Goldman Sachs cashes in on bailout

This excellent McClatchy investigative report will raise the old blood pressure. Goldman Sachs is going to cash in big time thanks to the bailout. Read the whole thing, after you take your BP meds, but here's the punch line to this really bad joke on the taxpayer.

With the help of more than $23 billion in direct and indirect federal aid, Goldman appears to have emerged intact from the economic implosion, limiting its subprime losses to $1.5 billion. By repaying $10 billion in direct federal bailout money — a 23 percent taxpayer return that exceeded federal officials' demand — the firm has escaped tough federal limits on 2009 bonuses to executives of firms that received bailout money.

Goldman announced record earnings in July, and the firm is on course to surpass $50 billion in revenue in 2009 and to pay its employees more than $20 billion in year-end bonuses.

The details on how they gamed the system, most probably illegally, roils the mind. Even more infuriating, they will most likely get away with it because of the corporation's long time use of the revolving door inside the Beltway. Not to mention their ex-execs are currently in charge of the recovery efforts.

How much more will they get away with before we break out the torches and pitchforks? Seems to me, neither Wall Street or the Obama administration are going to get the message until they start seeing them.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]