SEIU crunched the numbers, and according to the union’s new report, the nation’s largest banks are on track to pay out $150 billion in bonuses and compensation this year. That’s enough to balance the budget in all 50 states next year — with $8 billion left over for several hundred thousand kick-ass holiday parties for all those budget-balanced state workers.
The union looked at the entirety of the money paid out in compensation by the nation’s largest banks to come up with the $150 billion figure. “Although we can’t say for certain who got the bonuses, it’s fair to assume that money is going to the guys in the top suites, not front-line bank workers,” SEIU spokesperson Christy Setzer told TPMDC.
The union says that thanks to the government bailout of the financial sector this year, the money for the $150 billion they claim Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley will dole out in compensation “comes straight out of taxpayers’ pockets.” And SEIU’s new report breaks down what that money could have done had it stayed in government coffers. Some highlights after the jump.
According to SEIU’s numbers, the top six banks in the U.S. “set aside $577million each day for bonuses and compensation.” Here are three things SEIU says that money could buy if the government had it to spend:
– Save 148,500 homes from foreclosure.
– Fund a 14-week extension of unemployment benefits for 138,708 workers.
– Fund a full yearlong scholarship for 82,183 college students, allowing them to attend an in-state public university for free.
The SEIU report is about more than just fun with massive, staggering numbers. The union says that the fat paychecks still paid out by the nation’s largest financial institutions are a waste of the government bailout money and should be used to increase lending and help “jumpstart” the economy. Failing that, the money could at least be used, as SEIU says, to “fund a $1,000 bonus for all 138,275,000 working Americans.”
