Goldman Sachs Spends 30 Times More On Compensation Than On Small Business Loan Project

New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez went after Goldman Sachs Friday in an attempt to shame the bank into diverting fewer resources to bonuses and more toward small businesses.

Menendez noted that Goldman plans to dole out some $16.2 billion in compensation, an average of roughly half a million dollars per employee. He compared that to the firm's new 10,000 Small Businesses project -- which he called a laudable idea.

But the firm only put $500 million into that project, about three percent of what it plans to lay out for compensation and about two percent of what it received in taxpayer assistance.

It also equals about $50,000 in loans for each of the 10,000 small businesses -- a tenth of what the average employee will take home and not, of course, need to pay back.

"Looking at the comparison between your bonuses and Main Street initiatives, I want to know what has changed since your firm was kept afloat by taxpayers," Menendez wrote.

Menendez is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, in charge of running Senate races across the country.

Goldman Sachs earned $4.8 billion in profits for the fourth quarter.

Read the full letter.

Comments

[dfranz]

10:36 PM on 01/22/2010

If I were a dictator, I would take this pirate bank over. The final straw for me was that the took the TRAP funds and invested it in Australian bonds at a higher interest rate than they were paying the taxpayers and made a tidey little profit. The 16 billion dollar bonuses came from somewhere.

Hmmm.... Goldman Sachs is big in Australia. Rupert Murdock is Australian and big there...

[themainpoint]

08:58 PM on 01/22/2010

But hey, the bailouts were all about Main Street and small businesses.

One question: do they at least put a little "courtesy of the US taxpayer" message on their checks?

[Michael Cruise]

08:31 PM on 01/22/2010

Swine.

[drkazmd65]

11:51 PM on 01/22/2010

Don't insult Swine Micheal,.... Swine at least serve a purpose.

They are more like a virus,.... not able to actually do anything without parasitizing some other living, useful life form and stealing its resources.

[middleoftheroad]

07:37 PM on 01/22/2010

it's not Goldmans' job to give small loans to small business people. I don't work there (wish I did), but they paid back tarp and the govt did well with that actually... Let the govt get into SBA loans and regular banks.

[helonias]

05:53 PM on 01/22/2010

Just rewards for the folks not getting into the kingdom of heaven

[crzy]

04:35 PM on 01/22/2010

these numbers are p o r no g r a ph i c

[FlyFishMT247]

04:33 PM on 01/22/2010

A great step to building a backbone. Well done Senator. Now for the rest of 'em.

[wm1066]

04:32 PM on 01/22/2010

We need Teddy Roosevelt to come back and put JP Morgan and all these robber barons back in the bottle! The irony is that it was the Republicans who let them back out in the first place.

[WaimeaWidow]

04:11 PM on 01/22/2010

GASP! Really? Goldman Sachs doesn't give a rat's ass about average Americans trying to improve themselves? I'm shocked, shocked ...

[lemondade]

04:04 PM on 01/22/2010

WHEN YOU GREW UP ON A FARM, YOU ALL KNOW THAT THE FIRST ANIMALS YOU FEED ARE THE PIGS.

[Freedland]

03:41 PM on 01/22/2010

Guess What!

Goldman Sachs also pays Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway $500 million a year in dividends, most of which is tax free to Berkshire under corporate tax law. And his dividends are "preferred" over other shareholders. This is no surprise. And that is why Buffett is an advocate of government support for the large banks..........he owns many of them.

[Thomas Murphy]

03:35 PM on 01/22/2010

Hates average Americans.

[BlueSkyPilot]

03:27 PM on 01/22/2010

They don't pay taxes, they don't loan money to help the economy, they pay their fraternity of theives millions and we have to bail their sorry asses out.

Evidently the only stockholders in GS work for GS it's not a PONZI or RICO scheme is it?.

Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007.

The company’s effective income tax rate dropped to 1 percent from 34.1 percent, New York-based Goldman Sachs said today in a statement. The firm reported a $2.3 billion profit for the year after paying $10.9 billion in employee compensation and benefits.

Goldman Sachs, which today reported its first quarterly loss since going public in 1999, lowered its rate with more tax credits as a percentage of earnings and because of “changes in geographic earnings mix,” the company said.

The rate decline looks “a little extreme,” said Robert Willens, president and chief executive officer of tax and accounting advisory firm Robert Willens LLC.

“I was definitely taken aback,” Willens said. “Clearly they have taken steps to ensure that a lot of their income is earned in lower-tax jurisdictions.”

[LMPE]

03:16 PM on 01/22/2010

I'd just like to see Lloyd Blankfein and his sick cronies try to justify this vile compensation.

[allincompassing]

03:10 PM on 01/22/2010

Has anyone noticed that the freepers aren't commenting on the obscenity of this? Less than 100 comments on this subject.

I guess it doesn't pay to speak badly about your meal ticket!

Goldman Sachs, proud financer of the Iraq war, brought to you by FAUX Networks.

[Hopeington]

05:04 PM on 01/22/2010

Noticed!
They didn't show up for the SCOTUS decision either.
No talking points distributed yet and they have no original thought.
You're fanned.

[ladyblug]

05:29 PM on 01/22/2010

Don't forget Halliburton!