In 2008, Wall Street employees collected a total of over $18 billion in bonuses. President Obama criticized Wall Street for issuing the enormous handouts when at the same time their companies were crumbling financially.
Obama called their actions “shameful” and proclaimed that the men and women of Wall Street must act responsibly for the benefit of getting out of the current national recession.
President Obama expressed the publics’ disdain at assisting the Wall Street corporations financially when the problems continue to grow and the money is spent on the employees.
The Wall Street employees got bonuses to the same magnitude as they did in 2004 despite the large difference in the nation’s economic position.
Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced plans to speak with Wall Street leaders about the bonuses.
Obama said that today is not the time for Wall Street to be worrying about making a profit and giving their employees bonuses.
With the $819 billion stimulus package getting prepared to go into action and the $700 billion plan from 2008, Wall Street leaders need to take their jobs more seriously and act with more responsibility in order to get the economy back on track.
I did not vote for the President, but I have to agree with his position on the fat cats of Wall Street. It’s past time for top corp execs to shape up or ship out. It borders on criminal that companies in the US today pay top execs like rock stars and major league athletes even as they ship jobs overseas, close facilities, lay off thousands of workers and still expect the taxpayer to ante up when they teeter on bankruptcy.