Merrill Lynch executives wrote themselves $4 billion in bonus checks for their work in 2008, on top of already lavish salaries. All of this money is coming from the U.S. taxpayer through the TARP program, as previously discussed here. Looting $4 billion might not sound like that big a deal next to the $700 billion being thrown down the TARP drain, but how does $4 billion compare to other federal expenditures? Let’s look at some of the stuff the Feds typically do with $4 billion…

fund all National Science Foundation research for nearly one year (total 2008 research spend was $4.8 billion)

fund the National Park Service for almost two years (2008 budget $2.4B)

fund the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and its accident investigations on land, air, and sea for approximately 50 years (2008 budget was $79 million)

fund the Drug Enforcement Administration for more than two years (2008 budget $1.8B)

fund the FBI for about 8 months (2008 budget $6.5B)

Now that Wall Street generates only losses, can the U.S. taxpayer afford to take over responsibility for paying Wall Street executives their boom-era salaries and bonuses?