Mike the Usurper wrote:

Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.

Excuse me?! You're a bank that just FAILED and, dodging your bankruptcy responsibilities, you've managed to set aside $2.5 BILLION for BONUSES to the people who presided over your FAILURE?

If anyone wants to know why Main Street is pissed off at Wall Street, look no further than this. This is Wall Street saying, "Fuck you!" in giant letters, to Main Street. Main Street is not amused.

I've been complaining about that for about a year now, when all of Wall Street took home $37B in bonuses in 2007. It's unconscionable that this industry has fleeced the American public the way that they have, the Bush administration being a co-conspirator by virtue of doing nothing until the breaking point, and you can bet this same lobby will be calling for lower taxes for upper earners. Unbelievably selfish.

RE: Fury at $2.5bn bonus for Lehman's New York staff - Business News, Business - The Independent