It should come as no surprise that Wall Street fat cats are once again gorging themselves at the public’s expense.  After a tough year of trying to figure out what to do with all that tax money we gave them, they decided to reward themselves for a job well done.

Our first example is our old friend, AIG.  After giving out $ 165 million in March, the brainiacs at AIG are going to give another $ 198 million to its employees in its trading unit.  You might remember that these were the guys operating in London, outside US regulations, putting together those nifty investment packages that imploded and began the chain reaction that nearly toppled the worldwide economy. The New York Times covered this story recently here.

What’s even more disturbing is that the Obama Administration can’t figure out how to stop this madness. And it’s not limited to AIG.  We learned this week that a number of the investment companies profited from the AIG bailout.

Goldman Sachs is proud that it repaid with interest that taxpayer money given it.  Howrah!  However, Instead of using that money for its intended purpose (you know, making loans, creating jobs, etc.) Goldman and many of the other investment banks used it to purchase stocks and bonds.

But, ever sensitive to the feelings of others, especially the taxpayers who contributed so much to the company’s success, Goldman CEO, Lloyd Blankfein has instructed his employees to are to receive these generous bonuses to avoid conspicuous consumption.  Where have you gone, Thorstein Veblen?  A nation turns its lonely eyes to you!

More here at CBS News and MSNBC.

Meanwhile, how has the stimulus helped main street?  At least here in Rhode Island, not much.

Check out the local news here at Turn to 10 and at the Projo here and here.

In fact, even though about 1700 jobs were created by stimulus money, our unemployment rate hit 13%.  Or the real number, which would include those underemployed or otherwise not counted is somewhere around 24%. And if you believe the “experts,” it’s just going to get worse.

Let’s face it, this is further proof that government policy since September 2008 has shamelessly favored Wall Street over Main Street.  While bonuses are generously dispensed to those who ran the economy onto the shoals, the numbers of unemployed, uninsured, bankruptcies, and foreclosures has steadily increased.

There are two lines from movies that come to mind.  The first is the immortal Gordon Gekko from Wall Street – “Greed is good.”  No it isn’t, Gordo.  Greed doesn’t define – it destroys.

The other line is from a movie I saw last weekend, Capitalism: A Love Story. At the end of the movie, Moore says, “I refuse to live in a country like this.  And I’m not leaving.”  Me too, Michael.  Me too.