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I want to say that was reported somewhere...that many of these guys weren't even the problem.
As for the rest of your statement, that's all well and good if we're left alone to the natural progression of free market economics. Which, by the way, would have been my preference. I'm not convinced there would have been an apocolypse. But, in this case, the government stepped in and arguably violated a cons utional principle in order to placate the masses screaming for blood.
Stop and think about it. Geitner was at the Fed and understood that to get anyone to stay on and try and manage this catastrophe, it was going to cost money. So, he condoned -- if not suggested -- the retention bonuses in order to keep knowledgeable talent on board for the duration.
The Stimulus Bill contemplated the bonuses would be an issue and so, Christopher Dodd tried to protect them -- with (according to him) some lobbying from the administration and Treasury (Geitner).
When Barney Frank started assembling the pitchfork and torch crowd, all the government hacks tried to disown their involvement and throw these executives to the wolves.
I mean, sheesh, they drug that poor $1 per year CEO before the Senate Finance Committee -- a guy that had absolutely NOTHING to do with the fiasco -- and pilloried him as if he was Satan incarnate.
It's ridiculous. And, if Congress is willing to throw Cons utional principle out the window simply to appease the masses, I fear we're nearing the end of this who republican (small r) experiment.
