Buy up the banks and punish the bankers

Nicholas Kristof makes a pretty good argument that solving the banking problems in this country will require some form of nationalization (egads, the "N" word!) as well as punitive treatment of the bank execs that got us in this mess. All in all, it is a really good piece on how we might get out of this mess but I just loved this bit:

A more plausible approach might be the one that some White House aides unsuccessfully argued for: tougher curbs on executive compensation. The Obama administration in theory limits certain compensation for top executives in companies receiving taxpayer dollars to $500,000, but the plan has loopholes big enough to drive a Mercedes through.

Yes, troubled banks might lose good people to hedge funds that can pay more because they’re not bound by these curbs. But that upsets me less than the idea of single mothers working multiple jobs so that their tax dollars can underwrite million-dollar bonuses at companies getting taxpayer assistance [Emphasis mine].

Well put sir.