What I have heard from abc news is that the five largest investment banks, alone, gave their employees $39 BILLION in bonuses—in 2007, which is like a great thing.

Plus this money was mostly dispensed at the end of ‘07, or early ‘08, at a time when the investment bank’s stock prices were down, mortgage defaults were up, and their assets were being downgraded. Hence, based on my personal experience, I am convinced that “Wall Street” is a domestic enemy of the “main street” that must be eliminated.

Regards

Samantha Parker

Credit Card Debt Adviser

Bill Moyers sits down with history and international relations expert and former US Army Colonel Andrew J. Bacevich who identifies three major problems facing our democracy: the crises of economy, government and militarism, and calls for a redefinition of the American way of life
Take a few minutes and click on: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09262008/watch.html

Also check out the bio on Bacevich.

This interview defines some of the major problems that we are currently facing. This is one of the finest analysis of these problems and what can and should be done. 

We may have to change our life styles in order to maintain our values. That will require some sacrifices for all of us. Not just window dressing–but some real blood, sweat and yes like helping our neighbors when they are in need of the basic needs of life.

People, why is nobody asking the question, is there a way out of this, using a different system, you are all looking at the problem from the inside. Free market capitalism is finished. Communism, Facism, socialism & capitalism are all failed & no longer relevant systems of governance for our survival on this planet. We need a new social system based on the intelligent management of resources controlled & driven by technology. Human beings do not need to be `working 5 days a week` as indentured wage slaves in the 21st century. At the `Zeitgeist movement`and `The Venus project` we have been working on this problem for a long time & knew the collapse of this system has been coming for a long time. The system can never work and is definitely unsustainable, why? Because all our known political & economic ideas have corruption built into them, no laws will ever stop the insider trading, collusion, monopoly, labor abuse, pollution , planned obselescence or the like….this is what the competition based system produces without fail, for it is based on the premise of taking advantage of others for profit. Period.
Go to our website http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com & watch our movie `Zeitgeist Addendum` & http://www.thevenusproject.com to see our solutions to our current problems,
Thankyou.

Let ‘em be paid their enormous sums.  Tax ‘em at 90%.  Better yet, in a just world, they’d be hanged from lampposts in every neighborhood.

The five largest investment banks, alone, gave their employees $39 BILLION in bonuses—in 2007! (see, blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/last-years-big.htm l)

This money was mostly dispensed at the end of ‘07, or early ‘08, at a time when the investment banks’ stock prices were down, mortgage defaults were up, and their assets were being downgraded—these creeps, many of whom knew this house of cards, this giant gambling casino, was about to collapse, gave themselves stupendous bonuses.  They aren’t so much tone deaf as profoundly, unimaginably greedy.

I hope these folks get the chance to use some of these ill-gotten gains to defend a lot of criminal and civil lawsuits.

Now, what is the eternal lesson I learned from my personal feelings and experience with “Wall Street” posted in a previous post?

The lesson is that if I manage to save a little money, I will rather do what my late parents and grandparents did before the invention of modern banking systems and stock markets; and that’s to hide that money under the mattress for a rainy day, conditional upon three things:
(1) That you keep this as a secret, even from your own children and relatives;
(2) That you live in a safe place where thieves are not likely to break in;
(3) That no relatives or friends know that you have savings which they might covet through borrowing, which in my experience is very likely will not be paid back, and as a result your loss is double by loosing both the money and the relative or friend you lent it to!

With two threads on Truthdig about Wall Street, this is my opportunity to tell the story of my poetic and philosophical hate for this unhealthy entity.

Since I became aware of Wall Street and stock markets thirty years ago, I always had this strange feeling of discomfort about this entity and what it stands for. First, it was a linguistic discomfort with what I thought was a misnomer about combining the word “wall” with the word “street.” I always thought that “street” is a word that conveys a positive meaning of freedom and openness, where humans, animals and cars can walk and travel relatively freely embracing open nature. On the other hand, the word “wall” conveys the poetic negative of a closed space, designed either to keep certain people out, erect barriers between people, or a closed dark place where evil things can be schemed.

First, I thought this entity was named after a person by the name of “Wall” who had a prominent establishment in that “Street.” Later, I learned a little about the background of the name as explained in the following piece:

“The name of the street derives from the fact that during the 17th century, Wall Street formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement. In the 1640s basic picket and plank fences denoted plots and residences in the colony.[3] Later, on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Stuyvesant, in part using African slaves,[4] led the Dutch in the construction of a stronger stockade. A strengthened 12-foot (4 m) wall [5] of timber and earth was created by 1653 fortified by palisades.[5][3] The wall was created, and strengthened over time, as a defense against attack from various Native American tribes, New England colonists, and the British. In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade.[5]” (from Wikipedia)

The information quoted above confirmed my worst fears about this entity, since it confirmed that it was an institution originating in the dark era of colonialism and exploitation. Then I started to feel a poetic hatred for this entity as partly responsible for the horrors of the annihilation of the Native Americans and the exploitation of the black slaves. Furthermore, I started thinking about the people who work on Wall Street as a bunch of ugly idol-worshipers who worshiped mammon, money and greed-driven profits to the exclusion of the One God.

Then came the final revelation, when, thanks to the pressure of a greedy brother-in-law, I made the serious mistakes of investing some seventy-thousand dollars in stocks, a precious little hard-earned money that was wiped out during the last stock crash before the current one.

Hence, based on my personal experience, which started as a poetic revelation gut feeling, I am convinced now that “Wall Street” is a domestic enemy of the “main street” that must be eliminated. And as long as this entity exists, America will continue to be visited by NEMESIS, the goddess of retribution, who punishes human transgression of the natural, right order of things and the arrogance, greed and worship of mammon that cause it.

The Chinese who have had anyone that made this much of a mess in front of a firing squad in less than two weeks.  $500k/year doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.

AMEN SISTER!

Amazing how EVERYbody in the media is a total expert on the economy -  they ALL agree the stimulus WILL be a total failure.  Naturally not a one of them has a concrete alternative.  The GOP’s latest “innovation” is that the New Deal was also a total flop - we “saved” ourselves by going into WWII. .... if that’s so, how come waging war in Afghanistan and Iraq isn’t working?  (Could it be they are just plain full of TRAP .... er, TARP?)

These bozos need to be fired, period!  If the average American f——d up on his/her job as badly as these a@@holes, there would be no talk - just the police to escort them directly to jail!  Are these people soooo much better?  Let’s get real - these people knew what was happening - they didn’t care as long as they got their money!  Now, they not only want bail-outs, but they want to act as though they were justified for getting rewarded for their f——ups, hello? Is it just me?!  People are being evicted from homes, people are losing their jobs, can you imagine if Social Security monies had been invested with these bozo’s?!!!

If they have a problem then I suggest that they quit, go see if you can find a job, I’m sure the Europeans will laugh at you before they spit in your face!  The nerve, these people need to be tarred and feathered, and then made to walk down a long aisle between the “average” American with a bamboo stick in their hands, then maybe they just might start to feel the pain!  Can no one say ENOUGH!!!

Bank Bailout Could Cost Up to $4 Trillion

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28918543

A few trillion here, a few trillion there…pretty soon America’s obesity problem will be a thing of the past.

According to this article, Obama’s $500,000 pay cap sounds like something of a sham.

Stole our money?  You can’t steal something that someone gives to you freely.  We loved them all when our investments were going up, up and away.  And nobody was asking questions.  Now that it’s all gone awry there needs to be someone to blame…it’s the American way.

What i want to see is 535 Congress people and a president working for $1/year.  They are every bit as responsible for this blow up as the masters of the universe. (too late, Congress gave itself a raise about a month ago)

I am all for capping the obscene CEO bonuses. But why is everyone shocked at the 18 million and forgets the 41 million the bailed companies (and others) splurged on the most expensive inauguration ever?
After all, the billion dollar candidate got the most financial backing from Wall street - way more than even W.So, while it’s good to shine the light on greed and irresponsibility, check for the hypocrisy too.

The rhetoric on main street is darkening as the economy chokes and forces ever increasing hardship on families.  Attitudes are changing and once quiet voices are singing the growing chorus of hunger, pain, and psychological disquiet.  The people know that the American economy is sinking in cold deadly waters and the Captain’s who steered it to destruction continue to live their lives of luxury as they command their lifeboats be stocked with riches blind to the reality that heavy lifeboats are the first to go down in rough waters.