The bravado and greed of players in the financial district is truly astounding. Even now, after billions have been given out from the Federal treasury to Wall Street, there is no humility in their bones, whatsoever. It isn't just the companies themselves, like Bank of America spending $10 million on the Superbowl after taking $45 billion in government money. The disconnect between the average American and this small part of America is incredible on the individual level as well.
From OpenLeft:
Another snippet for the I Shit You Not File: In the New York Times, a head hunter for banks defends the $18 billion in taxpayer-subsidized bonus payouts to Wall Street executives and traders by insisting that those executives and traders can't be expected to live on $150,000 to $180,000 a year - I shit you not:Clearly these people have no comprehension of the real world and what most people make...and get by on. The median salary is in NYC is actually about the same, or in 2007 a few hundred dollars lower than the national average. When people think of New York City, they often forget about the people that live in all five boroughs. And apparently, so do many of these financiers that barely manage on $150-$180K a year."Without a doubt, $18 billion is a lot of money, but it's a drop in the bucket on Wall Street," said Gustavo Dolfino, president of the WhiteRock Group, a headhunter for the banks. "These bonuses are down, and the salaries are not enough for these people. They can't live on $150 to $180,000, so they haven't saved any money. They put it on credit lines and at bonus time, they thought they'd pay it off."The median household income in the United States is about $49,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau - and that's for full, multi-person households. But Wall Street would have believe that individual executives and traders "can't live on $150,000 to $180,000 a year," and so the same taxpayers whose median household income is $49,000 a year must subsidize their bonuses.
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