I am so tired of hearing about the crisis our auto dealers and big banks are in. What about everyone else? There are many more businesses and people struggling to make ends meet and they aren't asking for handouts. Even if they did, who would give it to them?
MSNBC.com had an article, "Feds may limit pay at banks that get aid." HELLO! What is with the "may." Haven't they wasted enough money already not monitoring how the money is being spent. The Obama administration is working on new executive compensation restrictions for banks that get bailout money. Some of the restrictions may include stopping severance payments to a companies top 55 executives and also their bonus pools would be reduced about 40 percent from their 2007 level.
Did these companies forget the reason for the bailout money was to help them during this credit crunch time. Why are they even giving bonuses, etc. There is absolutely no excuse for spending bailout money like this. They need to help their customers by offering affordable incentives, lower their mortgage payments, among many other things that could be done. Are they helping the smaller businesses in any way?
After Wells Fargo got publicity for planning a "Las Vegas junket", our government should realize strict guidelines need to be in place before handing out any more bailout money. I don't care what traditions a company may have, the way our economy is, did they really think it was a good idea to plan this event again this year?
On CNNMoney.com we are told that big bank's public relations departments are busy. I'm sure they are! First of all, they have to try to justify the frivolous spending that has been happening. Now the public relations representatives have to tell us how their organization is trying to save our economy. In "Big banks have some nerve!" public relations is apparently telling us things their organization is going to do, when it is something they should have been doing all along. I found this article interesting because I'm sure, for some of us, we would have accepted the public relations story and not thought much more about it.
I think greed and lack of moral values got our economy into trouble. It's going to take time to get us out of this mess. It seems like the big companies can't make wise decisions, so the Obama administration needs to set restrictions and make companies accountable for how they spend any future bailout money.
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I am trying my best to stay on top of everything that is happening in our society today with the crisis that our country is facing. I am always asking my parents questions about things and sometimes they dont even totally understand what is going on. I agree it sounds as if it is going to take us awhile to get out of this mess and there are going to have to be a lot of major decisions made before everything is clear as well. I read your articles but I did have to go back and look through them again to understand exactly what I was reading. There are times I get frustrated because I dont totally understand that i just blow it off and act like it doesnt effect me, but really truly my generation are the ones who are going to be effected by all this. Great post Kim and I got a little better understanding from reading your post and hyperlinks as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments about the salary caps and bonus caps and all that. I find it ridiculous that these companies even consider keeping those kinds of compensation packages in place now given the state of their companies. The old mantra used to be, we have to pay them this in order to retain the best talent. Well, I highly doubt they are being sought by any other big firms right now--all the other big firms are having money trouble too. And really, who is going to want to hire the CEO who was in place when a major corporation collapsed? They really need to get a reality check on their own finances before they start going after the little people they frivolously lent to. I bet those people are finding ways to make ends meet on a lot less than these corporate big-wigs. I doubt that Joe Schmoe had to send back his jet he ordered two years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt looks as though the bailout has passed, for me this is unfortunate. I read the listing of what was included that the Gov’t thought would stimulate the economy – OMG what were they thinking. Has anyone read the bill that was passed? It has so many projects attached to it that I wonder is it about stimulating the economy or spending money? Here is the link to the bill- http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/latestversionAYO08C32_xml.pdf
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me is that no one is releasing an itemized listing of how the money will be spent. They are saying that the average person will get an extra 8.00 a week in their paycheck. WOW now I can afford dinner at McDonalds.
Why shouldn’t the Federal Government be held to the same accountable standards as a corporation? Let’s ask our legislators to give us ALL the information about the package and HOW this debt will be repaid!
Your comments are very true. It amazes me that the government believes that bailing out the businesses is going to aid our economy. I think that using money we do not have to replace money we do not have is not going to work out to well and is not a smart idea. There's way too much damage done to try correct with more debt money. We should let it work itself out.
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