Goldman Sachs bites Uncle Sam's hand - New York (Fortune)
Since the impact of the global financial crisis quickly rippled through many of the bluest of "blue-chip" financial instituions I've been amazed at the way Goldman Sachs has conducted itself .... how this financial institution has exploited the American Financial System, treated American Taxpayers with utter contempt, and now, prepares to stuff its employees pockets with outrageous bonuses while thumbing its nose at the very people that helped keep them afloat.
I'm all for everyone making a profit if they work hard and deliver real service and good results. That's what Capitalism is all about. But when a company like Goldman Sachs uses it's tangled web of connections to take advantage of everyday Americans, we should all be up-in-arms and refuse to permit this to happen. Yet Goldman Sachs continues to get away with their outrageous behavior.
In March this year Goldman Sachs announced it would repay the bailout money it received from TARP far sooner than initially expected. By repaying these funds Goldman avoided the influence the government could have on employee compensation and bonuses. So no sooner did Goldman realize it was about to make huge profits it quickly repaid the TARP funds and prepared to pay out millions of dollars to its employees.
Goldman Sachs posted 2nd quarter profits of $3.44 Billion and immediately earmarked $11.4 Billion in employee compensation .... Why doesn't this bank rather boost its reserves to avoid the need for future goverment bailouts instead of immediately paying out these profits to employees? In effect Goldman used Taxpayer money to make profits and then turn that into employee bonuses.
Where do we draw the line between a lack of integrity and corporate corruption (the abuse of power)?
Rollings Stone's Matt Taibbi correctly asks: "Exactly how big would Goldman’s profits be this year, if they had to fill a still-extant $13 billion or even a $20 billion hole on its balance sheet from AIG’s collapse? You think it would still be $3.44 billion? What if Hank Paulson had elected to save Lehman instead of saving AIG/Goldman, how big would Goldman’s profits be then? Is anyone even asking this question?
Something is very very wrong with what's going on, yet no-one seems to have the authority or inclination to do something about this. Am I perhaps missing something here ....?
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