Thursday January 29, 2009, 2:15 pm
President Barack Obama responded Thursday to a front page story in the New York Times which reported that Wall Street handed out $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year, calling the payments "outrageous"

From the AP:

"Outrageous."


That's President Barack Obama's one-word reaction to a report that Wall Street employees got more than $18 billion in bonuses last year.[...]

Said Obama: "That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful."

The president said he and new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will have direct conversations with corporate leaders to make the point.

Obama said there is a time for corporate leaders to make profits and get paid bonuses but now is "not that time."


WATCH Obama discuss the bonuses. (click on link above to watch the video)


From the Times' article on Wall Street bonuses:

Despite crippling losses, multibillion-dollar bailouts and the passing of some of the most prominent names in the business, employees at financial companies in New York, the now-diminished world capital of capital, collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year.


That was the sixth-largest haul on record, according to a report released Wednesday by the New York State comptroller.

While the payouts paled next to the riches of recent years, Wall Street workers still took home about as much as they did in 2004, when the Dow Jones industrial average was flying above 10,000, on its way to a record high.

Some bankers took home millions last year even as their employers lost billions.

Keep reading.

Thursday January 29, 2009, 2:18 pm
Shameful: don't stop at the $18.4 Billion:
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Why has no one gone to Prison for what was done to America?

Why is "Secret FED" still run by Corrupt Banking Elite?

Why is Treasury talking $2 Trillion MORE for bankrupt Dinosaur Banks?

Why don't we Nationalize these "TOOLS of Mass Destruction" Banks?

Why don't we automate Banking through Government and get rid of 90% of the corrupt and incompetent Banksters?
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1. Bush in 2002 repeatedly on TV (utube video) encouraging "minorities" to buy homes with "EASY TERMS" and Banks/Fannie/Freddie to offer "EASY TERMS." WS Banks used Mortgage Subsidiaries to offer "TRICK&TRAP" mortgages to Not just Sub-Prime buyers but to all Buyers. Corrupt Bankers loaded up home buyers with HIGH FEE loans to 120% of home value (second mortgages).

2. Same WS Bankers then used "Slight of Hand" to slice High Risk mortgages up and added Massive Fees to form Derivatives, fancy name for TRICK Products no one else understood.

3. They "Bribed" Ratings Agencies with HIGH FEES to rate High Risk Derivatives as "AAA", or LOW RISK like T-Bills.

4. They Sold these TOXIC products to unsuspecting people all over the world, probably little old ladies or your retirement plan.

5. "Over appraised" home of say $200,000 eventually loaded with FEES and sold as Derivative paper for $400,000 (100% markup). FEES then doled out to Executives/Middle Managers in $10-$100 Million Christmas Bonuses/Monster Salaries.

Thursday January 29, 2009, 2:26 pm
Go get 'em Obama! Yes, finally the crooks will be getting regulated. I hope also, that this helps to stir the pot in favor of investigations and prosecutions. Thanks for posting this Blue!

Thursday January 29, 2009, 2:36 pm
Blue, I presume Bush was busy selling democracy around the world to pay attention to what happened in his own home.

Thursday January 29, 2009, 5:01 pm
LOL, right, Yvonne. And, you know how well that has gone. Only thing is, I am worried about Obama. He is a good man and, potentially, a great President. Everytime we get a half-way decent Pres he is either murdered or run out of office by the background thugs, including the Fed. I am praying for his protection all the time.

Friday January 30, 2009, 10:00 am
Amena ~ Obama has a good chance of surviving. With most Americans on his side due to the collapsing economy - and those numbers are growing - if anything happens to him, heads will roll from an enraged public that is already on the edge.

I also read that legislation has been introduced to limit CEO wages to $400,000 for companies that were bailed out. Obama isn't done with the crooks yet. I think this is just the beginning...

Friday January 30, 2009, 10:57 am
Yvonne, Bu$h was bu$y di$tracting everyone at home so that no one would notice that he was looting the U$ Trea$ury.

Friday January 30, 2009, 12:32 pm
Alright Obama!

Friday January 30, 2009, 12:57 pm
I LOVED watching this. It is about time a leader stood up for us against big money.

Friday January 30, 2009, 2:29 pm
I wasn't surprised... Pres. Obama has a fire in his belly and it's purpose is to warm "we, the people". BTW - That legislation to cap CEO wages at $400,000 (for those receiving TARP funds) was written by Sen. Claire McCaskill of MO. I'm proud to call her my Senator!

Friday January 30, 2009, 4:29 pm
Kate ~ You are so fortunate to have Senator McCaskill!! I love that woman!! I wonder why Obama didn't place her in his cabinet? She has worked closely with him on his campaign.

Friday January 30, 2009, 4:30 pm
Kate ~ BTW, did you hear McCaskill today? She was so enraged, she called the republicans "idiots" for not working with Obama on the stimulus package.

Friday January 30, 2009, 8:08 pm
I like McCaskill because she tells it like it is and don't mince words, kinda like Obama though he is a little more diplomatic in his choice of words.

Friday January 30, 2009, 11:55 pm
Kate, I loved watching Senator McCaskill "give 'em hell" ... and ... Ralph, you're right ... she tells it like it is and she's not afraid to say it, either!

Saturday January 31, 2009, 1:31 am
So they can afford bonuses because. . .
Bush bailed them out with YOUR money.
You could at least all got a few shares in the various Robber Baron Companies.

What about the biggest crook in history Bernard Madoff who robbed people of 50 BILLION $US.
Has he gone to jail?
No, he is under house arrest in his multi- million dollar palatial home.
He is now complaining he can't eat out or go and see his friends!!!!
He has friends?
He makes Columbian drug money look like kid's pocket money.

For eight years Harry Markopolos warned the government regulators about Bernard Madoff and Harry was ignored.

Saturday January 31, 2009, 1:51 am
SEC defends Madoff oversightAnd another NYC bigwig arrested, for $370m Ponzi Scheme.

Saturday January 31, 2009, 8:26 am
The SEC defends Madoff because it would implicate them for allowing it to happen. The trail of blame leads all the way to the top of the mountain.

Saturday January 31, 2009, 9:55 am
I thought so, too, Marion! The fi$h $mell$ from the head on down.

No one can tell me that Madoff's wife and sons didn't know about the Ponzi scheme.

Saturday January 31, 2009, 1:59 pm
Yes, real fishy, Blue. Bush and the neocons deregulated the SEC so Wall Street could do the wild thing. This mountain is so big, everyone who went along with Bush would be implicated, including the Clintons and many democrats.

Of course the family knew about the ponzi scheme. They all probably have offshore accounts, and most of Madoff's assets are in their names overseas.

I'll bet almost every member of Congress has an offshore account. When the financial collapse hits bottom, they'll jet out of the country to some exotic island while we are left holding the bag for generations to come.

Mission Accomplished!!

Saturday January 31, 2009, 3:53 pm
I just saw the Devil and he's smilin' at meYes, GM is gonna take our money and "invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market." Every single person who made this possible should be put in the stocks and left to the judgment of the American people. In February, in Detroit.

Saturday January 31, 2009, 4:03 pm
Dear President Obama ... please remember what the RepubliCON$ and Bu$h did in their last "bailout" bill ...

I just saw the Devil and he's smilin' at meYes, GM is gonna take our money and "invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market." Every single person who made this possible should be put in the stocks and left to the judgment of the American people. In February, in Detroit.

Saturday January 31, 2009, 10:36 pm
Top 400 Americans' income doubled during Bush era...

Sunday February 1, 2009, 8:48 am
"I just saw the Devil..."

Blue, So big business helps crash the US economy (and the world), then takes their businesses to other countries, rather than retrofit their businesses and help America with jobs and growth. Their bottom line always was "greed" and Bush was the perfect puppet to help them reach their goals.

Mission Accomplished!!

Sunday February 1, 2009, 10:06 am

Banker of the Day : Wall Street: "Hands Off Our Entitlements!":



It's time for BANKER OF THE DAY ... until they "get it" ... Getting between a broker and his bonus is like getting between a schnauzer and his
lunch bowl. He may not bite you, but you are going to smell his breath.

Sunday February 1, 2009, 11:06 am

Bailout Banks Gave The Finger To The AMerican Taxpayers


Banks collecting billions of dollars in federal bailout money sought
government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. for high-paying jobs, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.


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Yes, the corporate class has no discernible loyalties to our nation, other than knowing where to go for a handout. YOU PAID FOR THEIR VI$A$ to take your job$.

Sunday February 1, 2009, 10:43 pm

President Obama Wants You to Join the Union
On Friday, President Obama, a onetime organizer, had more words to say about unions, and they were the kind of explicit endorsement that we
literally haven't heard from a president since FDR's day. His stunning declaration of support came at the...

Saturday February 7, 2009, 3:16 am

New 'Gang of Moderates' Cuts Target Women and Children Again.Disproportionately Affect Women and Children.
Eliminations:
Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child
Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast
Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, NASA, NSF, CDS,
Food Stamps, .....

Reductions:

Public Transit $3.4 billion, School Construction $60 billion

The increases the Gang wants? Funds for Brownfields, STAG Grants, transportation, and of course, defense.


UpdateBrad Johnson takes a look at the cuts to green jobs, and Pat Garofalo highlights the cuts to education.

Saturday February 7, 2009, 7:05 am
"New 'Gang of Moderates' Cuts Target Women and Children Again.Disproportionately Affect Women and Children."


A$$wipe$.

Sunday February 8, 2009, 5:29 pm
Light up the phone lines; our President can't do this alone ... let Congre$$ know how you feel:

Operation Zero Credibility : Calling the Leadership

Majority Leader Harry Reid
(202) 224-3542

Majority Whip Dick Durbin
(202) 224-2152

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(202) 225-0100

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
(202) 225-4131

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn
(202) 226-3210

The message:

"The Republicans have zero credibility on the economy."

Paraphrase President Obama:


"Please reject the Republican theories that got us into this mess in the first place."

And for Senator Reid:


"Make the Republicans stand and filibuster if they want to filibuster. No cloture votes!"

From there, considering the unprecedented dollar amount of the recovery bill, it might be impossible to herd every cat. But perhaps, in the process, we'll at least marginalize the Republicans just a little more. And that will surely mean a larger, more robust recovery bill.

So as the saying goes: We are the ones we've been waiting for, and all that.

Don't write or send e-mails. Written screeds can be conveniently lost, deleted or shredded. Telephones, on the other hand, make loud beeping and ringing noises and you'll know right away that there's a real life human being on the other end of the line who has to listen to what you have to say.


Phone numbers for your senators here. Phone numbers for your congressmember here.


The message:

"The Republicans have zero credibility on the economy."

Paraphrase President Obama:

"Please reject the Republican theories that got us into this mess in the first place."

Feel free to toss in the following:

"Make the Republicans stand and filibuster if they want to filibuster. No cloture votes!

Don't get into specific details of the bill. Our message needs to be consistent and unified: Zero Cred. The Republicans have zero credibility. We reject their ideas and we reject their theories.

Let's do this.

Tuesday February 10, 2009, 11:52 am
Protestors Picket Bank CEO's Homes, Offices


A new kind of street warfare is breaking out against Wall Street titans - and it's happening on their lawns and outside their lobbies too. A corps of agitators - financed, ironically, with federal-stimulus millions - is making the rounds of suburban mans

Tuesday February 10, 2009, 5:55 pm
Goldman CEO Blankfein Acknowledges "Broad Public Anger" At Wall Street

"Anger" is putting it mildly. Outrage is more like it. Not only should Washington insist on pay caps for any firm taking taxpayer funds, but most of these crooks should be canned without any serverence. They held themselves out as the titans of finance and they skated along with unchecked greed and complete incompetence that resulted in lives in rubble across the globe.