Goldman Sachs: $1 billion for charity, $23 billion for banker bonuses

About 13 months ago, Goldman Sachs Group (GS) was days away from failing, according to Vanity Fair. Now it's on track to pay out more bonus money than ever. But Goldman's CEO Lloyd Blankfein's feelings are hurt because some people are angry that his 29,400 employees will get record bonuses in 2009. So Blankfein is floating the idea of giving $1 billion to charity to make up for the shocking bonus pool this year, according to The New York Times.

Is there any reason for Americans to be troubled by Goldman's generosity to its employees? If you consider that 15.1 million Americans are unemployed now and that billions in taxpayer money kept Goldman from collapsing, you can see why Goldman would have a PR problem. Some might think that some of that government money ought to have gone to people with a greater need than wealthy Goldman bankers.