Bank Bail OUt Money Well Used

[Ron61]

The Auto Industry can't be more screwed up than these people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081221/...utive_bailouts

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/...ltdown_secrets

Ron

[CobraEd]

The American public should be rioting in the streets!!!


.

[Ron61]

How long do you think it will be before they are wanting more? I don't understand that about them not telling what they used any of the money for. It seems to me they should be held accountable just as the Auto Companies are.

Ron

[427 S/O]

Schumer is wall street's punk, let's see if he still get's donations with OUR money.

[imagine2frolic]

I was just getting ready to post this myself. I did not agree with the bailout, and for the car companies too. 83 million dollar bonus for a losing company. What crap!!!!!!!

[cobra de capell]

Why trust the AP?

Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals.

I'm thinking - last year? Actually, last year - 2007, the numbers were good for practically all banks, so retention and other bonuses seem aligned with that fact - now this year the story is very different - but, no where in the articles does it state that bailout funds were provided specifically for bonuses and it's extremely doubtful that that will happen as 'bonuses' are calculated for this year. This is crap.....

[imagine2frolic]

Refusal to offer up any information, or not knowing where the money is going is CRAP. There should be NO BONUSES for CEO'S, or anyone else who is not turning a profit. Using the money to buy another bank is CRAP TOO!

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by 427 S/O

Schumer is wall street's punk, let's see if he still get's donations with OUR money.

They all go to the same church or is it a Temple ?

[Wes Tausend]

...

Ron,

I'm sure the auto bailout will go a lot better.

Well, heck here's a news release I saw already:

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But why not buy one anyway? With an MSRP starting at only $629,999.99, it's affordable too Don't forget to ask about dealer incentives, rebates, tax credits, and wealth redistribution plans for customers from dozens of qualifying special interest groups. Plus easy-pay financing programs from Fanny Mae.

So take the bus to your local CM dealer today and find out why the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the only car endorsed by President Barack Obama. One test drive will convince you that you'd choose it over the import brands. Even if they were still legal.


Wes


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[Ron61]

Wes,

At least they are holding the Auto companies somewhat accountable for what they got.

Copied from CDCs post: I'm thinking - last year? Actually, last year - 2007, the numbers were good for practically all banks, so retention and other bonuses seem aligned with that fact - now this year the story is very different - but, no where in the articles does it state that bailout funds were provided specifically for bonuses and it's extremely doubtful that that will happen as 'bonuses' are calculated for this year. This is crap.....

Try reading the second link. The banks refuse to even tell anyone what they did or are doing with those Billions of taxpayers dollars. Only one thing is known and that is that some banks immediately bought other bankrupt ones. I still say they should be made to account for that money and I would almost bet that some of it will wind up in the pockets of CEOs and other higher placed thieves.

Ron

[cobra de capell]

Ron - banks are subject to all kinds of regulations and one can bet that regulators will be on the case when public funds are used - buying other banks with taxpayer dollars with strings attached to those dollars is a good thing - versus those banks going down and costing taxpayers more. This is a non-story trying to hit on an easy target - banks, almost as easy as hitting on white people.

[Ron61]

Ray,

I hope that you are correct. I still think they should have to account for where all that money went though. Would you just loan some person that came in and told you they want to borrow $2 million dollars the money without asking what it is going to be used for? I also think that they should have been made to pay it back when they are stable again. Those half million dollar vacations that AIG immediately sent their executives and families on were just a slap in the face to the working people.

Ron

[cobra de capell]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Ray,

I hope that you are correct. I still think they should have to account for where all that money went though. Would you just loan some person that came in and told you they want to borrow $2 million dollars the money without asking what it is going to be used for? I also think that they should have been made to pay it back when they are stable again. Those half million dollar vacations that AIG immediately sent their executives and families on were just a slap in the face to the working people.

Ron

Separating the funds just doesn't work when millions of customers are involved - banks will be paying back public funds first when things are fully stabilized.

AIG - probably a scheduled event - actually, it involved primarily broker customers - to encourage the flow of business in the future and reward the past.

[Wayne Maybury]

Think about this for a minute. If someone is willing to give you X $Billion with absolutely no strings attached, would you tell where it went, especially if you were able to put a good chunk of it in your pocket? Wait a minute. This was public money, maybe you should have to tell the lender (the average Joe taxpayer) where it went or have to give it back.

Goldman Sachs is reported to be going to pay an average bonus this year in excess of $200,000 to each and every employee. How can a company that is losing money and obtaining a bailout possibly justify a bonus of one cent ?

Wayne

[cobra de capell]

Goldman Sachs made a statement on executive pay on Sunday when it announced that its top seven officials would pass on their 2008 bonuses. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, Presidents and Co-Chief Operating Officers Jon Winkelried and Gary Cohn, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar, and three vice chairmen supposedly asked the board’s compensation committee not to award them the bonuses, and the board agreed, Reuters reports. Goldman is one of the banks that has accepted federal money from the bailout, and must agree to standards set by the U.S. government.

Let's keep it real around here.

[Wes Tausend]

...

I posted the perverted auto bailout scenario earlier because I thought it was contemporary, funny and I couldn't help myself. But there is an insidious, definately not humorous, element that is damaging our best ability to cope and work together with this present economy.

CDC is making a good point regarding the press sensationalizing information that is probably little more than idle speculation. He's in a position to view from the inside. Really, he's doing not much different than I did when I tried to point out that actual UAW costs were probably categorically overblown by media in another thread. Hard to prove either way without an accounting audit, though.

Some bonuses will no doubt be paid, but as CDC says they are probably already prewritten "wage" agreements as part of the ordinary usual compensation in this field. Remember, those of you that read it, Jamo emphasized that wages must be paid first (" ...pension obligations are right behind taxes and wages in BK priority.") Bonuses are also hard to prove as "already written" either way without an accounting audit.

Most folks on Wallstreet are as American as the next guy and sure don't want to see the primary world financial marketplace move overseas ...along with their good jobs. Nobody in any American sector wants this and we are all in it together whether we like it or not.

In the future there will be more public oversight and open "proof". But for now the common sense proof, the circumstancial evidence, is that the media, sometimes as a political shill, sometimes just for saleability, tends to regularly blow stuff out of proportion.

Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see, now more than ever.

Wes


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[cobra de capell]

"Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see, now more than ever."

And, that's the bottomline. By the way, funds within the banking environment are not distributed in a straight line - day one, invested in fed funds sold, day two in other investments and from that point forward into the loan category after the risk is fully assessed - it really is impossible to trace specific funds as thousands if not millions of transactions flow back and forth every day, sometimes every hour. At the end of the day, the issue is whether or not the banking industry is stabilized with no runs on big banks, etc. That has been accomplished, but sorting out those that are worthy borrowers is now the huge task - especially with all the big name companies going south at the same time with impact on all companies and consumers.

I've never witnessed anything like this - it seems like we are all screwed at one level or another - possibly at several levels.