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Criminals: Wall Street vs. Main Street

By Pat Racimora on March 23, 2009 at 11:20 PM in AIG, Corruption

webrrobbertoon_edited-1

Can you imagine the scenario in my toon actually happening? It seems ludicrous beyond words. The police would probably make a quick stop at the nearest mental facility just to assess how delusional this dumb sap is before booking him for robbery.

And yet it is exactly parallel to what is happening at AIG. I was stunned when Edward M. Liddy said that he asked his executives who ran the company into the ground to give back at least half of their bonuses if they were more than $100,000. Like that would make everyone happy. (Oh, and leave those poor babies alone whose bonuses were still more than what most of us make in an entire year.)

Some are saying that the AIG bonus fiasco is a diversion from more critical issues involving far more than 183 or 220 million (whichever number—several are floating) in bonuses. That amount is, after all, peanuts compared to our country’s overall financial headaches

I disagree. It is a very big deal because it serves as the symbol for what is wrong with America now. Those people played an active role in downgrading and even destroying America lives. Greedy, self-serving, and incompetent people are making decisions that impact on the rest of us–and that involves both financial executives and government officials, including some members of Congress–and are suffering no consequences. Many will actually gain from our pain. And the worst that might happen is that their booty for screwing up may shrink a little. Hell, even if that goofy 90% tax on bonuses goes through, they all still end up with something!

It’s these kind of people who got us into all of our other messes, so don’t you think that spending time reflecting on what we can and should do about how things get done in our country is a worthy use of our time?

Meanwhile, our main street robber will serve 5 to 10 in a state penitentiary.

  • oowawa

    Meanwhile, our main street robber will serve 5 to 10 in a state penitentiary.

    Yes, and I’ve posted this a couple of times in the last few months. It’s an example of why Woody Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd” is so pertinent to what’s going on today:

    Yes, and as through this world I’ve wandered
    I’ve met lots of funny men . . .
    Some will rob you with a six-gun,
    And some with a fountain pen.

    Woody Guthrie knew it very well! But the Depression and the Dust Bowl rubbed his nose in the dirt and made him see the obvious. Our society has got to wake up and realize that we are being robbed with friggin’ fountain pens!!!

  • JohnnyB

    Pat, good cartoon, you caught the essence of the bonuses, and partial return thereof. It’s only paper. I think these people got their training when they served their National Guard tour in Iraq in the early days, with pallets of $100 dollar bills to be given away. Lots of these bills ended up back in the states via our supply planes. A little here, a little there, it’s only paper.

  • http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

    Spot on Pat. Lobbying is simply a legalized form of bribery. Nothing more, nothing less.

  • http://www.marklevinshow.com Seattle Moss

    Larry,
    What we saw last week was TYRANNY and mob rule. Whatever you think about bonuses the congress showed us what they have planned for us should they consolidate more power.
    Despicable un American behavior and not constitutional.

    If any AIG employee is hurt as a result of the mob in congress then the likes of Franks and Dodd should be held responsible. Grandstanding giving out addresses and punitively taxing Americans 90% is what they do in communist countries.

  • solara 7

    White collar crime–slap on wrist if caught.
    Street crime–jail time.

    The wealthy get the breaks at all levels.

    • oowawa

      There is this feeling that the “white collar” criminals aren’t really dangerous to society–at least not as much as the dopers who smoke pot. I mean, they’re really kinda middle or upper-class folks who can talk articulate and who would be good and even prestigious guests at your next cocktail party, right? Right!

  • NoBamaNoWay

    you said it, pat; white collar crime has been ignored and accepted for far too long; these guys are CROOKS!! no way should they be getting multi-million dollar bonuses at taxpayer expense. the little people see their salaries, bonuses, pensions, and benefits cut ALL THE TIME; why should execs be exempt from the same thing, especially when the firms they operated failed and had to be bailed out by taxpayer dollars?????!!!!!

    • I’mFedUp

      I can tell you this…I was married for a few short months to someone who told me he was a “financial adviser.” WRONGAMUNDO. He was what Madoff is. He and his friends, using the tried and true Ponzi Scheme, ripped elderly retired people off to the tune of $130 Million. I divorced him, and immediately got involved helping the FBI, IRS, etc. hunt him down to prosecute him. But it wasn’t really a priority for them and I didn’t see the outrage I should. I asked why…here’s the answer…in America, white collar crime is perceived as “victimless” crime. In other words, no one got raped, beaten, murdered, etc. so it isn’t the same thing. I completely disagree, because I know that my ex-husband ripped off elderly people who had to go to work bagging groceries at the age of 80 because my ex stole their life savings. But this is what America is about. White collar crime is a ho-hum.

      • NoBamaNoWay

        correct; real people’s lives are seriously harmed by the actions of these crooks. another problem with bringing them to justice is ,of course, the incestuous relationships between business and government at the top.

  • Stan Davis

    This reminds me of a kid on Art Linkletter’s old show “Kids Say the Darnedest Things.” The kid told Linkletter that he made this deal with hid Dad: “Lend me $10 but only give me $5 of it; then I’ll owe you $5 and you’ll owe me $5, and we’ll be even.

    Stan Davis
    Lakewood, CO

    • tricia spiegel

      Good one Stan!

  • TeakwoodKite

    I love the toon Pat, it’s up there with your museum piece.

    What amazes me is that it has to one or the other one is pissed off about.

    Why can’t these elected (and not elected) clowns walk and chew their BS at the same time.

    The 90% tax is unconstitutional out of the gate, and not until now had I given much thought to the other ten percent.
    Thanks for that.

    Those contracts need to be executed as they are binding, if I understand it correctly. If there is standing legally then it is right to challenge them, but there is a cost to doing this. This in no way reduces the stark symbol of greed. No so much because they are getting them, but that public funds are being used not for public use.

    Grey Davis was recalled for less than this, throw the bums out. and the parties with ‘em.

  • CMartin

    As you know, I disagree with this depiction. Here’s why.

    If the bonuses are what the theives are stealing, then the robber would have to tell the officer that if he let’s hime go, the robber will give him the gum encrusted on the pavement. Furthermore, he’ll request that the police officer deliver to him an armored car full of cash.

    Why? The bankster boys and girls have already gotten money to the tune of hundreds of billions to cover their mistakes. Out of those hundreds of billions they are “giving back” 1/1000 of what they recevied *from taxpayers* (hence the gum coming from the pavement). What happens if a person can’t afford their home anymore? They lose it. Not so the big banksters, they got subsidized big time for their deliberate failures. Furthermore, we are about to go and give them even more. Willingly! They were so damn kind to give us back our money that we need to turn around and give them about 10,000 times what they are “giving back”.

    The heart of the cartoon is true and brings up a great point. But the bonuses are just a tiny fraction of the money we gave to these same people in TARP I. AND we are about to give them more.

    • Pat Racimora

      Valid points all, CMartin. AND I love the term “banksters.” That’s one we should be hearing a lot more!

  • elise

    Pat, I love the cartoon and I agree absolutely. My husband reminded me yesterday of Michael Douglas in “Wall Street” when he said, “Greed is a good thing”. I think Larry Summers said something similar last week. Someone should remind him it is one of the seven deadly sins. Most of us just go about our daily lives putting away what we can for the future, hope to have health care if we are ill, send our kids to school, keep our homes and put food on the table. Our government and Wall Street are disconnected from the rest of the masses of people in the country who are paying a heavy price for their greed. It’s deeper than just a simple disregard for our well-being. We don’t exist for them. As Hillary said, we are invisible. We have to care for each other and the way we can do that is refuse to sit quietly by while they make decisions negatively impacting our lives. They lie and hide their agenda behind words they believe will be incomprehensible to us and distract us from the truth.

    • Pat Racimora

      Elise, You go girl! I agree 100%.

  • Sassy

    Pat, in looking at your toon, first I’m going to be sassy.
    It looks like Barney(Franks)Fief nailed Gomer! LOL!
    As to your script, thank you so much for expressing the outrage over the harm that has been caused to countless families across the country!
    Depending on their ages, many of them may never regain a stable footing again, and it is unacceptable that greed is dominant in this society.

  • Don X

    Your excellent cartoon, as usual highlights an issue that is front and center in the public outrage about excessive compensation and rewards to executives who were responsible for the failure of AIG. You might find the following link of interest since it links to a number of other published cartoons about excessive compensation:

    http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/nc_search.asp?x=a&keyword=excessive+bonuses&Category=Not+Selected&Boolean=Or&Artist=Not+Selected&submit=Search

  • Don X

    The cartoons in the cited link pale by comparson with yours as well as lacking the kind of excellent disussion of issues you presented.

    • Pat Racimora

      Thanks Don X. The only really good thing going on now seems to be plenty of fodder for political cartoonists!

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