Obama Calls It Irresponsible; I Call It Naked Self Interest
That there are still still those who think the Lords of Wall Street should be left to their own devices and unregulated is incomprehensible to anyone whose economic ideology is based on what they can see and not visa versa. To such people the news that some of these Lords lavished themselves with billions of dollars of bonuses even as they had their hand out to Uncle Sam for help is not the least bit surprising.
President Obama calls it irresponsible. Wise people call it by its real name: the predictable outcome of unregulated self interest. The only shocking thing is that Obama and others expected the Lords to act otherwise.
President Obama calls it irresponsible. Wise people call it by its real name: the predictable outcome of unregulated self interest. The only shocking thing is that Obama and others expected the Lords to act otherwise.
President Barack Obama issued a withering critique Thursday of Wall Street corporate behavior, calling it "the height of irresponsibility" for employees to be paid more than $18 billion in bonuses last year while their crumbling financial sector received a bailout from taxpayers. "It is shameful," Obama said from the Oval Office. "And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility." The president's comments, made with new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side, came in swift response to a report that employees of the New York financial world garnered an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses last year. The figure, from the New York state comptroller, drew prominent news coverage. Obama said the public dislikes the idea of helping the financial sector dig out of a hole, only to see it get bigger because of lavish spending.
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