He would much rather people stop asking about the nearly $50 billion Barclays Bank borrowed from the US Federal Reserve emergency lending program. What this means is that without the US Fed, Barclays probably would not have survived. So now the extremely arrogant American banker has the nerve to “resent” this issue being raised. Well, most Americans who bailed out the British Bank probably “resent” a banker like this being upset for being saved.

Diamond, of course, comes from the gambling side of the business like many of the bank executives these days. His side was the side that drove the big profits gambling but now he’d also like to pretend that’s not the case. He’s a conservative guy, you know. The reality of modern day “banking” is that without the gambling, there are no flashy numbers to report. None. This means the banks would have to come down to pay levels that are still considered quite generous by the schmucks who bailed out the bankers. But naturally, that won’t be enough to satisfy the inflated egos of the banking industry.

They don’t come any more arrogant than Bob Diamond:

Mr Diamond batted away the possibility of waiving his bonus, saying: “I haven’t been offered a bonus yet. That decision is out of my hands. I would discuss [waiving] it with my family.” Responding to suggestions that Barclays Capital, the separate investment bank he used to run, indulged in “casino capitalism” and “black jack”, Mr Diamond responded angrily. “I resent the fact you refer to it as black jack. I think it is wrong. I think it is unfair. I think it is a poor choice of words. We have some fantastically strong financial institutions in this country and I think they deserve better. It is not appropriate to talk about casino banking in Barclays Capital.”

Related to Barclays Bank, why is it that they have the honor of having their name plastered on the front of the London bike share program? If anyone should be there, it should be the US Federal Reserve. We’re kidding ourselves if we keep playing this silly shell game and letting corporations get the limelight like this. The bank was on the verge of collapse and needed a lifeline from US taxpayers. Instead of playing this annoying game, just tax them and retain some level of dignity.