Bankers threaten to resign.

[Combwork]

No I'm not making it up. After the government (who after bailing them out with taxpayers money own more than 50% of the bank) told Royal Bank of Scotland chiefs "no bonuses this year", the greedy bastards have threatened to resign. All of them.

I'd say let them go. No severance pay; let them walk. OK, lets not be mean. We could give them their bus fare, but only if they ask nicely. There must be enough genuinely skilled and well motivated people out there willing to do the job for a fair salary. Remember, when those pricks claimed to have made a lot of money for the bank, it was the the banks money they were gambling with, not their own. When it all went tits up it cost them nothing. It's like playing poker with money going to you if you win while your employer covers your loses.

[Fast_Eddie]

No I'm not making it up. After the government (who after bailing them out with taxpayers money own more than 50% of the bank) told Royal Bank of Scotland chiefs "no bonuses this year", the greedy bastards have threatened to resign. All of them.

To be fair, I think most of these guys could find a better job. If that's the case, God love them and may they prosper. As much as we dislike it, we're talking about people who work in a world we can't imagine. One where people make a lot of money. I think they're just pointing out that these crazy bonuses are part of that world and if they can't get them in their current jobs they can get them elsewhere.

These are the people, by the way, that the Reagan/Bush gang kept giving tax cuts to. I guess people didn't realize who they really were before now.

[merrylander]

Ed if they are all that smart how come they went belly up? Let them go by all means and promote the janitor.

[Grumpy]

Bankers and threats. Two words used in a sentence that should have been outlawed during this economy.

I have some advice for them.

Be like Mike and do it !

[Fast_Eddie]

Ed if they are all that smart how come they went belly up? Let them go by all means and promote the janitor.

Wasn't necessasarily in their best interest to run the banks in our best interest. Maybe we need some regulation.

[HatchetJack]

Taxpayers should never have to pay bonuses to corrupt companies. However,
had the banks stuck with strict standards and 10% downpayments on home
loans and not been strongarmed by the Clinton administration to put 2nd and
3rd tier people in Mcmansions our banks and home values would still be
strong. All the blame can not rest with Clinton though as Bush should have
stopped it. Can you see the outrage that would have happened if he did that.
We made money too easy to get and turned it into a cheap slut. Now we are
paying the price.

[merrylander]

Jack the mortgage system was designed by thieves for thieves, no point trying to blame Clinton or Bush. Some mortgage agent gets a mortgage for an individual, takes one point off the top and is never seen again. The banks bundle the mortgage together with others and sells the resulting product and also takes a point or two. Neither the agent nor the bank gives a tinker's dam about what happens to that mortgage because they took the money and ran.

If the people who initiate the mortgages get the money at zero risk do you really think they care about the person's credit rating. If you really do I am running a special on the Bay Bridge this week.

That sort of theivery is not allowed in Canada that is why none of their banks needed a bailout.

[HatchetJack]

I agree, they were all in on the scam. From the Real Estate agents to the
appraisers, the builders, inspectors, surveyors, underwriters and even the
mexicans got rich. But, the buck could have stopped with the government.
After all they regulate and set the interest rates and agreed to the lower
standards. Bottom line, we are having to pay the price as the big banks
were hit the hardest. They loaned our money to people with lessor credit.
Redistribution of wealth works great dont it?

[noonereal]

I agree, they were all in on the scam. From the Real Estate agents to the
appraisers, the builders, inspectors, surveyors, underwriters and even the


I still don't understand why these folks are not in jail.

[HatchetJack]

Well they really didnt break any laws. They were taking advantage of a
market that was artificially created. Maybe we should look at the bozos
that allowed it happen.

[d-ray657]

Well they really didnt break any laws. They were taking advantage of a
market that was artificially created. Maybe we should look at the bozos
that allowed it happen.

You mean the ones that were running the government the eight years before the economy collapsed?

Regards,

D-Ray

[soundhound]

To be fair, I think most of these guys could find a better job.

i damned sure wouldn't hire them.

[Charles]

Let 'em quit, it's a free world, kind of.

The good news is that Helicopter Ben is taking a lot of flack. Bernie Sanders is even gunning for him.

Chas

[Boreas]

Well they really didnt break any laws. They were taking advantage of a
market that was artificially created. Maybe we should look at the bozos
that allowed it happen.

That was mostly Phil Gramm and his "Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999". That's the legislation that rolled back most of the protections we had put in place after the Great Depression.

'Course, a lotta Dems voted for the turkey and "The Big Dog" signed it so there's enough blame to go around.

John

[Charles]

You mean the ones that were running the government the eight years before the economy collapsed?

Regards,

D-Ray

You mean like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank?

Eight years....I GET IT...it's Bush's fault!!!!!!!

Seriously, D-Man, you haven't been around for a few days and I was getting worried. I feared you went hunting with Cheney!!!

Take care,

Chas

[Fast_Eddie]

You mean like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank?

Eight years....I GET IT...it's Bush's fault!!!!!!!

Seriously, D-Man, you haven't been around for a few days and I was getting worried. I feared you went hunting with Cheney!!!

Take care,

Chas

Yes. It is Bush's fault. And Reagan's. Mainly Reagan's. But since he was dead when it all fell apart, we'll have to pin it on his minion. While I am joking, I really do believe the deregulation and "unfettered capitalism" of the right did indeed cause the melt down. It's kinda silly to blame it on Obama when things are only getting better, all be it marginally so, under his brief watch.

Barney Frank? You think it's Barney's fault?

[Boreas]

It's kinda silly to blame it on Obama when things are only getting better, all be it marginally so, under his brief watch.

But y'all Righties, don't let that stop ya! ;)

John

[Charles]

Yes. It is Bush's fault. And Reagan's. Mainly Reagan's. But since he was dead when it all fell apart, we'll have to pin it on his minion. While I am joking, I really do believe the deregulation and "unfettered capitalism" of the right did indeed cause the melt down. It's kinda silly to blame it on Obama when things are only getting better, all be it marginally so, under his brief watch.

Barney Frank? You think it's Barney's fault?

Not really.

Chas

[d-ray657]

You mean like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank?

Eight years....I GET IT...it's Bush's fault!!!!!!!

Seriously, D-Man, you haven't been around for a few days and I was getting worried. I feared you went hunting with Cheney!!!

Take care,

Chas

I didn't die, but my hard drive did. I don't do a good job of maintaining good habits, like regular back-ups. Hello data recovery services.

Plus side is a brand new Windows 7 speed demon from Dell.

And besides, I was asking an honest question. It is generally the executive branch that runs the regulatory agencies, so when Hatchetjack mentioned the bozos that let the banking crisis happen, one had to wonder to which bozos he was referring. :rolleyes:

Regards,

D-Ray

[Boreas]

It is generally the executive branch that runs the regulatory agencies, so when Hatchetjack mentioned the bozos that let the banking crisis happen, one had to wonder to which bozos he was referring. :rolleyes:

Yeah, but regulatory agencies need - you know, regulations.

John

[HatchetJack]

I was referring to the Clinton administration who started it, I guess the
banking dept. and the Bush administration for letting it go on too long.
I'm sure you all can come up with others but we cant blame Home Depot
can we?

[Charles]

I didn't die, but my hard drive did. I don't do a good job of maintaining good habits, like regular back-ups. Hello data recovery services.

Plus side is a brand new Windows 7 speed demon from Dell.

And besides, I was asking an honest question. It is generally the executive branch that runs the regulatory agencies, so when Hatchetjack mentioned the bozos that let the banking crisis happen, one had to wonder to which bozos he was referring. :rolleyes:

Regards,

D-Ray

Dude, you got a Dell!!!! Did the Dell pothead talk you into it?

I'm still groveling around in the world of clones and XP, although the last one I ordered with an Athlon X2 processor and XP Pro is PDQ. I bought it because it didn't come loaded with Vista...didn't want to upgrade to XP first thing. I also have an external USB drive I use to back up the important stuff, like Quickbooks.

How do you like Win 7? I understand it's better received than Vista.

And just to stay on topic, I've read so much about the blame for the current economic crisis being attributed to the opposing party that my head hurts.

The question is, what's the remedy?

Chas

[Charles]

I was referring to the Clinton administration who started it, I guess the
banking dept. and the Bush administration for letting it go on too long.
I'm sure you all can come up with others but we cant blame Home Depot
can we?

Has Home Depot built shelters to protect the illegals from the weather while they're harassing their customers for work yet?

I thought that was the law in some places.

Chas

[Boreas]

I was referring to the Clinton administration who started it, I guess the
banking dept. and the Bush administration for letting it go on too long.
I'm sure you all can come up with others but we cant blame Home Depot
can we?

Deregulation of the finance industry started long before Clinton. It REALLY got rolling with Reagan but Clinton helped things along nicely when he signed The Financial Modernization Act into law. What made things much worse was that under Bush the government pretty much stopped enforcing what few regulations that remained.

John

[d-ray657]

Dude, you got a Dell!!!! Did the Dell pothead talk you into it?

I'm still groveling around in the world of clones and XP, although the last one I ordered with an Athlon X2 processor and XP Pro is PDQ. I bought it because it didn't come loaded with Vista...didn't want to upgrade to XP first thing. I also have an external USB drive I use to back up the important stuff, like Quickbooks.

How do you like Win 7? I understand it's better received than Vista.

And just to stay on topic, I've read so much about the blame for the current economic crisis being attributed to the opposing party that my head hurts.

The question is, what's the remedy?

Chas

Not to be an advertisement for Dell, but I think their small business division does a good job of putting together computers that are more work oriented than entertainment. They are a better value than buying one off of the shelf at the box store. My kid had vista on his laptop and hated it. The younger one has a macbook and has never complained.

So far it seems like win 7 is fast and easy to use - pretty intuitive. It takes a little getting used to some of the see-through windows, but I don't think the learning curve will be too high. I just hope I haven't lost a month of trial prep materials. I guess that makes it worth four or five hundred bucks for data recovery.

Oh, yeah, the banks. Just blame it on capitalism.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Charles]

Not to be an advertisement for Dell, but I think their small business division does a good job of putting together computers that are more work oriented than entertainment. They are a better value than buying one off of the shelf at the box store. My kid had vista on his laptop and hated it. The younger one has a macbook and has never complained.

So far it seems like win 7 is fast and easy to use - pretty intuitive. It takes a little getting used to some of the see-through windows, but I don't think the learning curve will be too high. I just hope I haven't lost a month of trial prep materials. I guess that makes it worth four or five hundred bucks for data recovery.

Oh, yeah, the banks. Just blame it on capitalism.

Regards,

D-Ray

I'd pay four or five hundred bucks to save a month of paperwork. Wouldn't like it, but I'd do it.

Remember one time I was typing out a contract, fairly extensive with a lot of options. I had about an hour in it, was just finishing up and the power went out causing me to lose it all.

Went straight out and bought a battery backup before it started on it again.

Dell used to send me flyers and they had good prices. But I'm a Tiger Direct kind of guy.

Chas

[merrylander]

Y'all are still missing the point. Most laws on financial matters here are designed to screw the little guy and make money for the crooks. The mortgage laws are only one lot. Why do you simply accept the status quo. Blaming Bush, Clinton, Frank, et.al. is just bullcrap, if you want to know who is to blame look in any mirror.

[d-ray657]

All this talk about bankers reminds me that it is the time of year for "It's a Wonderful Life." I guess that banker got at least a $5grand bonus. It is funny that because of the banker's greed, the little people had to bail out the S&L.

Regards,

D-Ray

[merrylander]

Greed is pervasive and any financial system that assumes it has gone away for good is doomed to boom and bust. For years we have been told that unfettered capitalism is the only way to operate so look what happens.

[HatchetJack]

Wrong again, socialism of the housing market brought us to our knees and
will be the ultimate downfall of this great country if allowed to prosper in
other areas. It is a formula for collapse, tyranny and misery. See Soviet
Union, Cuba and others. We cant blame the bankers, they were against it.

[Fast_Eddie]

Y'all are still missing the point. Most laws on financial matters here are designed to screw the little guy and make money for the crooks. The mortgage laws are only one lot. Why do you simply accept the status quo. Blaming Bush, Clinton, Frank, et.al. is just bullcrap, if you want to know who is to blame look in any mirror.

Sometimes you and I can overstate things. But in this case, I think you really are right on the money, as it work.

BTW, I use Vista- I may be the only one, but I have no problems with it and it runs great on my Dell laptop. Shrug.

[Boreas]

Wrong again, socialism of the housing market brought us to our knees and will be the ultimate downfall of this great country if allowed to prosper in other areas.

Where are you getting your information? What's socialist about deregulating the mortgage banking industry?

It is a formula for collapse, tyranny and misery. See Soviet
Union, Cuba and others.

Well for instance, in the Soviet Union the State or State-approved co-ops owned all the housing and assigned you the place where you lived. It's much the same in Cuba. How does that relate to predatory lending?

We cant blame the bankers, they were against it.

Could you name me some who objected at the time?

John

[merrylander]

For the life of me I cannot see how our screwed up mortgage system is in any was socialist, it is simple thievery.

[noonereal]

Well they really didnt break any laws. .

They actually broke all kinds of laws. No one is bothering to investigate and prosecute.

[Boreas]

For the life of me I cannot see how our screwed up mortgage system is in any was socialist, it is simple thievery.

It just dawned on me that Jack may be saying it was the (socialist) bailout that brought us to our knees rather than the collapse of the banking system that made the bailout necessary. Maybe he'll explain.

John

[piece-itpete]

Government pressure to loosen lending guidelines perhaps?

Pete

[HatchetJack]

They cant understand that Pete.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574459763052141456.html

[HatchetJack]

For the life of me I cannot see how our screwed up mortgage system is in any was socialist, it is simple thievery.


The only thieves here are the ones that took my money and yours and loaned
it to idiots.

[noonereal]

The only thieves here are the ones that took my money and yours and loaned
it to idiots.

:rolleyes:





.....

[Boreas]

Government pressure to loosen lending guidelines perhaps?

Pete

Even if that happened - and it didn't - it wouldn't be socialism.

John

[Boreas]

The only thieves here are the ones that took my money and yours and loaned
it to idiots.

Ah, so you are talking about the bailout. I think you have to look to the reasons why the bailouts were necessary and what would have happened to the economy if the banks had been allowed to fail.

By the way, several banks have already repaid the money they got under the stimulus and several more are just about to.

When the we saved Chrysler all those years ago we wnded up making a tidy profit on the deal. Chrysler paid us back with interest.

John

[noonereal]

Chrysler paid us back with interest.



As are the banks

[noonereal]

No I'm not making it up. After the government (who after bailing them out with taxpayers money own more than 50% of the bank) told Royal Bank of Scotland chiefs "no bonuses this year", the greedy bastards have threatened to resign. All of them.

.

Why is this a story?

If they leave they leave.

They will find out how good they had it.

[Boreas]

As are the banks

Paying interest? You know, I was wondering that when I was typing about Chrysler. I don't know. I think so but I'm not certain. Guess I ought to check.

[EDIT] Yes, they are but thee have been a few deadbeats so far.

http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/files/2009/10/tarp-dividends-missed.jpg

John

[merrylander]

The only thieves here are the ones that took my money and yours and loaned
it to idiots.

You said earlier that the bankers were against this yet Wells Fargo was onne of the biggest lenders of sub-prime mortgages which they promptly turned into derivatives and dumped.

So you seem to believe that a system that lets people approve people for mortgages which they immediately pass on is valid? They make money but take no risk, so why would they worry about the mortgagee's credit rating.

No other country has all the crap we have loaded onto mortgages, no title companies, no title insurance, no selling of the mortgage, you stay with the same lender for the life of the mortgage. We once found ourselves suddenly sold off to the bunch at Countrywide, could not get out of that fast enough.

However, I see you are bound to try and lay all of this at the Democrats door.

[noonereal]

Paying interest? You know, I was wondering that when I was typing about Chrysler. I don't know. I think so but I'm not certain. Guess I ought to check.

[EDIT] Yes, they are but thee have been a few deadbeats so far.

http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/files/2009/10/tarp-dividends-missed.jpg

John

The way it was structured, the banks were paying dividends to the government. Bank of America for example has paid $2.54 billion in TARP dividends.

[Boreas]

You said earlier that the bankers were against this yet Wells Fargo was onne of the biggest lenders of sub-prime mortgages which they promptly turned into derivatives and dumped.

So you seem to believe that a system that lets people approve people for mortgages which they immediately pass on is valid? They make money but take no risk, so why would they worry about the mortgagee's credit rating.

I started a long post about derivatives but I quit. Making a mortgage sausage and then selling off chunks of it to investors is just plain nuts. It allows mortgage companies to write bad loans, bundle them with good loans and then sell them off so that someone else assumed all the risk.

No other country has all the crap we have loaded onto mortgages, no title companies, no title insurance, no selling of the mortgage, you stay with the same lender for the life of the mortgage. We once found ourselves suddenly sold off to the bunch at Countrywide, could not get out of that fast enough.

No, but that didn't stop banks and investors in other countries from buying our derivatives. Glad you got out from under Countrywide. You know, B of A owns them now.

However, I see you are bound to try and lay all of this at the Democrats door.

Well, it's always the other guy's fault, right? In this case, however, there's plenty of blame to go around.

But I still think Jack sees only the bailout as the problem.

John

[HatchetJack]

Even if that happened - and it didn't - it wouldn't be socialism.

John

Well it did and it was and now they want to do the same
with the healthcare system.I assure you if that passes it will
meet the same fate as the housing industry. All socialism ultimately fails.
We are not communist here are we?

[Boreas]

Well it did and it was and now they want to do the same
with the healthcare system.I assure you if that passes it will
meet the same fate as the housing industry. All socialism ultimately fails.
We are not communist here are we?

The deregulation of the banking industry was something they lobbied for, not something that was forced down their throats by the government. Anyway, how can you say that less government control of business is socialism?

C'mon, Jack. Help me out here. Why is bailing out the financial industry socialism and why is it the same as health care reform?

By the way, there's difference between socialism and communism.

John

[noonereal]

We are not communist here are we?

Hopefully, we are socially responsible. Right now we are a christan nation with not so Christan policies.

[merrylander]

As I have posted here before it was the Conservative Party that introduced the Single Payer system in Canada, hardly socialists, in fact toe New Democratic party is the socialist party there and they only ever rose to power once in one of the provinces and then fizzled out.

All this rugged individualism is a fairy tale y'all cling to but it is still just a fairy tale. Be a rugged individualist, just stay the hell off our roads and our bridges. Provide your own electricity, and grow your own food. We can live as a society and respect the social contract that implies or we can become a nation of outlaw gunslingers.

[Charles]

As I have posted here before it was the Conservative Party that introduced the Single Payer system in Canada, hardly socialists, in fact toe New Democratic party is the socialist party there and they only ever rose to power once in one of the provinces and then fizzled out.

All this rugged individualism is a fairy tale y'all cling to but it is still just a fairy tale. Be a rugged individualist, just stay the hell off our roads and our bridges. Provide your own electricity, and grow your own food. We can live as a society and respect the social contract that implies or we can become a nation of outlaw gunslingers.

Society won't allow for a rugged individualist. No matter where you park your ass you're going to be taxed on it. Everything you buy or sell will be taxed.

And they're fixin' to tax the air that we breathe.

Now I don't have a problem with anyone who wants to be as self sufficient as they can. And if you pay taxes, your opinion is as valuable as anyone else.

No doubt we do have a social contract, but what form it takes is a topic for discussion. I can think of no surer way to become a nation of outlaw gunslingers that to continue to force people to pay for a vision of how things should be when they disagree.

But this happens every so often, so why should things change now?

Chas

[HatchetJack]

Just for the record, I never said anything about the bailout. I hope it works
and it had to be done, otherwise we could not even swiped for gas at the
pumps ect...
The liberals pressured the government into strong arming the banks to loan
money to poor people with lousy or no credit and created an artificial market
for new homes. They built too many homes, too many people defaulted and
now the banks own homes that are in terrible shape and not sellable. And
now our homes are devalued because of it and the banks are broke.
I am totally against everyone having the same things and the poor living
like the rich because that takes out their incentive for working harder.
Call it socialism or communism or what have you but its not going to work
in this country. Not now, not here, not anywhere, not ever. It always fails.

[noonereal]

Just for the record, I never said anything about the bailout. I hope it works
and it had to be done, otherwise we could not even swiped for gas at the
pumps ect...
The liberals pressured the government into strong arming the banks to loan
money to poor people with lousy or no credit and created an artificial market
for new homes. They built too many homes, too many people defaulted and
now the banks own homes that are in terrible shape and not sellable. And
now our homes are devalued because of it and the banks are broke.
I am totally against everyone having the same things and the poor living
like the rich because that takes out their incentive for working harder.
Call it socialism or communism or what have you but its not going to work
in this country. Not now, not here, not anywhere, not ever. It always fails.

So that's how you got it figured. :rolleyes:

[merrylander]

Repulican bull crap, Jack, and you know it. Long before the housing bubble we still had this crazy mortgage system, the only thing the liberals may have done was to try and stop red lining. The mortgage system provides for greed, hell it even encourages greed, and those noble bankers you refer to were the greediest of the bunch, Wells Fargo, B of A, Citi, CountryWide, etc.

Oh and your poor devalued house - take a good look, ours is worth three times what it cost us - if that is devaluation I wish that had happened to my 401k. Thanks to Phil Gramm it is in the toilet.

[d-ray657]

Just for the record, I never said anything about the bailout. I hope it works
and it had to be done, otherwise we could not even swiped for gas at the
pumps ect...
The liberals pressured the government into strong arming the banks to loan
money to poor people with lousy or no credit and created an artificial market
for new homes. They built too many homes, too many people defaulted and
now the banks own homes that are in terrible shape and not sellable. And
now our homes are devalued because of it and the banks are broke.
I am totally against everyone having the same things and the poor living
like the rich because that takes out their incentive for working harder.
Call it socialism or communism or what have you but its not going to work
in this country. Not now, not here, not anywhere, not ever. It always fails.

So you have no problem with government spending that benefits corporate America. It would be interesting to see what you define as "rich," because the only people who have been benefitting from government policy in recent years were already there. We have been living under a system in which the rich manipulate the system to their own advantage - using the givernment to insure that the rich get richer while the working class remains on its own. The working class can't afford the lobbyists that, for example, make sure that health care reform dollars end up in the pockets of the insurance industry.

Regards,

D-Ray

[piece-itpete]

As are the banks

Nice to see so many congratulating Bush on his success :D

Pete

[noonereal]

Nice to see so many congratulating Bush on his success :D

Pete

tribal bonding with the rich that makes someone vote against his/her own best interests makes them a sap.

just sayin'

[piece-itpete]

Yes, a very common saying among the left :)

Pete

[Boreas]

Yes, a very common saying among the left :)

Pete

So, all those tax cuts Bush gave to the rich. Got you a job, did they? A raise? Lowered the prices of goods and services?

John

[piece-itpete]

Prosperity through taxation? :D

Look, I agree with parts of Obama. So I can't help but point out when the left agrees with Bush!

After 8 years on the receiving end it's nice to be on the outside looking in (at least that's what I keep telling myself). So thicken up Obama supporters, it'll get worse before....

it gets worse? :p

Pete

[Boreas]

Prosperity through taxation? :D

Seems to have worked under Clinton.

So thicken up Obama supporters, it'll get worse before....

it gets worse? :p

On that we agree. I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet.

John

[merrylander]

Some of us were also on the receiving end for 8 years as well, we just decided that the screwing we were getting was not worth the screwing we were taking.

[BlueStreak]

"Go ahead, get the fuck out if that's your attitude....."

A couple nights ago I was frustrated and upset at work. And when I told my boss that I was "sick of fighting the bullshit", and I was "about ready to quit", that is what he told me.

So, I would have to say that is my response to the aforementioned bankers.
If they think they are underpaid----they know where the fucking door is.

Dave

[Boreas]

Bakers???? Jim & Tammy Faye????

John

[BlueStreak]

Corrected.

[Boreas]

Corrected.

Anyway, Dave, I'm sorry work is sucking right now. Maybe things will look up after the holidays.

John

[BlueStreak]

I'm just tired of living in a world where the greedy pigs who make their fortunes sodomizing us until our assholes fall out, get their boots licked and those of us who are just trying to make a modest, decent living get treated like pariahs. Know what I mean, John? It's just a bit upside down, dontcha think?

The thing at work was just the usual equipment malfunction issues, but it was on my nerves. I've known my boss for going on twenty years and he knows I'm not leaving. It was just a bad night.

Dave

[Boreas]

I'm just tired of living in a world where the greedy pigs who make their fortunes sodomizing us until our assholes fall out, get their boots licked and those of us who are just trying to make a modest, decent living get treated like pariahs. Know what I mean, John? It's just a bit upside down, dontcha think?

Why, you little ingrate! Those are perfectly good crumbs they leave for us! ;)

John

[noonereal]

Did they resign yet?

I am way concerned. :cool:

[merrylander]

No, but the head of the treasury has slapped a 50% tax on any bonus greater than 25,000 pounds. Hello Mr. Secretary are you listening?