hilker:

soupsoup:

Remember the latest Bank of America (BAC) bailout, the one we were all so steamed about last week? (The $20 billion of cash and $100+ billion of trash-asset guarantees that absolutely had to be given or else Bank of America shareholders might have lost everything?)

Yes, well, you probably thought that that cash would be used to bolster the bank’s capital or something. (We know you weren’t dumb enough to think it might have been used to make loans).

Alas, it wasn’t used for that. It was used to pay Merrill Lynch executives the huge bonuses they deserved for unloading their balance sheet on for-some-reason-not-yet-fired Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis.

via Clusterstock

Way up on Barack Obama’s agenda must be better oversight of bailout funds. This is a joke if we are handing over money which will have no effect on our economic recovery. This is corporate welfare, plain and simple.

If Merrill actually failed, this would be fraudulent conveyance, and the money could be recovered. Since it’s an acquisition, there’s not likely a lot that can be done other than to vilify these people in the media. It’s also worth pointing out that these bonuses are high, even for Merrill Lynch.