Definitions of 'bonus'

"A bonus is an extra amount in money, bonds, or goods over what is normally due. The term is applied especially to payments to employees either for production in excess of the normal (wage incentive). "

"A bonus is a gift to reward exemplary performance."

The blatant con game being practiced by Goldman Sachs, AIG, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan with the Obama administration and Republican acquiescence is criminal.

In his book "Architects of Ruin," Peter Schweizer reports, "The Democrats have been bailing out investment houses' bad bets since the Clinton administration. Bankers got all the profits when their risky bonds paid off and then gave massive donations to their Democratic benefactors. Then once the bets went bad and the bonds sunk, it became the taxpayers' problem."

"On one hand, Goldman Sachs put together toxic securities packages for their clients; but on the other hand, Goldman knew the mortgage securities sold on the market were crap, so they also took out lots of insurance with AIG on crappy products being traded on the market." Guess who paid? Taxpayers!

After all this crappy investment, banking and insurance fraud was perpetrated and these firms swimming in losses and taxpayer-funded bailouts were disbursed, these criminal firms started spreading "bonuses" around to their co-conspirators (employees).

By any definition, these co-conspirators (employees) were paid that money as "hush money." Losing money, almost going bankrupt, and whining for taxpayer-funded bailouts is not the sterling performance for which "bonuses" are awarded. I worked for an auto company, and I received a bonus only when I did something outstanding.

These "bonuses" were awarded for covering up the swindles being perpetrated with taxpayers' money and keeping their mouths shut.

Anyone who took huge gambles with taxpayer money then lost and got bailed out by Obama should be tortured then shot, miraculously brought back to life, tortured some more, then shot a few more times." Then, ala Mussolini, hung up by their heels to rot on the Great Wall of the White House.

This is part of what the "Tea Partiers" are protesting, the complete corruption of Congress. Congress must be prosecuted for all this. We will not change a thing by changing parties. The Republicans are as corrupt and as responsible for what has happened in government since Carter or FDR.

The Democrats learned early that letting immigrants in and giving handouts to the poor and indigent, along with salting the census and letting ACORN "protect" voting precincts, buys them votes.

President Obama gets on his horse to fly (of course, at the taxpayers' expense) to Copenhagen and lobby for holding the next Olympics in that land of Capone, Daley, Giancana, Accardo, Gotti and Luciano - Chicago.

The apparent reason appearing on the Internet was that Obama's chief handler, Valerie Jarrett, who owns hundreds of acres of blighted land in the slums of Chicago where the Olympics were to be held, was to be sold for Olympic construction at a fat profit for her. Imagine, a president of the United States of America acting as a huckster for his criminal backers.

We can only hope that the "Tea Partiers" can take over the Republican Party and imprison the Democrats.

Don W. Plezia

Spring Hill