A furious President Barack Obama slammed Wall Street's top bosses for taking $18 billion in bonuses describing it as "shameful" and "height of irresponsibility" while taxpayers bailed out their industry.
Obama, who is usually calm and unflappable, said he would clearly spell out to Wall Street executives they have to act in a more responsible fashion while their financial sector was crumbling and pointed out there will be time for corporate leaders to get bonuses but "now is not that time."
The President's ire after meeting Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday came in response to a report which revealed that Wall Street gave out an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses to its top CEOs.
Last year's bonuses were the sixth-largest ever in a year, the report said. "When I saw an article today indicating that Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses -- the same amount of bonuses as they gave themselves in 2004 -- at a time when most of these institutions were teetering on collapse and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult position that if they don't provide help that the entire system could come down on top of our heads, that is the height of irresponsibility," Obama said.
Speaking to White House reporters with Geithner by his side, Obama said: "It is shameful." Without mincing words, Obama asked the Wall Street, who are asking for help, to show some restraint, show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility.
"The American people understand that we've got a big hole that we've got to dig ourselves out of, but they don't like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they're being asked to fill it up," he said.
