Regulators Who Watched as Crisis Built Collected Cushy Bonuses

Where were you when the housing bubble was building to crisis proportions?

Some government regulators were counting their bonuses, it appears. The Associated Press, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain government payroll data, found that during the boom years of 2003 - 2006, as the crisis was being primed by lax lending and risk-laden balance sheets, the agency watchdogs in charge of supervising U.S. banks handed out "at least $19 million in bonuses." The agencies include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The money was given to regulators for their -- ready for this -- "superior performance." You just can't make this stuff up, folks...and I live in Hollywood, where fantasy IS reality.