Idiots of the Universe
On Planet Wall Street, $18 Billion in Bonuses
By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Earth to Wall Street: It's over, people. You had a terrific run, better than you deserved, but now you'd be wise to pay attention to those citizens outside, the ones with the pitchforks and the torches.
Sen. Claire McCaskill's righteous verdict on shameless, clueless, bonus-grubbing executives should be carved on the tombstone of the whole "Masters of the Universe" ethos that brought us to this moment of dire economic peril: "These people are idiots."
The Democrat from Missouri was ranting for the nation last week when she took to the floor of the Senate to denounce the reported $18.4 billion in year-end bonuses that Wall Street awarded itself -- a pat on the back for such total, abject failure that taxpayers have had to shell out nearly a trillion dollars in emergency bailout funds. So far.
On the subject of Merrill Lynch, which traditionally pays its bonuses in January, McCaskill was white-hot livid: "You know what these sneaky guys did? They decided to give their bonuses in December, before the Bank of America took over. [They] paid out $3 [billion] to $4 billion in bonuses in December, and that quarter Merrill Lynch lost $21 billion. What planet are these people on? What could they be thinking about?"
Themselves, would be my guess.
(More here.)
By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Earth to Wall Street: It's over, people. You had a terrific run, better than you deserved, but now you'd be wise to pay attention to those citizens outside, the ones with the pitchforks and the torches.
Sen. Claire McCaskill's righteous verdict on shameless, clueless, bonus-grubbing executives should be carved on the tombstone of the whole "Masters of the Universe" ethos that brought us to this moment of dire economic peril: "These people are idiots."
The Democrat from Missouri was ranting for the nation last week when she took to the floor of the Senate to denounce the reported $18.4 billion in year-end bonuses that Wall Street awarded itself -- a pat on the back for such total, abject failure that taxpayers have had to shell out nearly a trillion dollars in emergency bailout funds. So far.
On the subject of Merrill Lynch, which traditionally pays its bonuses in January, McCaskill was white-hot livid: "You know what these sneaky guys did? They decided to give their bonuses in December, before the Bank of America took over. [They] paid out $3 [billion] to $4 billion in bonuses in December, and that quarter Merrill Lynch lost $21 billion. What planet are these people on? What could they be thinking about?"
Themselves, would be my guess.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home