CNN

"I would like to know the Political Party affiliations of the bonus recipients. "

One of them is the wife of house minority whip eric cantor. one of the guys who voted against the stimulus package that would have helped average amricans, but voted for tarp so his wife and her company could get a sweeheart deal... see you're not too far off

Sameful?? cant you come up with something better than that Obama after all you did vote for the bail out package when you were still in congress........

Hey LIKIYE, you said: Transparency and accountability is all what President Obama has been preaching for months now.

Yeah, it is easy to talk the talk but he sure ain't walking the walk...look at Geithner...one rule for him and Obama (hey, bud you don't have to worry that you chose not to pay that $34,000 to the IRS...I'll hire you anyway...and you can run our government money for us too!), but a different rule for others: ETHICS, ETHICS, ETHICS.

Mr. Clean ain't so clean in my book!

Tim was not in office at that time. Bush never spoke words of accountability in his 8 years and that is why we are in the mess we are in. The Bush administration left us high and dry. At least Obama is trying to be honest and keep things real-
s

See how awkward it is when our government tries to get this involved in private companies? It didn't go any better with the auto companies.
The Chinese are pretty good at it, but that's a communist economy. Let's not go there, huh? I still have faith in capitalism.

Lynn are you listening to yourself how stupid you sound..and what does President Obama campaign donations have to due with Wall Street greed. Those CEO'S on Wall Street stole your taxes and laughed at you all the way to the bank.It won't be until you lose your job or home before reality hits you girlfriend and when it does see if you can look up one of those CEO'S and ask them for help since President Obama campaign donations seems to be of more importance than their theft.Right now the american people have more to worry about like the ECONOMY and people losing their JOBS... so please go find a life because it sounds like you don't have one

Do you know why they need to give a bonus to the lower level staff? Because they are paying them $60,000 (which is nothing in NYC) to work 100 hours a week for 2 years. Those banks make so many promises to our nation's most talented graduates (most of whom are now unemployed after 6 months of work) and then just use them for slave labor until bonuses come out in the summer. It is truly disgusting.

Bonuses for the big wigs who's base salary is over $150K shouldn't happen. That is completely wrong. However some of these bonuses could have been paid to Regular everyday Joe's who work hard at thier jobs and these "bonus" were part of the wage packages.

My husband works for a bank and his base salary isn't much because he gets paid based on his production and that is paid via "bonus" each month. They call it bonus not commission which is what it really is.

It is for this reason that the Republican call for a stimulus package with less spending and more tax "relief" for corporations will not work. Jobs will be created when there is a demand for employees. There won't be a demand for employees under there are sales. There won't be sales under there are jobs. But there won't be jobs until there is a demand for employees. Ergo, get people working by govt. spending that will generate demand for employees in the public and private sector. Throwing money to large corporations does NOT create jobs if their products DON'T SELL!

At the same time, reducing the pressure on small businesses with some tax incentives AND govt contracts for goods and services will allow them to survive and not have to fire employees.

Thousands of financial professionals are unemployed.

Why can't the government HIRE them to audit the bailout? All those findings should be put online –as should the NAMES of those receiving large bonuses.

Those who are losing their homes could then go and live in the guest rooms of those who are being unfairly rewarded.

How about NO MORE BAILOUT money for those blood suckers. The time has come for the Congress and President to let them fail.

Cut the CEO's, Directors pay, so it would be on par or below the Presidents salary. These Idiots rundown their companies, fire employees, and what do they get in return ? Bonuses and golden parachutes. CITI’s directors are making 250,000$ for a part time job, after they have taken in 50 billion dollars tax payers money. !!

I am surprised that Congress was not knowledgible enough to know of this practice on Wall Street.

I'm not a Wall Streeter ( I am an engineer with an MBA from Columbia) and I knew that left to their own devices, billion$ of would be paid out.

It is inexcusable that Congress and President Bush gave them money and did not prevent them from using it on themselves in this way.

It is also inexcusable that Congress allowed them to take the money without a requirement that they lend it back out.

Yes, the President is correct about this matter; however, if he isn't going to also make an example of Geithner (pictured in this article too) for his shameless behavior (not paying $34,000 in taxes he owed while on the government's payroll) then it is hypocrisy on the President's part.

Appointing this corrupt official is worse than what Wall street did...because he says he knows such behavior is wrong, but he is allowing someone to get away with it...and entrusting that person with governmental fund oversight...just because he wants him for a White House position. Hypocrisy...hypocrisy...hypocrisy!

To: Timing is Everything

Notice: He's only been in office for one week. So, the notion that he waited to long to address the shamefullness of the Bankers bonuses is absurd. Give him a chance.

THESE WALL STREET PEOPLE SHOULD GO TO PRISON FOR STEALING.

I AM SO PROUD OR YOU, MR. PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!

Fear monger. Scare tactics.
We were lied to. This is NOT a stimulist bill. It IS a spending bill.
Just wait until you have to pay for it.
Just wait until they do the budget bill. It will be another trillion debt.
Just wait until inflation kick in.
The herd mentality is as stupid as usual.

I respect Pres. Obama and his cabinet a lot but they have got to actually DO something to the CEO's and other bonus takers out there. Perhaps the greedy, stupid bankers and investment people who created this mess didn't vote for Pres. Obama and maybe they are not too worried that he called their behavior "outrageous". Until there is actual punishment, which should involve loss of their jobs and lots of public shame, they will continue to thumb their noses.

They are called DONATIONS because you choose if you want to give up money for the cause.These people "CHOSE" to contribute money to his campaign( just like every other canidate) it wasnt mandated upon them.What is RIDICULOUS is a company asking for a bailout of 45 MILLION dollars while they are in the works of buying a company jet for 42 MILLION TAX payer dollars. These companies are laughing all the way to the bank while tons of people are struggling to pay mortgages, rent and keep food on thier tables! All I have to say is OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBMAMA OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!

"we need to give bonus'es in order to keep good workers" hahaha... this is funny. first, your company will not be in this disastrous mess if you have good workers, with this said, bad workers don't deserve a job! there are plenty of great workers, honest ones in our country except they don't play to your CEOs cover-my-mess.

my question is, do we have enough time to let these banks play out on their own? clean the mess they made (or revealed)? i'm beginning to think our govt. should buy them to figure everything out and then give them to well-deserved investors... argh~

Yeah, and the old and the disabled get a big whopping 300.00 bonus. What a joke! Why bother?

congress should create a 100% tax on bonuses for this year.

So why aren't there stricter regulations of the use for this money? Where is the accountability....why not stipulate that if you get money you don't get to allocate bonuses? I say, make they pay it back....or take the funds away. My company froze pay increases this year....where is their discretion?

I thought bonuses were supposed to be given out based on perfomance!!

Well, he should have known. He voted to give him the money. The same will happen with the new stimulus package. If they put limitations on what the money can be spent for they will not get their share in return.

Give me a 100K stimulus check and I will help out the economy in short order.

Federal Election Commission data says that Citigroup from the article gave Obama over $600,000 and got $45 billion from TARP which Obama supports.

Sounds like a good return on their investment.

What do you think of Obama's no lobby money claim now? He just didn't call it "lobby" – it was a PAC.

Good for Obama...

Didn't Geithner get a seperation package? Did he pay taxes on it?

What I want to know is why some people will never give Obama a chance. They will criticize every single thing he does. Their lives can and hopefully will improve over the next four years but still they will never admit it will be because of Obama'a administration. The country gave good ol' "W" was given his chance...and he blew it. We all just didn't wake up hating him one day for no reason. He systematically alienated more and more people. Obama is in his second week in office and already people harbor such a rediculouos and unwarrented amount of hatred for him. Let me ask you this: How has Obama negatively affected your life? Try not to make a fool of yourself while attempting to answer that.

He sure waited long enough to come out and comment on the bank executive bonuses. That is all we have been hearing about for weeks while he was touting his stimulus plan free of all pork. Now that is a joke on the pork.

At any rate if it was a rant to get even with SOME legislators who don't want anymore pork, message was received by the stock market. It tanked.

Since Congress and the Executive Branch (both Democrats and Republicans) have as much blood on their hands as does Wall Street for this mess perhaps all members of both houses of Congress should be forced to take a 50% pay cut until the recession has ended and the economy is "making a profit" again. The fat cats in Washington are part and parcel of the same putrid swamp the bankers and Wall St. firms swim in. It seems disingenuous to rail against the corporate and hedge fund monsters while letting the instigators of the mess keep receiving their very generous compensation packages.

These CEO crooks should be brought up on charges of grand theft and treason. They should be made to give back the money we gave them, and their Boards of Directors should be thrown in jail for abdicating their fiduciary duties. This madness has got to stop!
How much is enough for these crooks???
Black men and poor whites are thrown into prison for long terms for stealing ...why can't they?

Many of the comments quoted here could easily be applied to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, whom, as we know has a history of not paying his taxes. It is “Shameful” to not pay your taxes, it is “outrageous” to not pay your taxes and it is a slap in the face to every honest tax payer because “"Every dime counts, especially when they're taxpayer dimes…”. Timothy Geithner is not to be taken seriously.

In answer to Lynn in NM
What does that have to do with this story? That is a real partisan comment. Well, one partisan comment deserves another.

I would like to know the Political Party affiliations of the bonus recipients. I'd be willing to bet that they are your typical Country Club Republicans who are quick to point out the failings of the welfare state, but who, whole-heartedly endorse the corporate welfare state that they are taking advantage of.

American tax payers got played.....

how come Madoff is still living comfortably at home? to ensure Americans we still have functional & rational governments on all levels, he should be prosecuted.
first homework for our new administration in rebuilding consumers confidence for the economy and regain citizens trust in government is to investigate all the companies who took a portion of our tax payer money, hard earn money. condemning them isn't enough, President Obama needs to restore our government credential with moral and professional actions. i bestowed my trust in the president by voting him, now, i will give him a year before i blast him. i hope i won't be blasting our president or we're in Depression part 2.

THOSE FAT CATS SHOULD RETURN ALL BONUSES.THEY ARE CROOKS.

Most corporations have well-paid board members who make sure the executives get enormous bonuses, stock options, etc., and then the executives reward the boards. It's a mutual admiration and enrichment society. Somehow there's got to be a way to break into this closed circle and inject some reality.

How can #44 sit next to that tax law breaker with a straight face?

People on this comment board, realize that you have to spend money to make money. Its true, without his advertising campaign, we could have Bush 3 in office. As far as Jobs go, its not going to happen over night, be confident. So quick to judge, Mr. Obama is the best thing for this nation.

Lynn M.,

But I guess you don't get what a campaign donation is as opposed to a bonus check do you? Last I checked all candidates running for office are allowed to raise funds through donations to finance their campaigns. Obama did absolutely nothing wrong. Rewarding people on Wall Street with a fat bonus check after the widespread disaster is wrong.

That is disgusting, our tax dollars paying for bonus pay is sick. They get rewared for bad behavior. This has to stop we as citizens cannot bail them out like this and the people suffer. Enough is enough. When does the government say no more money to the banks or corporations that don't care about anyone but themselves and how they can spend more money for senseless items.

The way I see it, how can you state that "we need to give bonus'es in order to keep good workers"!? That's stupid! The employees should be grateful they have a job. If they don't like the current pay, they can go somewhere else, which, by the way, appears there IS NO OTHER place to go with all the layoffs. I bet some people would LOVE to take over the job for the $$$ they are making now WITHOUT A BONUS! I just got my W-2 and I brought home $16,000.00 last year. I DON'T want to hear anyone making more than that complain. WHINE-WHINE...Poor ole' me. My mother taught me that there's always someone out there worse off. Get over the pay and live within your means people!

Lynn – you are really sad, and what is wrong with America. People are addressing "Wall Street bonuses", and you have to turn it around to your disdain for the candidate who won the election? If you did your research, you'd realize that most of the donations given to our President during his campaign were less than $20 each. It just so happened that SO many people supported him and his plan, that those little bits added up. I didn't vote for him, but I didn't vote for anyone. Neither man sold me on their ability to do the job, however one won (and we ALL now need to accept that). As Americans we can only support him, and hope that in the next 4 years (not 100 days like the media is so ridiculously showcasing), something positive will come from him and his team.

Transparency and accountability is all what President Obama has been preaching for months now. Bonuses should be paid only when all other aspects of the companies have been met. Paying bonuses to senior or junior staff when there are no surpluses declared is an unvarnished business thought. Bonuses should be paid when the business is in the right path of profit and growth. President Obama is therefore right to call this "shameful" I support his views!

It IS outrageous! Legislation needs to include something or someone akin to a bankruptcy judge to oversee and/or sign off on expenditures being made with public money. The officers and directors of recipient companies are not acting in the best interests of the taxpayers...they actually need to be replaced if not at least monitored more closely.

We should make everyone who took a bonus teach in an inner-city school a year for every $30,000 they took. That would improve teacher/student ratios and make them actually earn the money we gave them.

Maybe when he voted for the bailout, he should have thought to put some restrictions on what the money could be used for. He now wants to give these same crooks millions more, and yet he finds their behavior shameful. Something isn't meshing here, again his actions don't match his words.

The top corporate companies feel they owe this country nothing and that we owe them everything. Here at my company I stopped getting my incentive pay in May 2007 and I still have to be productive and make sure my department runs the numbers daily. What makes them so special?

There is no justification for the exorbitant bonuses executives pay themselves. It's greed plain and simple.

What has changed? The same fat cats getting the billions and the same taxpayers paying the bill. The only change in that is now the fat cats are getting taxpayer dollars, they have already stole all of their company's money.

He blasts bonuses while a majority of Americans blast the Stimulus package... guess we are even...

This pontificating is, of course, populist pablum meant for the proletariat. I agree that Merrill Lynch's bonuses for executives who lost lots of clients' and the firm's money are wrong, but there is apparently nothing wrong with it when they're making money, like Rahm Emanuel did. Unless Wall Street firms are getting federal money as they are now, there is nothing the Socialist-in-Chief can do to micromanage their legal business activities.

Unfortunately President Obama. They are not going to get the message with words so I hope you have a plan.

As my husbands grandmother use to say after raising 8 kids you can talk all day long but in the end you have to teach lessons.

Donations to your campaign were ridiculous, also. I didn't see you telling people to save their money to pay their mortgages, or other bills, did I?

Well I blast you Mr. President for no Jobs in your bill. I'm all for alternative energy and helping people out. Those things should be done. But you can help a person more by giving them a job and not another hand out.

Look I have no problem printing 1 trillion dollars that will be a burden to myself and future generations if that is what needs to be done now. But this bill as is is garbage. The infrastructure part of the plan is the least and the only one that produces real jobs.

Americans don't need some hand out via the tax system and other socialized systems. What they need are jobs doing things. Jobs that are important and improve the lives of everyone. And repairing the broken down infrastucture in America is the best way to do this.

It's not just filling potholes, its rebuilding the entire water systems for every old city in America. The pipes under your feet are getting old and need to be replaced. It takes time to do that skills and technologies not even invented in most cases to tackle cities like New York, Chicago or Boston. Last year just one of those pipes burst in New York and blew asbestos everywhere and went off like a large bomb.

Our roads and bridges are horrible. Our ability to control flooding in areas of this country is non existent. There is a lot of real work I would be willing to spend 1 trillion dollars doing. But what is in this bill is not it. Not it by a long shot.

Where are the jobs in this bill? It's full of welfare and entitlements and subsistence off the government. We need jobs not hand outs. It was jobs building this countries roads and making it great is what got us out of the depression. It is our roads and pipes that will get us out again.

You Failed Obama.. So did your Wife... You were Elected???? I still don't know who you are.... Your Wife is an American.... But just another American "WOMEN"..... She has no Power! Tell me! Please! Who is America????

play hard ball Barack.........hold their toes to the fire. That is what we hired you for.

Outrageous is putting it mildly! What is wrong with these guys? Do they even care just a little bit?Thank God we have a President that is paying attention to what is really going on. Airplanes,large bonuses etc.it is so ridiculous what .these wall streeters are doing among others.

It's well past time that someone pointed out the obvious. The very first step in any stimulus/bailout must be to STOP all bonuses and special compensations for the term of the stimulus/bailout in other words, till the loan is repaid!!! America must not subsidize private business nor allow loans to them for the good of the nation to go unpaid. Now that interest rates are below zero it is time they either recover or allow the free-market to replace them.

A Comment/Suggestion Regarding the huge bonuses wall street executives granted themselves. New Rule: If you got a bonus and the company you worked for lost money and/or is getting bail out funds from the taxpayers, the income tax rate on your bonus is now 100%. This rule is retroactive to the beginning of the recession.

They not only should not get bonuses but should be out of work. If the rest of us had made these kinds of errors in our work where do you think we would be?

Whyis the gov't giving billions of dollars to those on wall street who have proven to be greedy and rich and then expect them not to be greedy. When will the government give the everyday, hard working, tax paying, home buying, daily contributor to the economy thru their paid tuitions, bought groceries, purchased cars,etc a check that will help bail us out.

GIVE A LITTLE MORE SO THE PEOPLE WHO DONATED TO YOUR POLITICAL SLUSH FUND CAN GET A BIGGER BONUS

BRAVO Mr. President.

These Financial Institutions and Corp. CEOs better recognize there's a new sheriff in town, and his name is President Obama. It's NO LONGER business as usual. They better knock off all these foolishness or GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK!! Bottom line.

I heard an NPR report on this last night, that said the lower-level executive bonuses are something akin to gratuities that waiters and waitresses rely upon – something like that salaries were artificially low on the expectation that a primary source of income would be bonuses. If this is true, then perhaps these people DO deserve their bonuses, enough to elevate their salaries to maybe $150K or so – but when they start talking about bonuses in the millions that's a little far fetched, one helluva tip! It would be far more sensible to the outsiders looking in if these Wall Street people got paid some sort of standard salary depending on rank and title and longevity, etc., and then bonuses were either the $50 in an envelope before the holidays or a commission that is tied by a rigid formula to the amount of business brought in. This year, those commissions likely would be pretty meager.

you get em,, president obama,,,, right where it hurts the most,, get em!!!!!!,, how dare these executives pay out bonuses when we are struggling,,,,its time it all stops and NOW!!!!

Fire the bums..

Amen. These guys should only get bonuses when their companies post a positive revenue picture WITHOUT factoring in any bailout monies. That should eliminate just about 100% of them. NO BONUSES!!
We always learned to live on our annual salary. Any bonus was just that– a bonus. We never relied on it for our living expenses.

It's really quite simple. If the government is going to loan 45 billion USD to CitiBank or any other company for that matter, it gets the amount of preferred stock that 45billion will buy at the current price of the stock on the market. If that means that the US government gets a controlling interest in the company, fantastic, that will allow them to dictate how the money is spent instead of crossing their fingers and hoping that obviously corrupt and greedy individuals spend the money properly. Any other company "loaning" that money to another company would get controlling interest. It's time to Nationalize and stop demonizing doing what makes perfect sense. When the time is appropriate, you sell the majority of the stock back to the company at profit to the tax payers, but keep a small portion so that the people will always have a vote on the board. None of this would have been necessary if proper oversight had been instituted instead of repealed. Trusting billionaires to "regulate" themselves, seriously? Give me a break.

I am totally OUTRAGED. Wall Street sucks along with all those company stealing from the American taxpayer. UNBELIEVABLE.

OBAMA- – PLEASE STOP AS MUCH OF THIS GREED AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.

hmmm....I wonder if Obama is quietly blasting his buddy Raines about the bonuses he received from Freddie and Fannie...no wait, he wouldn't do that, because he and Dodd received them as well....it would be nice to see Obama tell the truth.

Federal Election Commission data says that Citigroup from the article gave Obama over $600,000 and got $45 billion from TARP which Obama supports.

Sounds like a good return on their investment.

What do you think of Obama's no lobby money claim now? He just didn't call it "lobby" – it was a PAC.

People are sick and tired of hearing about black this and black that, obama is great because he is black .....enough already

Please Mr. President no more bail out to Banks or Wall Street unless they account for what happen to the 1st $350 billion dollars they received. I agree no more bonus for Wall Street or the Banks. If both can give bonus they do not need the goverment help at all. Please help the homeowners.

Citi tried to raise the interest rate on my credit card (25 years and no missed or late paymets). They said it wasn't personal.

I told them to cancel my membership. My money is very personal to me. I cut that card up.

The did this within 2 weeks of receiving a bailout from the gov't. (our tax dollars).

If any of that money goes for bonus, new drapes, planes etc then shame on our Govt for giving it to them without any oversight.

What people do not understand is that the majority of people on Wall Street depend on their bonus to make a living. Their salary is not comparable to other professionals outside of WS...its lower. Take away incentive compensation (i.e. bonus) and its the same thing as asking a waiter to work but receive no tips. While I do agree that the executives of these companies should not receive a bonus if the overall company did not make money the same can not be said for the average employee. An employee who receives a bonus did so because he/she made money for the company...the company does not pay someone a bonus for nothing.

The tax payers are the ones that should get a bonus.....it is our money funding Wall Street and the banks now. Don't know about anyone else but I could use a bonus Mr. Bank!!!!!

God Bless our local banks.......they should have received bailout money....they are the ones lending!

Banks: "Oversight? Oversight? Oh, suddenly we don't need the free money anymore...we'll be fine."

The financial sector is about to get very VERY angry at Obama and the Democratic party, but they can go sulk on their $30,000 toilets for all we care...they were in bed with the GOP to begin with anyway. Sounds like he's getting ready to oversee the second $350B the way it should have been overseen the first time and I bet there will be fewer companies asking for it this time as a result.

I just wish Obama would take it a step further, investigate what was done with the first $350B and prosecute or force pay-backs from the people who misused it.

Nice of George W and his cronies to simply throw 700B at a bunch of skunks with no strings and no accountability.

Every tax payer, every invester, every worker who saw their 401k plan reduced, ought to find alternative investment opportunities, rather than doing business with these firms again. I know I will.

As far as these people are concerned, the American people can go take a flying leap off a tall cliff. Every man for himself, you betcha!

I work on Wall St and got 20k last year as a bonus. You want to know how much was taken from that check in taxes? 10k. That is what's shameful. Bonuses get gutted by the feds, so before the President starts crying about Wall St abuses maybe he should take a look at the cut he's getting. Oh an just in case someone wants to say i should count my blessings, tell them to go buy $7 bacon in NYC or pay $1700 for a 200sq ft apt. I'm from Georgia and money doesn't go as far up here. Google a cost of living calculator and see how much 87k(30k was taken out in taxes so technically its 57k disposable income) gets you in NYC. It's about 35k in most places outside NYC.

AT MY JOB IF WE ARE NOT PROFITABLE WE DONT GET BONUSES.
WHY IS WALL STREET DIFFERENT???

AMEND THE BAILOUT LAW–NO BONUSES TOTHE IDIOTS THAT CAUSED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY TO TANK!!!

Those bonus-hungry thugs of wall street are perhaps gazillion times worse than even the lowest forms of life on earth. Somebody has used a term "economic terrorists" for such wolves. Let us explore the possibility of enacting laws to punish those scoundrels, quickly.

Stick it to them Mr. President! What a bunch of imbeciles!

Now do something about these idiots!

Shameless crooks. Throw the bastards in jail.

Rush Limbreath is an idiot. All those Rethug senators and congressmen listening to him are also idiots. Rush is not the king of America, grow a brain people. Rush is an idiot.

I would think the time has come to mandate a temporary reduction in interest rates across the board. At least if I have more money in my pocket, I can buy things and help stimulate the economy thereby paying myself back. If the financial institutions don't like it, too bad. They should have been more responsible with my money.

It sounds like President Obama means business. These Wall Street Jokers are in for it. If we poor folks or less than wealthy have to tighten our belts and spend responsibly then so should they.

First "that one" will go after the easy target of wall street. Then it will be the managers and white collar workers, finally it will be every working American. Remember the goal here is socialism. and the total redistribution of you hard work and earnings to the benefit of those that do not. He will take the earnings of hard working individuals and to give it away in entitlements. Remember the words of his friend Ayres who said "....after the revolution we just have to get rid of 25 million non-conformist." Sounds a lot like a certain politician from the 1930's in Germany who had a cult like following. Who is John Galt????

I would like to know where our so called "leaders" were and what they were thinking when they "gave" away all this money with no strings attached?

Where was Pelosi and Barney "Rubble" Frank? Typical washington BS. There is not one of these clowns that ever had a job, they are parasites of the system and we are expecting these same clowns to turn the economy around? They're too busy worrying about prosecutors that were dismissed by the Republicans opposed to watching the spending of our billions of dollars.

It reminds me of the Serpico story, wherein when asked about the system is said something like "it is too corrupt." They may not be corrupt, but they are definitely over their heads when it comes to business.

Send these idiots back to the barn!

Thanks President Obama! At the very least it's time they finally heard somebody important call them on their greed, selfishness, and bad behavior.

DID THE GOVERNMENT NOT SPECIFY WHAT THE TAXPAYER'S MONEY CAN BE USED FOR??????????/
WALL STREET IS VERY IRRESPONSIBLE, BUT MAYBE THE GOVERNMENT IS EVEN MORESO. SINCE NO STRINGS WERE ATTACHED TO HOW THE MONEY CAN BE SPENT.

Not only do we need to stop future abuse of spending, we should find a way to GET SOME OF OUR MONEY BACK from those who have abused the bailout funding.

How can someone justify big bonuses when their company is receiving a bailout? yeah its tough and they are looking out for their employees right? But at the expense of my tax dollars ... i don't think so! I'm struggling just as much as the next man so I do empathize but the cap should be on for any company that receives a bailout. NO bonuses, NO jets, and the only thing my tax dollars should be spent on is the betterment of all society not the chosen few head honchos from a greedy corporation. GM got bailed out and my 2005 Yukon's bearings crapped out at a cost of $1200 to repair. Are they willing to work with me? Nope they just want their money on time. Well the tables are turning and all of these "big" corporations that need our help and even though we don't have much choice at this stage of the game they should at least show some dignity and "try" to do the right thing.

I don't want a bailout ... I just want companies to stop pulling my legs out from under me!

The Obama's must have got a big bonus somewhere going from $1.6 mllion one year to over $4 million the next year according to their taxes.

You tell them Mr. President.

Will these people ever stopbeing so greedy and learn.....

Why didn't these geniuses write a provision in the bailout to prevent bonuses for low-level staff of firms that received federal funds?Because they are actually morons. The money of the American people is once again stolen by the government for incompetent policy.

the New York comptroller said that does not stop lower level staff from recieving bonus's, well, thats simple, just demote the higher paid staff to lower position, then give them the bonus you was going to give them anyways..LOL..we are still going to get another screwing by wall street and big buisness any which way we go...now, thats something you can believe in !
when I "see" our, ( or any of my friends or familys) get bonus's or even jobs bACK, or raises, I might start believing then...
none of those people ever have to wqorry about seeing the best of Dr's either ! wheres OUR medical help ???????

That's what I'm talking about. Shut these greed mongers down!

I am not against bonuses...I'm against exagerated bonuses......and that is what has been happening over the last ten or so years.....
It really is time to tighten the belt...as difficult as it may be.

Everyone still wondering what happened to our $$ besides the Madoffs of the world taking off with it? Where is the money? Sitting in the banks and investment firms waiting for more to be given to them. For bonus pay-outs, weekly, monthly and yearly. This strinks. No one in this country needs a bonus until we are on our feet and obviously some still need to be knocked off their feet.

All for show.

Obama is not going to do anything after taking Big Money from these corporations. It is easy to look up the long list of banks and Wall st. companies that gave him Big Money.

What he WILL do is fork over more money to them. That is called payback.

Think about it. He didn't call it "lobby" money but it was sure the same color green. And it buys the same thing.

The greed here is sickening. That bail-out money was not meant for bonuses, much less for bonuses given to the same idiots who drove companies to the ground and millions of honest workers to unemployment.

What bothers me the most is...why are the companies willing to pay to hang on to greedy executives and idiot top-level employees? The greedy idiots have no bargaining chip. If they threaten with quitting, it will require a lot more than luck to find a company that will hire them with their repuation!

You gave the money without oversight of what was to be done with it. You have no one to blame but yourself!

Yes Republican trickle down affect at its finest.

Thank you Mr. President for making that clear to those greedy SOB's on Wall St.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't he vote Yes for the first Bail out. Come on, let stop saying what you think people want to hear, I would rather hear I made a mistake and I cannot do everything instead of trying to please all sides. The person that tries to please everyone, ends up pleasing no one.

Go get 'em. Mr. President!!!!!!!

We must insist on complete transparency for the bail out money. It should involve NO bonuses. Government could insist on that.

This is amazing. The president criticizes Wall Street spending while his "stimulus" bill is doing the very same thing, on top of a bailout that hasn't worked. And when is it the role of government to dictate how Wall Street does things? Sounds like Socialism 101 to me.

President Obama is awesome – he basically lashed out at all the people who lobbied the Bush Administration and former-GOP heavy Congress and screwed up the economy.

All the anti-Obama people keep calling him a socialist and they don't even know what it means. Socialism is better than Fascism which is what it was under the Bush admin. Well.. perhaps not.. perhaps that was more socialism since they did spread the poverty around.

As for the Republicans who didn't support the bill: Then don't accept any bailout money for the districts you represent. Do not help your voters find jobs and don't cry to us later when you aren't re-elected.

Also – You really thought tax cuts were a better idea? Tax cuts are useless when millions of Americans have NO JOBS TO TAX ON IN THE FIRST PLACE!!

You don't support infrastructure?? Those highways don't maintain themselves.. or do we need another MN type bridge collapse to convince you?

I want my wall street & bank bail out money back. I lost my hard earned 401K & saving and potenital unemployment.. they have my $$ and pay for bonuses? Is this demoncratic country or country for the wealthy and king & queen to suck all resources e.g. blood & money from common people like me.

I want President Obama (please don't be brainwashed once you corss the common person to president) to investigate and give $ back to people like me.