Bank of America, Give the Taxpayers their Money Back
Have you ever loaned or given someone money who you thought really needed help only to find out that soon after they spent the money on something lavish like a big screen TV or vacation without first paying you back? How did that make you feel?
Well I hope you are outraged, as I am, about the news of Bank of American paying bonuses of $3.6 billion when they were given $45 billion of taxpayer TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money due to bank’s potential collapse (see Show me the TARP Money) .
As far as I’m concerned, the bonus money needs to return to the government. That’s our money and the employees of Bank of America didn’t earn or deserve it. The bank was on the verge of collapse before Merrill Lynch & Co. merged with it.
Merrill Lynch, a New York-based securities firm, lost a whopping $15.8 billion in the fourth quarter of last year and they are paying out bonuses. What is wrong with this picture? Bonuses should be paid when a company meets goals, not when they are on the verge of collapse and the government has to infuse cash just to keep it a float. Some people really need to go to jail for this.
Yesterday, Kenneth Lewis, C.E.O of Bank of America Corp., flew in on the company’s very expensive jet to testify for four hours at New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s offices about the $3.6 billion in bonuses. As a result, a subpoena has been issued to Bank of America to produce a list of the individual bonuses. This is after Bank of America refusing not to turn over the specific information.
The government is investigating whether Merrill Lynch broke securities laws when it paid the bonuses. There is an on-going federal probe of executive pay at banks that received money from TARP. Merrill Lynch and Bank of America have received about $45 billion in TARP money.
I encourage everyone to e-mail, call or write his or her congressman of this outrageous or possible illegal act by Bank of America. We as taxpayers should want the $3.6 billion returned! It’s the right thing to do!
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