| 1.6 billion to 600 bailed out bank execs
feu·dal·ism (fy??d'l-?z'?m)
n.
1. A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.
2. A political, economic, or social order resembling this medieval system.
You can laugh all you want, but hopefully, once you're through laughing, you'll stop and consider some of the between the lines ramifications of the sense of entitlement displayed by the people who run the corporations, the Wall Street parasites who ride them, and the government that enables them.
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.
Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management, the AP review of federal securities documents found.
The total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines.
So it would appear that we're well on the way to a return to those thrilling days of yore when fair maidens were rescued by knight-errants from fierce beasts and 99% of the population toiled from early childhood to early death, solely to provide the idle rich with the lavishly luxurious lifestyles that they had come to look upon as something they were entitled to simply by right of birth. Wasn't fun then and it ain't gonna be fun now.
The AP compiled total compensation based on annual reports that the banks file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 116 banks have so far received $188 billion in taxpayer help. Among the findings:
_The average paid to each of the banks' top executives was $2.6 million in salary, bonuses and benefits.
_Lloyd Blankfein, president and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, took home nearly $54 million in compensation last year. The company's top five executives received a total of $242 million.
For which they shall be expected to kiss their former liege, Baron Henry of Paulson's gold pinky ring on suitable occasions, no doubt.
This year, Goldman will forgo cash and stock bonuses for its seven top-paid executives. They will work for their base salaries of $600,000, the company said. Facing increasing concern by its own shareholders on executive payments, the company described its pay plan last spring as essential to retain and motivate executives "whose efforts and judgments are vital to our continued success, by setting their compensation at appropriate and competitive levels." Goldman spokesman Ed Canaday declined to comment beyond that written report.
Which is as huge a sack of bovine fecal matter as has ever been offered to the taxpaying public. Those efforts and judgments SUPPOSEDLY brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy which SUPPOSEDLY "forced" them to impel the government to levy an additional burden on the vassals and serfs, partly in order for them to even stay in business. Pardon me, I want to spread some of that on my flower beds while it's still fresh.
And even the restrictions on executive compensation that went with the part of the bailout that we know about were by and large totally toothless. Took these goons about four seconds to figure ways around them.
_Richard D. Fairbank, the chairman of Capital One Financial Corp., took a $1 million hit in compensation after his company had a disappointing year, but still got $17 million in stock options. The McLean, Va.-based company received $3.56 billion in bailout money on Nov. 14.
_John A. Thain, chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, topped all corporate bank bosses with $83 million in earnings last year. Thain, a former chief operating officer for Goldman Sachs, took the reins of the company in December 2007, avoiding the blame for a year in which Merrill lost $7.8 billion. Since he began work late in the year, he earned $57,692 in salary, a $15 million signing bonus and an additional $68 million in stock options.
At Bank of New York Mellon Corp., chief executive Robert P. Kelly's stipend for financial planning services came to $66,748, on top of his $975,000 salary and $7.5 million bonus. His car and driver cost $178,879. Kelly also received $846,000 in relocation expenses, including help selling his home in Pittsburgh and purchasing one in Manhattan, the company said.
Banks that got bailout funds also paid out millions for home security systems, private chauffeured cars, and club dues. Some banks even paid for financial advisers. Wells Fargo of San Francisco, which took $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, gave its top executives up to $20,000 each to pay personal financial planners.
OK, again, I've blathered way too long here. There are more examples at the link.
The quick point for a simple minded type like me is that we aren't too damned far from the economic and now even the religious persecution that most of our founding fathers came here to get away from. The middle class needs to start waking up to the realities that have already devoured those below them on the food chain, because feudalism doesn't have a middle class for working stiffs. |
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