Axelrod: Bank Bonuses Are ‘Offensive’

Mr. Axelrod accurately commented on the issue of Wall Street bonuses. The reason these bank and fund managers are paid such enormous bonuses is that they have a hard job, and its a very competitive environment, so everyone wants the best talent and thus keeps the best managers with large bonuses. For the most part, these people deserve their bonuses because they are doing what most others cannot. The outrage belongs with those banks and funds who still owe TARP money. Those banks, funds, and managers have obviously not done their job and do not deserve a reward. Leave it to a key Democrat to say what the media will not, and target exactly where the indignation belongs instead of simply creating outrage for the sake of a story.

I do not find this offensive at all. Those billions will now be spent hopefully in our economy keeping construction workers , restraunteurs , hairdressers, car sailspersons, boat makers, clothiers and the like EMPLOYED. That money finds its way back to the people, unlike taxes that go to the government never to be seen or heard from again. Go capitalism yeah!!!

Why doesn’t Goldman Sachs donate $350,000,000 to rebuild the Katrina devastated hospital that New Orleans. You could convince them that it would be a great tax right off…..
Come on Goldman Sachs….give back a little.

The Obama administrations allowed the bonus with the TARP funds, now they are appalled?? Give me a break! Sounds like they are trying to cover for their incompentence!

These actions by the banks is fuel for the fire that will lead to some type of civil unrest between the have’s and have not’s.The divide between rich and poor is growing each and every day and history shows us that conflict between the two is usually the outcome with dire consequences.

You Know what is more offensive is that the Bush and Obama administration gave $$$$$ to these scoundrels. Greed and decadence is not the only reason why we are in a hole. The main reason is because we have been sleep walking while a few powerful white guys have been manipulating the world because they think that they are GODS and we little people who are their slaves need to be manipulated because we are just a bunch of 2by4s to them. The blue bloods of the world are ruling us and will continue to rule us until we wake up from our narcotic state of mind. “It is better to die standing then live on my Knees’.–Emiliano Zapata. Wake up and adopt this way of life and tomorrow you will start to feel better and see things with a clearer eye. The Banks are only doing what they need to do and that is to clense the NARCO $$$$$s.

Sounds like Axelrod is jealous he couldn’t get a job with a company that pays big bonuses.

Wonder if these bonuses are being doled out because they are soon to fail and they want to get the money now before they topple?

So Goldman Sachs paid out $23 Billion in bonuses… in a city that charges income taxes, a state that charges income taxes on top of a nation that charges income taxes. So upwards of 60% of that $23 Billion went not to the workers that EARNED the bonuses, but to TAXES. And that doesn’t even count the tens of billions in tax revenue collected on the dividends paid out to Goldman shareholders or the corporate taxes that were directly paid by this firm.
At 11:31:10 AM, “Holly Berry” asked: “Why doesn’t Goldman Sachs donate $350,000,000 to rebuild the Katrina devastated hospital that New Orleans.”
Holly, get a clue. The taxes paid out from the Goldman bonuses amounted to more than $13.8 Billion… which is 39 times more than the $350m amount you say should be spent on a town that has already benefited from tens of billions of our tax dollars.
I live in Charleston, SC (remember Hugo?). Where was clamor for the fed to come help us back then? We climbed out of our situation ourselves… so get over it. You’ve already gotten your pound of flesh from our nation’s taxpayers.

Adakin,
If you really believe their tax rate is 60% then I have some land on the moon I would like to talk to you about. There is no way they paid more then 20% and you know it. Even Buffet’s tax rate is lower than 20%.
I do agree with your Charleston comment, New Orleans should be allowed to die given its location. It is like pouring money into the ocean.

Moby,
Warren Buffett, like all the shareholders of Goldman pays capital gains tax (15%) on their dividend earnings. On the other hand, “bonuses” (at least the bonuses I see on my W-2) are taxable at ordinary income tax rates where the max fed rate is just under 40%, NY State rate is around 8-10% and the city’s income tax rate on earners in that bracket is over 5%. If you also consider the property and sales taxes paid by these GS workers employed in downtown NYC, one can easily see how 60% of gross earnings can go toward paying taxes.
Now about that moon property Moby has for sale :-)
Has anyone noticed that in the same week that PresBO is awarded the Nobel
“Peace” Prize, he unilaterally attacked and bombed another planet and increased troop deployment to Afghanistan by over 13000?

BRAVO GOLDMAN SACHS! THE MARKETS WILL PREVAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a business owner who has worked 7 days a week 15 hours a day to keep a corp from falling behind in the recession and who pays high taxes,I think that it is insane to hear from some of you,that any talent in the current economy justifies Millions of Dollars bonuses. I think that as an executive, it is a duty and an ethical responsibility to be reasonable and forgo personal greed.
Since we tax payers basically financed the stabilization of bank, why wasnt there a provison that the profits made this year thanks to the 3500 DOW gains should be redistributed to suffering tax payers? Those “talented” wall street honchos got us in this mess and thanks to MAerican taxpayers they still have a job, their investments have gone back up , their 401Ks are up, when is enough indeed enough?
How much money does one need to accumulate when the regular folks who financed these guys recovery have to go to sleep at night wondering how they will feed their household? Have we learned nothing from this mess?
This blatant “talent ” bs is enough.

bank bonuses r offensive- the current administration and ruling party are offensive! spending money they dont haev, putting the consitutents who are losing jobs, losing money in teh stock market and losing value in our currency. all thanks to YOU

The relationships that exists between our government and financial institutions makes Hugo Chavez look like a saint! We the people are disgusted that we just witnessed the largest transfer of wealth in our Nation’s history. From taxpayers pockets to banks and their executives. Further, no one can account for were the money is. here is a clue, start with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Better yet, talk with Paulson and Bair.

So are bank bailouts. What do you think these narcissistic sociopaths were going to give themselves. Give me a break Axelrod.

Aren’t the Liberals in the majority? Isn’t Obama a Liberal? Do they no longer have a mandate from the American voters (remember the midterm elections)? Can’t they just do what they always do best; change the rules? There’s all this faux outrage followed by a failure to act. Do something or shut up already! What good is your super-majority if you can’t govern!

The Government does not create real jobs, the economy does and Obama has done nothing to stimulate the economy. If he really had wanted to stimulate the economy he would have cut taxes on small business by 10 or 15% and we all would have been a lot better off today. Let’s face it Governemnt loves to have control over us the middle class and spend our tax dollars left and right on their socialist pet projects, but they never fix anything.

Axelrod is offensive!! Saying Fox News is not a news station!! Give me a break– How stupid does he think we are!? WH talking points!!! The enemy list just like Nixon is activated in the WH. I like to watch Chris, George and that gray haired guy on Sun. am but won’t if you keep having Axelrod saying stupid things like that and not rebutting! This Administration is scary and crybabies and it makes me long for the Clintons who I did not like too much. Remember George this is the same arrogant Pres. who put you down for stating a definition! All the mainstream media is in the WH pocket–be fair.

It’s disgraceful that these guys make all this money…and whats worse is they will probably blow it all on expensive houses and huge pools and maids and cars and football teams and hookers and booze. Right after they pay all those taxes that come out of those bonuses. Damn these wall street tycoons!

Think about what they’re doing? I’m sure they DID think about it. Just like how they thought about what they did to the banking system before they gambled everyone’s money away.
Why are these guys not in jail?

Gee Mr. Axelrod, Bank bonuses are offensive?!?! So is giving out unqualified mortgages for years, by your own Barney Frank who brought down millions in retirees money in the stock market.

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What’s offensive are politicians with million dollar book deals, selling our on their integrity and country.
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And how about the salaries of liberal Hollywood actors, rock musicians and athletes – who contribute nothing to society.
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This socialist/communist administration is out to create class warfare between corporations and workers.

As someone who was just a peon in many financial institutions who got no bonuses or salary increases for the hard work I put in on getting business in either in the savings or the loan side. How many people get laid off so that these clowns who make poor financial decisions get bonuses for running the company in the ground? The worst thing is that this type of behavior shows up when we have a crisis about every 20 to 30 years. Look at the savings and loans shoddy and illegal business practices which made the FSLIC go bust and all the savings and loans became banks with the same results now for the FDIC. Will the FDIC survive this? It is not clear but I do know that the funds that it needs to close down banks are getting low. How do I know about the FSLIC failure? I was employed by a savings and loan which was shut down on a Friday evening and reopened as a different savings and loan on Monday morning. I was suppose to be off that Friday an hour earlier but for some reason had to stay and was told at the time of closure that we (the workers) had no job anymore and were lucky that the institution who bought us would still employ us (note: The new owners did not buy the loan portfolio of the shut down business). I was loaned to the RTC (Resolution Trust Corporation) to take money from accounts that were not insured properly maybe it was at the minimum $250 to $750, I also took one account that was over $100,000 because the ownership exceeded $100,000 limit. While I was working at the location which was previously the main offices for the failed one, they were finding loan documents all over the property even in the restrooms and I know that they could not find them all. It did not always work out for the employees in other take overs. Who took the old business down? Those who controlled the business, the executives who accepted the rotten loans which artificially boosted what the earnings of the company for them to receive higher bonuses. If that is not looting what is, these were the great individuals who if they left the institution would be hard to replace. If I was a lowly employee and did half the crap that those in management did, I would be fired yet they keep these people on who knew fair well what they were doing to the company.

Someone please let the government know that “we the people” are not completely blind. When media drawn attention brings light to such appauling issues there will be a certain level of inflation to the facts. News has to sell right? With that aside, there is only so much makeup you can use to cover the blemish you have created. Confess to your mistakes and give us the appropriate actions we as tax payers so honestly deserve. Truth be told, you are all biting the hand that feeds you and many other empires have fallen for following the same path. “Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.” – Quote by Mwai Kibaki

This is beyond offensive, it is obscene. Goldman Sachs, just like the others received federal bailout money which they used to fatten their company’s nest. Whether or not Goldman Sachs was in financial trouble or not. If we had a financial meltdown, with Citibank, BOA, AIG going belly up, Goldman Sachs would have gone down the tubes too just like Lehman Bros. Especially so, when Goldman Sachs was one of the prime recipients of federal money that was given to them by AIG which received it from the federal bailout. Last but not least, Goldman Sachs, Wall Street, Banks and Insurance companies all operate much like a Ponzi scheme, they use other people’s money to make money and pay investors. If everyone who had money invested with Goldman Sachs, the banks, etc., wanted their money at the same time, Goldman Sachs would collapse as they do not have enough money to pay everyone. To suggest or say that these bonuses are deserving and needed to keep “talent”, is simply a pathetic excuse to rob the church box since nothing they have demonstrated indicates a talent so unique or of such incredible skill or knowledge that the company would fall without them. There are tons of people with MBA’s from some of the best schools that these same worms come from, that can just as well do the same job for real world wages. They have a job, pay them a salary that is in line with what we pay other similar, well paying professions. These kinds of bonuses simply are an afront and an insult to all working Americans. It is simply disgusting that they can even attempt to defend this. Regulate all these or we’ll soon find ourselves again in another crisis, much worse than any other.

Why does George S.and Axelrod keep slamming Goldman. They were forced to take the tarp money, they didn’t need it. They have paid all the tarp money back along with billions of dollars in interest to the government. Axelrod never seems to mention that. It’s like highway robbery. Axelrod forgot to mention the bonuses that he, Pelosi, Reid, etc. are taking this year. They certainly aren’t cutting back.

When it comes to being “offensive,” who would know more about it than Axelgrease… professional con-man and flim-flam artist.

He’s just pis*ed off that he’s not on that Gravy Train!

Don’t you people know why AIG got the Money? Who do you think insures the The Senate and House Pensions? What a bunch of Maroons!

Like most pointy heady beaurocrats, who have never made an honest dollar, Axelrod doesn’t get it. The markets will work given the chance. Sure some limited amount of regulation is needed to make sure everyone plays fair, but after that, the government should stay out. We should applaud the banks for making such a fast turnaround.

What’s offensive is that former Clinton White House staffer is taking instructions from current White House Occupant and refuses to report on the current WH communication director who is an admirer of one of the worst mass murderer of 20th century. Now that’s offensive!

Get real Dutchgirl | Oct 19, 2009 8:37:37 AM – you are comparing ther yearly mega-lottery winnings of Wall Street to a politician’s remuneration? That’s the problem with Wall Street – they are massively out of touch with reality (and with the anger of Main Street)

Mr. Axelrod accurately commented on the issue of Wall Street bonuses but what about all the Government favorites and kickbacks like Chris Dodd, getting his loan, Barney Franks and his personal Bank getting money, etc??

Why doesn’t GEORGE ask some REALLY REALLY TOUGH QUESTIONS. This administration wants SOFTBALL questions asked, and if you do ask TOUGH QUESTIONS, they boycott you. What a bunch of THUGS…. they are controlling the media and LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT. We are being had…. they tell us what we want to hear, not what is the truth. Only Fox News DIGS deep and finds things that we Americans NEED to know. What happned to investigative journalism??? That is LONG GONE. What a sorry mess the major media outlets are. SCUM BAGS..

The big money that these folks are making are binding employment contracts. If the company fails as a reulst of thir ineptitude, they will be fired!!.. I was these people to make billions of dollars that they will use to buy stuff that puts people to work or these funds wil be invested so that other companies have funds to grow. This is economics 101!! They just want the class conflicts that will -iss you off!!

I think the “O” word Mr. Axlerod was seeking is acttually “obscene”. These bank execs have no shame!

i’m not sure most people are aware that congress doesn’t “vote” themselves a payraise. actually, the law was changed a while back, and now they have to vote NOT to take a payraise, which is automatic. and guess what, they’re getting another payraise this year. i’m not saying it’s the same as the bank bonuses, but isn’t congress taking a payraise insulting?

First off, the fake outrage by team Obama needs to end. How many remember hearing the fact that the Obama Admin leanded on Chris Dodd to put a loophole into a spending package allowing for such payouts. Secondly didn’t Goldman Sachs repay their TARP funds? I know earlier this year I had read stories they were trying to pay it all back. If they have then the Obama Admin needs to stay away from this and needs to keep their mouths shut.

Thanks Mr Axelrod for calling out Fox News. They are not a news organization, they are a wing of the republican Party. Indeed it can be argued that without a real leader in the Republican party, Fox has become the leadership. Its pathetic.
Axelrod is a big part of the team that kept us from living on road kill due to the depression we were about to enter at the hands of the Republicans.
Feaux New is not news, It is the Republicans opinion of the news.
20% of Americans now consider themselves Republicans and I know why.

News flash to current Administration; pick up a good dictionary, open to the page that lists the word ‘Hypocrisy’ and pay attention for a ‘change’. Obama certainly had no problem pandering for money from the same bankers he hypocritically helps and chastises in the same breath. We are not confused; attempts at manipulation and social engineering useless. This Administration can certainly boast about transparency; I can see right through them.

Moby…a bonus is taxed at 38% by the federal gov’t. That doesn’t count any state or local taxes. I doubt they would add up to 60% but it will probably be around 45-50% in totality.
Back to the topic at hand, it’s none of the government’s business what a private company payes their employees. Yes, you gave them money but you don’t own them. Here’s the lesson Mr Axelrod: don’t give them anymore money.
Is it absurd what they pay out in bonuses? Yes. But so are professional athletes’ pay/incentives and Hollywood actors and actresses. Where’s the outrage towards these “greedy” people?

These bonuses are akin to saying, “thanks for running us into the ground, and getting those taxpayer bailouts! Heres your cut!” I will never, ever, as long as I live, go to another large corporate “bailout” bank again. If this is how they treat the people who kept them in business, by raising our interest rates and still denying loans, handing out billions in bonuses for nothing less than driving themselves to the brink, than who needs them. Its a slap in the face, and a wake up call. This is capitalism at its worst.

Obama has ordered them to cut their pay if they where bailed out. The new socialist leader has struck. Next we will be ordered to stop drinking filtered water.

The message from the White House inre to castigating FOX is about intimidating the other news outlets. Watch, the next bit in this drama will be a major net will have some small inconsequential criticism of Obama to make it look good. Unfortunately much of the mainstream media already bows to the White House. I give Jack Tapper credit at ABC, he showed real guts bucking the Disney corporate line and going after Gibbs at the press conference the other day inre to FOX comments. Of course, ABC didn’t even run with the story their own reporter pursued. And obama accuses FOX of not reporting the news.

Last night Betsy Stark reported once again that with the cut in salary and bonuses these firms were worried about a “brain drain”. I can’t believe you let that one go by without a challenge. These people must live in a bubble. Such conceit and right of entitlement! Aren’t these the very brains that brought these companies to the brink of destruction? Do they honestly think that there aren’t other americans capable of turning these companies around? I say let those brains drain. We could use a fresh approach and perspective from someone outside of their inner circle. They are lucky to still have a job. I for one will be happy to see those brains go right down the drain

Let me get this straight, first they took my money (without my permission)and gave it to companies (without the consent of the stock holders, you know, the owners). Now they are telling those companies (most of which are still privately owned) how much to pay their executives. What we are witnessing is the hostile takeover of America. Jefferson always said the greatest threat to America would not come from the outside, it would come from within.

Just change the word from “bonus”to “fine”", please.

Can we claw back the pay the congress received when they screw up? I don’t care about party. How about the money the left and right made on any AIG or other bailed out companies.
They DO get paid with OUR money correct?
Oh shhhh shhhh that doesn’t work with anyone that the left ‘likes’. No no no its only who politicians demonize right?
What a idiotic political stunt. How about we but the entire congress UNDER OATH one at a time and question them SEPARATELY on what they each knew and did with this economic mess. Don’t let them see or hear each other in the process. The perjury charges alone should put the fear of US in them don’t you think.
Oh no no no the left would never agree to this the fantasy is ONLY the right can have greedy politicians. No we can’t destroy the illusion that the Dems of the 21st century are for the poor of middle class more than that GOP.
That would just be to damaging to the Dems self perpetuating mythology. What party would people join to ‘think’ they are ‘doing’ something or ‘helping’ someone. How will people sleep at night when their discussion is shattered regarding the Democrat party?
Is it time for someone to bash Bush again? Oh that’s right the GOP are greedy monsters right. OK just assume you are correct how does that make the Dems not just as inept or susceptible to greed or corruption as the GOP politicians???? It doesn’t? People just ‘think’ they are some how more human?
Wow what a wake up call independent hearings with arresting powers would be for so many.