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Oh, hallelujah, the bonuses are in! Manna from heaven is showering down upon you!
You are a Wall Street broker, aren’t you? These few financial elites are the lucky devils who have recently been blessed with $21.5 billion in bonuses dispensed by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and the other giants that twist our economy to their advantage. Even while the wages of working stiffs did not even keep up with inflation in 2005, these high-flying speculators enjoyed nearly a 50 percent increase in revenues, producing record profits.
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So they are now splitting the loot. The honcho of Goldman Sachs, for example, pulled in $38 million, the CEO of Lehman Brothers took $14.9 million, and the top dog at Morgan Stanley had to settle for $11.5 million”but, after all, he only worked for six months last year).
In fairness, I should note that their good fortunes are trickling down to those below – though certainly not to those as low-down as you and me. But the sellers of multimillion-dollar estates, rare art, luxury imported cars, and private jets are in high cotton as the Wall Streeters rush to spend their bonanza.
For example, Gotham Dream Cars in Manhattan will sell you a Lamborghini Gallardo for only $195,000. If you’re a younger bonus baby on Wall Street who can”t quite afford to buy this exotic vehicle – hey, Dream Cars will let you rent it for $1,350 a day. “It’s the perfect way for people to celebrate without going overboard,” says the president of Dream Cars. How egalitarian is that?
Also, super-luxury Manhattan apartments, starting at $10 million, are said to be a particularly hot market this year. As a broker for such properties puts it: “We love Wall Street bonuses.”
This is Jim Hightower saying… Remember, Bush & Company say that these financial hucksters who’re now divvying up the booty they took from investors in ’05 are the very people who should take over our Social Security program.
Sources:
“Record Profits Elicit Big Bonuses on Wall St.,” The New York Times, January 12, 2006.
“Record Wall Street bonuses means big,” Austin American-Statesman, January 15, 2006.