$100 Million Says Obama Is Pissed About Goldman Sachs CEO's Record Bonus
Goldman Sachs is wasting no time doing exactly what Obama complained about in his SOTU last week: handing out enormous bonuses. The Times of London reports that Goldman is planning to pay CEO Lloyd Blankfein a record $100 million bonus.
Obama has been very publicly waging his popular War on Bank Bonuses (Remember that time Obama called bank bonuses "obscene" and everyone flipped out? And then he bashed huge bonuses as "the height of irresponsibility". And said bad things about bonuses last week in his SOTU.) And it seems to have worked, at least superficially. Investment banks are cutting back on bonuses—including Goldman, who are giving sweet mortgages to their employees in lieu of bonuses.
But now: Blankfein's looking to net a cool $100 million for riding his vampire squid to record profits last year—way more than his previous record take of $67 million in 2007. And this after he snubbed Obama back in December due to dubious "inclement weather." Goldman's strategy must be to give Blankfein enough money to build a subterranean Obama-proof bomb shelter, stock it with provisions and plasma screens, lock the big doors and emerge only when the world is again made safe for investment bankers (~2014).