Dollarish
Question of the Day:
Yesterday
Barack Obama called the Wall Street Bonuses
received by bankers, "shameful". Executives on Wall Street gave themselves over $20 Billion dollars while the economy was detoriating.
“There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses,” Mr. Obama said during an appearance in the Oval Office with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. “Now’s not that time. And that’s a message that I intend to send directly to them, I expect Secretary Geithner to send to them.”It's one thing to earn a salary, it's another to give yourself more money when most of America continue to lose jobs at record paces.
Is it Obama's place to do something regarding Wall Street bonuses? Should the government step in and take action against executives, taking bonuses while they lay off employees every month?
dollarish.com
Comments (6)
Yes it's his place under the Commerce Clause.... gives the feds power over commerce and this definitely counts.
They should not be getting bonuses when they have to lay people off.
Absolutely. This is the government USA voted for. He should definitely stand out against overly wealthy individuals taking more than they deserve, while putting middle to lower class citizens on the street. That's part of a president's job IMO.
The problem with this situation is that it's partly the government's fault. True, the Wall Street guys were idiots for requesting for more funds while having large bonuses (not so much idiots for having large bonuses, but idiots for requesting OUR money), but the government, in the spirit of free market capitalism, should NOT have agreed to support them. Now, the government is covering one blunder with another by deciding to step in - or who knows? Maybe that was Obama's plan all along...
I agree with Obama in principle that there should be increased transparency in business practices and business ethics should be reinforced. However, this is not the way to do it.
Because the government er... the taxpayers are bailing out these companies, the money should be able to be controlled by the government.
obama definitely did the right thing. he is president so he has the right to decide what to do and what goes where.
i heard a broadcast on the radio the other day about the government giving or proposing to give money to people who smoke so they can quit smoking which is unneccessary cause you should quit on your own and not let the government help you. thats where money should not go, its useless and pointless. the government has more to worry about than helping smokers quit smoking, its a personal battle not a government/society battle.
there are a lot more ways for money to go than going into the pockets of people who smoke. its ridiculous.
I think that in this case, the government should step in. I mean, honestly? As someone has already said, the taxpayers / government bailed them out not that long ago. So, while the same taxpayers are going down the drain, along with much of the economy deteriorating, they're giving each other bonuses. The government should step in. I actually think it'd be a good idea to take those bonuses back.