Goldman Needs to Stand Firm: Firing Line

When President Obama told Joe the Plumber that spreading his wealth around was going to be a good thing, I naturally assumed, after picking myself up off the floor, that he meant us sucker taxpayers. I didn't think he meant that Robin Hood would target Wall Street as well. Silly me.

Goldman Sachs ((GS Quote) is again under fire for doing exactly what it's supposed to do: provide value to its shareholders.

Although this time, the fire is actually coming from some of those very same shareholders. After fending off an attack from the left flank by throwing some extra money towards some charitable causes and small businesses, the attack from the right flank is friendly fire.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that large Goldman Sachs shareholders are asking the firm to reduce the record bonus pool and to return a little of the outsized scratch to them. Not a bad idea, especially after Goldman took $10 billion from Main Street, which apparently it didn't need (just ask them) but took anyway. If the government wanted to give me a cheap loan that I didn't need, I would've taken it as well.

In typical Goldman fashion it said it needed the money to retain the top talent that produces the stellar returns. Here comes the chicken. Or the egg, I can't tell yet.

Hmmmm. Call me crazy, but if you threaten to leave Goldman, where are you going to go? Of course those threatening will rattle off a couple private equity firms or other random places that might pay a little more to Goldman's top talent, but come on. Really? A senior Goldman executive or trader is going to split because they take a little haircut in order to avoid more bad press?