Our financial system is crumbling this week.

[Leroy]

They should stop giving to the church because they are going to hell for being rich anyway.

[cpebbles]

So you're telling me that you have $1200 a month left over after all the bills are paid.

And $1300 a month is thrown away...

[thrill]

So you're telling me that you have $1200 a month left over after all the bills are paid.

And $1300 a month is thrown away...

but tax deductible.

[greenback44]

What gets me is the belief that having gone to Columbia or Wharton means that they should automatically get a huge salary and the utter contempt for the people who bring them their food. I'd be willing to bet that this executive is in favor of "entitlement reform" too.

I'm picturing Dan Aykroyd's character from "Trading Places" here.

I see this kind of obnoxiousness as the investment banker equivalent to a certain poster accusing me of not being a real fan. It's just what I expect from these folks (and after much effort I think I've learned to ignore it). Their mindset probably didn't just start when they joined Lehman Brothers or even when they went off to college; many have been fed the Ayn Rand stuff, in one form or another, since they were in grade school. When they're told they're failures after years of hearing nothing but the opposite, they're going to lash out. Let 'em, because that form of coping isn't nearly as damaging as calling up their buddies in the Treasury Department or on Congressional staffs.

[cpebbles]

Incidentally, can we stop just implicitly agreeing with these reporters that the backlash against bonuses to bailed-out executives constitutes "populist rage?" They were heading to bankruptcy and these obligations were going to be wiped out anyway. The government stepped in to prevent defaults that were going to destabilize the world economy. The taxpayers are not obligated to pick up the tab for every last obligation the companies had (Or in some cases obligations they came up with after they got their hands on government funds), and my one big problem with this administration is still that they tried to shame AIG into accepting that instead of playing legal hardball to set precedent.

[Arthur Dent]

My one big problem with this administration is still that they tried to shame AIG into accepting that instead of playing legal hardball to set precedent.

That's a charitable interpretation. It looks to me like Obama is trying to protect bankers and restore the old (failed) financial order. As he said to a meeting of bank CEOs, "My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20871.html

[ThatGuy]

So you're telling me that you have $1200 a month left over after all the bills are paid.

And $1300 a month is thrown away...

How so?

[MrCrowesGarden]

So you're telling me that you have $1200 a month left over after all the bills are paid.

And $1300 a month is thrown away...

How so?

Tithing to the church.

[ThatGuy]

So you're telling me that you have $1200 a month left over after all the bills are paid.

And $1300 a month is thrown away...

How so?

Tithing to the church.

That doesn't really answer my question.

[cpebbles]

If you want to spend $1300 a month bribing god, go ahead. Don't expect anyone else to just overlook that when you're trying to claim poverty.