Can't Cut Bank Exec Pay

Those who want to modify the Paulson/Bernanke plan want to force bank executives to take a pay cut if they want the bailout. The White House wants to preserve incentives to bank execs because:

You have to remember, these are not all weak or troubled firms that own
mortgage-backed securities. A lot of them are very successful banks and
investment houses that have done very well, have been responsible, are holding
performing assets that have value. They were not necessarily irresponsible
players, and so you have to be careful about how you deal with them.

Kos points out:

In their own words, this isn't about bailing out troubled firms. It's about
gifting "very successful banks and investment houses that have done very well."

UPDATE:

It looks like the Blogger software is not saving my drafts, so the rest of this blog post did not get published.

Long story short, too many individuals are to blame for this mess, from bankers to brokers, from investment bankers to bond rating companies, from real estate speculators to naive homebuyers. Singling out bank execs for a pay cut is unfair.

Better yet, immediately repeal the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy. This would hit all of the beneficiaries of the real estate boom period and provide immediate relief to the budget deficit.