Bonuses and Bailouts - Do Banks Owe the Country?

In 2007 and 2008, when the whole country was sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to learn if the bottom would fall out and the economy would tank like it did in the "Great Depression," our government decided to loan over $350 billion to banks. This money was used to keep the banks from defaulting on their assets, which would have ultimately hurt practically every American who owned a home or had a credit card or invested money in the stock market, not to mention small and big businesses, for which we work and make our incomes.

This was called the Troubled Assests Relief Program (TARP), and while it did help our economy and has lead to what may be a recovery (a very slow one, that will not result in the good economic times we have been used to prior to the mortgage crisis), there have been problems with the program, just like any other government run program in history.

This week, I'd like you to learn about this program and why it has effected you and your family. The big issue people are talking about right now are those pesky end of year bonuses. Should banks be allowed to pay a high-ranking executive $700,000+ for a year of "good" work, when normal people like us are still unable to get a loan for a new home or when these companies are jacking up credit card percentage rates to make more money off us? Does the government have the right to intervene and tell these companies not to fork over hundreds of thousands, in some cases millions, of dollars to executives for their efforts (?) within the banking industry? Hmmm, if you ask me, teachers should be receiving bonuses like that! :0)

So, this week, read about those bonuses, what President Barrack Obama is doing to ease tension between Americans and large banks, and develop your own opinion concerning this issue. Since we (the tax payers) bailed out these banks just over a year ago, do they owe us? Should large corporate banks be reinvesting these funds, and thus allowing more money to be available to small businesses and individuals who would like to buy a home but are unable to get a loan due to poor decision making a few years ago by the banking industry? You decide!