Obama caps salaries for bailed-out bankers
I wonder how much money Wall Street executives made during the Great Depression.
OK, truth is, Wall Street executives will not need payday loans. But they might feel like they’re scrambling for extra cash now that President Barack Obama has put a limit on bonuses and salaries at banks that receive bailout money. Don’t worry, they won’t starve. They are allowed to take home $500,000 a year.
Kudos to good sense
So, the president is saying that the government can’t use the hard-earned money of middle- and low-income families who do need payday loans to support millionaire and billionaire bank executives. Is it just me, or is someone making sense around here?
Not-quite-so-high life
Top dogs whose banks get bailed out will still be making more money than I’ll ever see. In fact, they’ll still make more than the president, whose salary is $400,000 per year. But they’ll still be cutting corners like us “regular people” because for many it will be a huge pay cut. For instance, Bank of America head Kenneth Lewis made $20 million in 2007. In 2008 his bank borrowed $45 billion from the Bush administration. If his bank gets more bailout money this year, he’ll have to settle for a piddly half a million.
Banker pay versus payday loans
Just a quick comparison on “how the other half lives.” The average amount people borrow for payday loans is about $500. That is .001 percent of $500,000. It’s only slightly comforting to know that total includes bonuses.
“If the taxpayers are helping you, then you’ve got certain responsibilities to not be living high on the hog,” Obama said Tuesday.
Ah, there’s the catch
I was a little dismayed to learn that these rules only apply to banks who take bailout money from the Obama administration. The banks who already got hundreds of billions of dollars from the Bush administration don’t have to follow the rules unless they come back for more bailout money from Obama. So it’s possible that Kenneth Lewis could still take home another $20 million while those of us who are, um, “living low on the hog?” are contemplating payday loans.
Related articles
- Obama Looks To Boost Middle Class (cbsnews.com)
- Wall Street Execs Defend Bonuses (gothamist.com)
- Obama calls on banks to lend (telegraph.co.uk)
- The GOP Grapples with Obama’s Charm Offensive (time.com)
- Some Banks Say `No Thanks’ to Bailout (abcnews.go.com)
Good! I still am not convinced about how he’s going to “spread the wealth” – as he claimed – but the idea that the wealthy are going to get their salaries drastically reduced while they are on the taxpayer’s nickel is absolutely right on. It’s too bad they didn’t think of this earlier. I’m sorry, but if these guys have to suffer a bit ($500k/yearly is still not close to suffering) while they lay off thousands, it won’t be keeping me up at night.
Honestly, I don’t think a $500,000 cap is going far enough. It’s been said by some lawmakers that should have been $400,000 at most. That’s what President Obama’s annual salary will be. Do you think that Wall Street executives actually have a more difficult job than the President of the United States of America? I don’t. Moreover, I think executives and administrators in almost every industry you can think of are overpaid. Their underlings do the hard work while executives sop up the bonuses. American commerce will continue to flounder for as long as that injustice can occur.