Obama Is 'Clueless' on Bank Bonuses

Krugman: Comparison to baseball payouts is outrageous
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2010 1:36 PM CST
Obama Is 'Clueless' on Bank Bonuses
President Obama talks to reporters in the White House press briefing room yesterday.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Paul Krugman is among those seriously ticked off after President Obama declared he doesn't "begrudge" the fat bonuses going to bankers Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein. "How is it possible, at this late date, for Obama to be this clueless?" Krugman asks in his New York Times blog. Especially rich is Obama's comparison of the bonus payouts to baseball salaries.

"First of all, to my knowledge, irresponsible behavior by baseball players hasn’t brought the world economy to the brink of collapse and cost millions of innocent Americans their jobs and/or houses," Krugman writes. "These bank executives are not free agents who are earning big bucks in fair competition; they run companies that are essentially wards of the state." (More Barack Obama stories.)

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