From Frankie C

Reader Frankie C sent me this link in an email in an attempt to get my blood pressure up.

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.

The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue. Some trimmed their executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages.

Now, before I start ranting and raving, I have a serious question to ask - how much of the bank failure was caused by the Government?

Think about the mortgage crash-n-burn. We can all blame the banks, or the mortgage companies, but the fact is that it was CONGRESS who forced companies to make loans to people who should have never gotten a loan in a million years. All in the name of Diversity (ALL HAIL DIVERSITY!). That was the trigger for the problems that we're having right now. As usual, when the government gets involved, things get worse. As the mortgage crisis flamed out of control, banks were left holding mortgages that were essentially worthless.

When you go from having assets, to having no assets, that's gotta hit a bank pretty darn hard.

Now, was there some stupid financial shenannigans going on? Most certainly. But by who? Who exactly needs to be keelhauled, and who should be congratulated for their damage control?

The AP article doesn't say.

I don't trust the AP in the best of times, and these ain't the best of times. They have their agenda, and they push it at every opportunity. Remember folks, the Media is not your friend. They are the enemy. So the fact that the AP is hyperventilating over the bank CEO's salaries means nothing to me.

And I must point out again that the very same Congress who caused the Mortgage burnout, the very same Congress who has driven our economy into the dirt, the very same Congress who has killed thousands of jobs in this country.... just gave themselves a pay raise.

Which the AP is fine and dandy with. So that ought to tell you exactly what they're thinking. So while I'm upset at some greedy bastards, I can't really get angry until I know WHO screwed up, and who did their level best to save their companies.