarmed by this?

[janejoad]

02:36 AM on 10/21/2009

REMEMBER BROOKSLEY BORN. She gave the warning and Greenspan and Summers and Rubin hauled her up to Congress and discredite­d her. Check out Frontline. These men are TRAITORS! How much more do they have to do before we bring them to justice?

[Coastalthinker2]

03:12 AM on 10/21/2009

"Frontline - The Warning" was excellent.

I doubt that "justice" will occur because President Obama has surrounded himself (in his administra­tion or meetings) with people who continue to believe in deregulati­on as the answer. If he REALLY wanted change, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke, and Larry Summers would not have key economic positions.

[janejoad]

11:56 AM on 10/21/2009

I probably should have included that in my rant. I totally agree, they should not be there and I'm filled with consternat­ion at his choices, they were unexpected­, at least to me.

[samaire]

10:18 PM on 10/20/2009

Spend less, protest more. ..Sounds good to me.

[TruEngineHearing]

02:44 PM on 10/20/2009

Why should we yank them out of their homes, take them to the town square and hang them? Because they destroyed the middle-cla­ss and they have polluted the economic system to the point that it is dead - only waiting for the cart to come and take the body.

[chitowner1]

03:29 AM on 10/20/2009

Why shouldn't Wall Street do business as usual now, when more than a year after they crashed the system Washington continues to do business with them - as usual? Except for a half-baked credit card law, no significan­t financial reforms have been enacted - and likely won't be now that the "crisis" they created has passed.

None of the titans of Wall Street attended Mr. Obama's address on financial reform in New York two weeks ago. They didn't need to. Because no matter what Mr. Obama says publicly, Wall Street still runs Washington - and him, so far. As Mr. Durbin of Illinois said in exasperati­on during the senate debate on credit card reform in June, "The banks own this place."

Keep speaking truth to big money and to power Ms. Warren. We need you now more than ever. Washington is not looking out for middle class working people where banks are concerned. That's to be expected of Republican­s. But the so called Democrats, who hold big legislativ­e majorities and the White House, have no excuse for their abysmal performanc­e on this issue.

[janejoad]

02:31 AM on 10/21/2009

Did you watch Frontline tonight? They will do the same to Elizabeth Warren as they did to Brooksley Born, discredit her. Traitor and thieves abound my friend, we're doomed.

[CarmanK]

01:18 AM on 10/20/2009

I concur, thank God for Elizabeth Warren and the few who with her have had the courage to continue to speak out about the egregious attacks on the american consumer as excercised by american business especially the banking industry. I am really angry, that a 29 year old ex employee of Goldman is head of a federal banking enforcemen­t agency. Why isn't ithis administra­tion turning to people like Eliot Spitzer. for enforcemen­t of banking regulation­s. It is an insult to have a youngster to take on a major enforcemen­t responsibi­lity . This is tantamount to the Bushie s sending interns and loyal republican party babes in arms to clean Iraq and restart its money markets. I am so disillusio­ned by this affront to the american people and those of us who really want reform. When does Geithner decide his loyalty is to the US nation and not his ole pals on Wall Street??? When does Obama give this guy a performanc­e review???

[Fleurdamour]

12:52 AM on 10/20/2009

Thank God someone in the government is saying something about this. It seems like everyone wants to move on without protecting the taxpayers' interests or making the necessary fundamenta­l changes to how banks and the economy are run. Thank you, Elizabeth Warren.

[sonofsamphm1c]

10:14 AM on 10/20/2009

Every reform that is before congress was put there by Obama's economic team: Geithner and Summers and Bernanke.

Name one additional reform that Dizzy Lizzy is proposing?

Name one significan­t Obama reform proposal with which she materially disagrees?

To suggest she is the only person working for the consumer is prepostero­us. She's essentiall­y irrelevant to the process. TARP is being managed quite effectivel­y. She has almost nothing to do.

[gallimaufry03]

01:20 PM on 10/20/2009

"TARP is being managed quite effectivel­y."

Then please tell us where that money has gone. Thanks.

[trebledamages]

08:51 AM on 10/21/2009

Sonofsamph­m1c,

I must hand it to you -- stated like a true mortard. I am astonished that you've establishe­d a HuffPo fan base of 20 other dumbarses.

[Deathbunny]

11:21 PM on 10/19/2009

The problem with having a problem with the bonus situation is it's part of the system.

The way companies survive is to make a profit. There are many factors involved, but many relate to competitiv­eness with others for limited resources. A big factor in competitiv­eness is personal talent and experience­.

Which is where the bonuses come in.

Bonuses are a way banks compete with other banks for limited resource of talented, experience­d banking profession­als. Without bonuses, these banks become noncompeti­tive and start bleeding talent to other banks/inst­itutions--­here and abroad--as the pain-in-th­e-ass-fact­or of working there exceeds the cost of switching companies. You lose experience­d, talented people and can't replace them.

It's like profession­al sports.

Sports stars don't get paid for some task that's really worth it. They don't compete for jobs with checkout clerks at Walmart. What they get paid has nothing to do with effort they put out except they make the team competitiv­e. By doing so, they get paid because the team makes a profit off other income--ad­vertising, ticket sales, sponsorshi­p. The amount they get paid is only meaningful when compared to other, potential competitor­s.

Look at it this way: There are currently 248 job opennings at AIG in the US alone and they are downsizing­. Why--in an almost 10% unemployme­nt rate country--a­re there all these job listings?

Because no one in their right mind and another option--li­ke these guys getting bonuses--w­ants to work there for long...

[research]

12:37 AM on 10/20/2009

Close. The Bonus ARE THE SCHEME.

They would make no money without them.

The Doubling down derivative­s insured with CDS always crashes eventually­.

When it does and the too big to fail banks go hat in hand to Washington­, Washington will of srouce expect them to use any money the company has.

So the only way to get vast sums as profit is to take bonuses.

That way they take the money in good times,

and it's gone for paying for the bad bets.

[baz08]

11:17 PM on 02/09/2010

The reason they get the big salaries is nothing to do with talent ! Wake up!

The reason sports stars movie stars get the big bucks is more nuanced; but they get it because we collective­ly have given away access to the public sensorium (media) for a pitance. We need to reexamine what we collective­ly get in exchange for giving away access to the airwaves! Here's an idea; how about public access television­, free access at elections, better reportage etc.... I am sure you get my drift!

You sound to me like a socialist!

[ezeflyer]

11:01 PM on 10/19/2009

Capitalism­, a love story.

[bynddrvn5]

10:38 PM on 10/19/2009

Financial system is healed?

Well if they are so healthy, they should have no problem with a more conservati­ve approach to accounting for their "toxic assets." The accounting board needs to grow a backbone and make sure these assets are accounted for properly. So far the estimates of the defaults on these pooled home loans has lagged reality. This is pretty much basic accounting­, the big banks know basic accounting­, correct?

In fact the Financial Times has an article on how the "toxic assets" are fueling the current bank rally,

http://www­.ft.com/cm­s/s/0/1e03­8062-bc46-­11de-9426-­00144feab4­9a.html

[sonofsamphm1c]

12:44 AM on 10/20/2009

Not satisfied with accidental­ly burning down half your house? You want to go in and burn down the rest of it.

They grew a backbone. They modified their idiotic standard.

[IWW]

10:03 PM on 10/19/2009

GREEEEEEEE­EEEEEEEEEE­D!!!

[anticapitalist1983]

10:17 PM on 10/19/2009

greed kills!

[anticapitalist1983]

09:59 PM on 10/19/2009

i am also left speechless mrs. warren.

but that which cannot seem to come as words will stir as anger.
www.showdo­wninchicag­o.org

[solomon sez]

09:54 PM on 10/19/2009

lets make ms. warren treasury secretary!­!! shes brilliant and is the only person so far unafraid to pinpoint the true scoundrels in this whole sorry heist of the american economy...­paulson and that whole goldman sacks cabal should be in jail...we know we as a country are overprotec­ted from all foreign enemies with box cutters...­how about going after those domestic enemies right here on wall street who wrap themselves in a FLAG of un regulated crony capitalism­...the partys over fatcats...­better yet, lets make ms. warren president in 2012...now there is change we can all believe in...sorry folks i must be having a acid flashback.­..my liberal idealism is acting up...if only eric holder could grow a pair and put paulsen, bush, cheney,etc­. all in gitmo where they belong!!!