The Marketplace Morning report had a segment about the bail out of Bear Sterns and the cost to the common people in this country. 30 billion isn’t exactly pocket change.

In the report he said that from 2002 to 2007 Wall Street firms paid bonuses of 137 billion to these “investment wizards” who managed to crash a bank that made it through the Great Depression. Here is the link to the report

New York State Comptroller
The Securities Industry in New York City, October 2007 pdf

I say it’s time for restitution. Time to go yank the golden parachutes off their backs, auction off the Bentleys and the Breitlings. It’s time to collect back rent from posers who’ve been playing monopoly with other peoples real money.

I don’t care if Elliot Spitzer was paying a hooker, let’s put him on the case as his payment back to society. Throwing him in prison won’t accomplish anything.

The whole country is now going to suffer the costs of paying these fools an average of $339,910 a year while the rest of the city was only making $59,530.

In 2006 the bonuses hit a record of $23.9 billion. Almost enough to pay for Bear Sterns.

Something has to change. It’s unlikely that our congress, who depend on the support of these crooks to finance their high dollar campaigns, will do anything.

They’d rather investigate steroids in baseball, or approve torture.