Wall Street Bankers Are Doing Very Well

As most of us still remember, it was the giant Wall Street bankers that triggered the current recession by playing fast and loose with creditor and investor monies after the Republicans removed many of the rules regulating their behavior. Now nearly 17 million Americans are unemployed and another 8.7 million are working part-time because they can't find a full-time job. And it doesn't look like things will improve for ordinary Americans anytime soon.

But it didn't take the banks long to bounce back, with Congress (both parties) and the Bush administration bailing them out to the tune of $700 billion. Now they are back making record profits and giving enormous salaries and bonuses to their executives. This is exemplified by the CEO salaries of the 10 largest of these banks. Here is what they make:

Jamie Dimon -- J.P. Morgan Chase
Cash..........$6.6 million
Stocks/options..........$14.2 million
Total..........$20.8 million

Robert P. Kelly -- Bank of New York Mellon
Cash..........$7 million
Stocks/options..........$12.4 million
Total..........$19.4 million

John Stumpf -- Wells Fargo
Cash..........$6.6 million
Stocks/options..........$11.0 million
Total..........$17.6 million

Ken Chenault -- American Express
Cash..........$5 million
Stocks/options..........$11.2 million
Total..........$16.2 million

Richard K. Davis -- U.S. Bancorp
Cash..........$4.1 million
Stocks/options...........$12.0 million
Total..........$16.1 million

James Gorman -- Morgan Stanley
Cash..........$4.7 million
Stocks/options..........$10.2 million
Total..........$14.9 million

Richard D. Fairbank -- Capital One
Cash..........$100,637
Stocks/options..........$14.8 million
Total..........$14.9 million

Lloyd Blankfein -- Goldman Sachs
Cash..........$6.5 million
Stocks/options..........$7.7 million
Total..........$14.2 million

C. Robert Henrikson -- MetLife
Cash..........$5.8 million
Stocks/options..........$8 million
Total...........$13.8 million

James E. Rohr -- PNC Financial
Cash..........$3.9 million
Stocks/options..........$7.7 million
Total..........$11.6 million

Note that a great deal of their compensation is in stocks and options. This has the effect of getting them to make sure the short-term price of company stock remains high (rather than considering the long-term effects of their actions on either the company or the economy). And the money received from stocks and options is taxed at a rate of only 15% (a smaller rate than that paid by many in the shrinking middle class).

Do these people really need another tax cut? Instead, why don't we ask them to pay the same tax rate on ALL of their income that other Americans pay.