I have posted this before many moons ago, so forgive the duplication if it seems vaguely familiar.
A friend of mine has a business, and his biggest customer was Global Crossing. He also used to employ about 25 independent contractors at any one time.
Global Crossing went in to bankruptcy and stuck him with $50,000 of receivables that in all probability will never be collected in full. To further complicate things he paid his contractors. So here is a small business person, the lifeblood of the country (OR INSERT ANY SOUNDBITE YOU WANT) who is currently not hiring, and has RISKED AND LOST real money.
On the other side of the fence we have Gary Winnick who cashed out $750,000,000 in Global Crossing Options. HE HAD ZERO RISK IN THE OPTIONS. 3/4 of a MILLION dollars for a company that is now worth almost zilch. He is building a mansion with an estimated cost of 100M in CA.
This guy, along with Ken Lay, Joe Nachio, Richard Schrushy, and all the others should be Disgorged of 100% of their gains, or to a level where 100% of the companies creditors have been reimbursed. That would be a true picture of justice.
But look at Charles Keating from the 80s, how many hundred billion did he cost the US taxpayers? And how long has he been out of jail?
But I guess as long as Americans keep buying soundbites then it will seem like justice is being served.