Those bailed out made out like bandits

Leopold A. Potsiadlo, Las Vegas

Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.

I almost choked on my sandwich when reading a New York Times story last week regarding the bonuses bankers received during the bailout last year.

The story explained a report released by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo on the bonuses. Especially galling and revolting was that: “At Goldman Sachs, for example, bonuses of more than $l million went to 953 traders and bankers, and Morgan Stanley awarded seven-figure bonuses to 428 employees. Even at weaker banks like Citigroup and Bank of America, million-dollar awards were distributed to hundreds of workers.”

That is the tip of the iceberg. According to the Times, “The report suggests that those roughly 5,000 people — a small subset of the industry — accounted for more than $5 billion in bonuses. At Goldman just 200 people collectively were paid nearly $l billion in total and at Morgan Stanley, $577 million was shared by 101 people.”

That was not all, the Times reported. “All told, the bonus pools at the nine banks that received bailout money was $32.6 billion, while those banks lost $81 billion.”

This as the “common folk,” hapless taxpayers, lose savings, jobs, homes, cars and insurance coverage, and otherwise suffer.

I only hope the IRS can find its way through the loopholes to recoup some of the money.

Only now is Congress supposedly taking remedial action to curb this insane display of avarice in our financial institutions. Will this result in concrete action, strict controls, or more rhetoric and “taps on the wrist” of those responsible?