TARP Repayments
With people losing their jobs, businesses closing and pension plans being at historic lows we are all starved for some good economic news. So things must be getting better when companies that received government bailout money are ready no anxious to pay it back. But be wary of Wall St. executives bearing gifts.
So why are they anxious to pay back this money? Why does a fisherman but a small fish on his line definitely not to FEED the bigger fish? Because once they repay this bailout money they won’t have the media and the government looking over their shoulders at wait for it executive compensation.
No more AIG type bonus scandals if they don’t have government money. No more media and government demand that they disclose ---and disgorge--- those outrageous bonuses and golden parachutes.
Public company executives have developed a culture of entitlement akin to Saddam Hussein’s palatial lifestyle. They feel they are entitled to a Manhattan Penthouse, a Palm Beach mansion and a London townhouse. They didn’t have to justify their compensation during the boom years, and they know they cannot justify it during these crash years. So they have changed their reasoning. Now its: "We have to pay these big bonuses or we will lose our best people."
Sounds a lot like paying street-gang protection money, doesn’t it? It is just another way of saying "Pay up or we will hurt you." In my opinion, it’s just plain wrong.