WALL ST. BONUS RECIPIENTS SAY BONUSES TOO SMALL

When a national chain went out of business a few years back the service contract that I had purchased for my car went down the drain. My fully paid contract, in effect, was voided. When I asked about having my service contract transferred to another shop I was told it wasn't going to happen. Tough luck for me.

Recently, auto workers and airline employees were asked to renegotiate their contracts because the times "demand" concessions and sacrifice from everyone. They are expected to take it on the chin, and move on. Tough luck for them.

When it comes to our nation's financial sector, however, there's another set of expectations. Executives who were either incompetent or criminally negligent (or is that "criminally stupid"?) don't have to live by the same moral code that you and I are expected to stoically absorb through rough times. As reported on Keith Olbermann's Countdown, AIG executives who sold the empty insurance products that helped to bring our national economy to its knees are getting $450 million in bonuses for selling these destructive products. Their contract says they have to get paid.

But wait. It gets worse. If you recall, AIG is the same firm that blew through $85 billion of bailout money and then had the gall to pay its executives at least $450 million in "retention" bonuses back in November of 2008 - after saying they wouldn't pay bonuses. Nice.

Incredibly, our Bonuses for Incompetent Financial Executives story doesn't end here. The NY Times is reporting:

A poll of 900 financial industry employees released on Wednesday by eFinancialCareers.com, a job search Web site, found that while nearly eight out of 10 got bonuses, 46 percent thought they deserved more.

Nearly one-half of bonus recipients believe they deserve more bonus money? You know, I'm not convinced about the eternal damnation story-line. But if there is a fire & brimstone place called Hell, these guys should have reservations (after Hitler and his goons gets in, of course).

Is there even a word in the human vocabulary adequate enough to describe the kind of behavior we're witnessing? Sheesh.

Here's my suggestion: If Congress can grant individual immunities, personal exemptions and specific subsidies to individual market players why can't we get a specific wage and bonus tax for these payouts? Just a thought.

- Mark