Bailout Bonuses

Who says it’s a bad time to work on Wall Street? According to a review by the Associated Press, the 116 banks that have so far received a government bailout have paid their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and benefits. The average compensation for executives at these banks was $2.6 million. Representative Barney Frank called large bonuses bribes "to get [executives] to do the jobs for which they are well paid in the first place.”