Wall Street Bonuses - Each One According To His Greed

Really! I have to say that I know people who work on Wall Street and realize how important their bonuses are in terms of their compensation. Wall Steet bankers chose to get the hell beat out of them daily on the hope that at the end of the year they will walk away with two times, or more, their base salary. Most, but not all, Wallstreet bankers are mentally sharp and driven by success. They have a will that seems to defy logic and they keep going when there is nothing left to go on. The question is whether these hard working folks deserve their anticipated bonuses . . . out of money that you and I as tax payers have unwillingly donated as part of a government bail-out.

This question is symptomatic of a larger issue, which is the promise of big bonuses. There is no question that greed and risky investments caused this mess. I have not heard one statement, let alone argument, to the contrary. Is it possible that continuing to feed these bonuses will continue to ecourage the "creative" thinking that drove us into this crisis? It is the endeavor of a big payday that inspires a stampede towards the possibility of personal gain. But, if you look really close most members of the stampede are moving as part of the herd, with no real reason or understanding as to the purpose of the frenzy. All these firms moved in the direction of a green light, one right after the other, and the leadership had no clue as to how these exotic finance vehicles worked. Should such stupidity be rewarded? Each one according to his/her greed?

If the argument is that the injection of bail-out money changed the position of the balance sheet and artificially proped up the income-statement, then the bonus metric should disregard any assistance by the federal government and the taxpayers.

I feel deeply for the ambitious folks who sacrifice the better part of their personal lives to their fulltime occupation. I get that the food chain in NY, and other financial districts, thrives on the Wall Street and banking machine. But on this one, I gotta side with the taxpayers. Accountability starts somewhere. And while I am not the ultimate decision maker in my firm, I assure you that when bad decisions are made I feel it in my bonus, or lack thereof.

5 days left

I am so excited for the election to finally come . . . and go. As far as I am concerned, November 4 could not get here faster. It almost feels like Christmas, you cannot wait for it to come, your excited for about 4 hours, and then its just a long day of eating and being trapped with your relatives. After all, the new President does not take office for over two months.

I am a little late in being excited to support my chosen candidate Barack Obama. Last night I purchased a ton of stuff off the campaign website. Win or lose, I figure this is one of the most historic elections I will ever experience. I am not sure beyond this pool of candidates if our country will ever be so excited to elect, or almost elect, a person who does not look like the predominant race.

Beyond the optics, though, I am so proud that as a country we got down to brass tacks and shunned the media's constant provocation to insert race. Amazingly, I really think the issues were the central theme of this election in a way that I cannot recall in past elections. This was an election where there seemed to be a daily crisis. From the Georgia-Russia conflict to the economic meltdown, the candidates have certainly had a platform to demonstrate their knowledge, temperament and leadership on real and pertinent issues.

As we wind down, or up, I hope that everyone will think critically about the issues and the candidates. I feel there are candidates that people can vote for and not just against. The next four years will be rough and will require a leader with intelligence, strength, diplomacy, integrity, and a great circle of advisers. I just so happen to think this person is Barack Obama.

Let me know whether you plan to vote and if you don't plan to vote, I would love to know why.