Comments on: Top Goldman Execs Refuse Year-End Bonuses

Struggling Investment Bank's Leaders Say "It's The Right Thing To Do"

[lochlan-2009]

Struggling Investment Bank''s Leaders Say "It''s The Right Thing To Do"

The right thing to do is to put these criminals in jail. But, this is America so we know that''s not happening.

[lancearmstng]

Yea, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS, BOOOO successful people that spent their entire lives building up a company and today pay more in taxes and give more to charity then the masses combined.

Anyone who class Blankfein a "sleeze" is just rolling with the lynch mob and has a hint of jealousy. He made $56 million in bonus last year. Does anyone mention that more than $45 million of that was given to charities and he''s a lead donor for inner city schools all throughout the country?

What a scumbag.

[frankie2fing]

Now lets see the liberal workers refuse their paychecks.

Posted by gop_will_win at 01:43 PM : Nov 17, 2008"

You know, just when I thought you have said the most ignorant thing possible, you keep talking. The working class HAS given up their paycheck - to scumbags like Goldman Sachs, Exxon and all the other corporate theives.
BTW: How is that campaign going. GOP still going to win?

[dvet1]

CEO''S and the OIL INDUSTRIES should pool together and pay every AMERICAN tax payer $5000 for stealing money from us over the past few years

[bckrd1]

I am sure it was not altruism that motivated them to this decision. It was fear of being tarred and feathered and possibly quarted by an angry mob. I for one have had enough. 99.99% of these CEO''s are EMPLOYEES and should be paid accordingly. If the company does well then everyone in that company should share in the prosperity since the CEO etc did not create the results on their own. They had help. It has been far too one sided in the benefits and it needs to stop.

[ender18-2009]

Put them in jail.

[cheetah-man7]

Aw... they gave up their bonuses.. Gee, should I feel sorry for them? Should we hold a parade in their honor, or give them a prize for their big sacrifice? They should be ashamed at themselves for their greed and certainly don''t deserve anyone''s congratulations or sympathy for foregoing their outrageous bonuses.

[bushie3]

I bet the CEO''s of the Oil Compays will not turn down there bonus. Its hard work raping the american people, and keeping the 19 mill tax deduction. how do these people sleep at night.

[whitemale08]

No bonuses paid to the CEOs and top management is just a ''side-issue''....

THEY FINANCIAL SYSTEM IS DEAD FOLKS!!!!!!

THE ERA OF ''STRUCTURED-FINANCE AND DERIVATIVE-SWAPS'' HAS COMPLETELY DIED!!!!!!!

What must be done is to bury the BLOOD-SUCKING PARASITES who created this ''globalization nonsense'' by bringing the entire private Federal Reserve System into receivership so Congress can conduct bankruptcy proceedings.

If we don''t do that NOW then civilization will decompose along side the already dead financial corpse.

[antoniof123]

Last year, Blankfein received total compensation of $54.0 million, according to calculations by The Associated Press - making him the 6th highest paid CEO at a Standard & Poor''s 500 company in 2007. His salary that year was $600,000.

This guy is a sleeze along with the rest of them let''s put this one guys bonus and salary into prespective.

54,000,000 / 3,200 laid off comes to = 16,875 that is only one exec. They are seven (7) of them total so that is somewhere in the range of 350,000,000 / 3,200 laid off comes to = 109,375 do any of you make this much or should I say how many of you make this much in a year.

[lloydbest1]

The concept of reward for merit is a sound one and should be integral to any business practise.
But $54 mil!? I don''t think so. Even the $600000 salary Blankfein got was way too much. No matter how complex the job is of a top executive officer NO job is worth that much. Apart from the moral considerations of earning (or collecting, if you''re cynical) that much of an annual salary, it is indecently unfair to pay anyone that much when minimum wages are still less than $9.00 per hour. No amount of merit justifies that much of an income gap. None!
Still, Blankfein didn''t have to refuse his bonus. By company policy he was "entitled" to it. Refusing all that extra cash was a decent gesture on his part - and a wise one.
Now it is behooves the lower and middle income workers; corporate stockholders and legislators to pressure others who are not so public minded to give up their bonuses and even consider reducing their salaries. You can still have a good living standard range with a far smaller income separation between the "have mosts" and the "have leasts". You can still be rich with a far smaller chunck of change.
Anyone who has a lifestyle that requires half mil or more per year to sustain, especially in the face of the grinding poverty seen here and elsewhere, has something seriously wrong with his or her values.

[ddaryl1]

"Now lets see the liberal workers refuse their paychecks.

Posted by gop_will_win at 01:43 PM : Nov 17, 2008"
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So you want the worker making $30 K - $70K and barely surving to give up their money.... That''s laughable.

these white collar scum are grossly over paid, and I think we should raifd their personal bank accounts to pay off the national debt...

[ddaryl1]

I won''t be happy until we have major regulationon white collar pay, bonuses, and perks.

if the stock price tanks you get nothing, If you make billions you get a resonable increase. It is more improtant to reward the workers of these compnaies then a few uppity ups.

All goldman Sachs is trying to do is conivnce themajority that we don''t need major white collar pay / incentive regulation, so when times are good they can go back to raping us.

but at least they did for go it this year unlike AIG scum

[yeswedid]

The executives made the decision "because they think it''s the right thing to do," Van Praag said.
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Since when we have these crooks been morally-minded? They are still nothing but GREEDY A$$HOLES.

[jclark7613]

54,000,000.00 that''s one of the reasons that there in so much trouble. That just doesn''t make sense to me to pay a excutive that much money. The extra 53 mill he received last year could have been bonus for the whole company down to the cleaning person for a job well done last year. It took a team not one man to make a profit.

[frankistage]

Pay me $54 mil in one year and I''ll forego bonuses for the balance of my working career. Promise.

[karenbe111]

What a pleasant surprise...now if they would voluntarily cut their outrageous salaries by at least 2/3rds, and actually pay taxes on what they receive not only in salary but the value of stock options...who knows...

[brianp55]

If my boss paid me several million dollars during the current year, I would be able to "altruistically" sacrifice my year-end bonus as well. This is all PR. Still, cynicism aside, it''s at least a step in the right direction. BTW...my "bonus" consists of getting paid for my unused vacation time. I plan to buy my kids an air hockey table with it. Should cover it.

[colt8881]

I think that they have plenty of $$$$$ in a savings account and dont need more cash to play with.

Greedy _____________________.

[cusefan21]

Ohh how so mice of them since they made there multi-millions last year and got a nice bank account going freakin crooks