However, not everyone involved with the activities of Citigroup have reason to be cheering. Forgotten in the hubbub is the first reaction of employers when faced with adversity: trim the workforce. Among these are employees tagged for the 9000 job cuts pending. "This is the quarter they get to clear the decks," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co in Boston.

American and British IT workers are expected to take a huge hit. Does this mean that Citigroup's Indian-born CEO Vikram Pandit is intending on off-shoring the work for his homeland's security?

The "need" to cut labor rolls is a common "remedy" for the travails of the economic elites. CNN reports: AT&T to hang-up on over 4000 employees. Harley-Davidson is dropping over 700 of their workers on the curb. In addition, Eli Lilly, The New York Times, AMD, Dell, Motorola, and Yahoo will be adding to the expected 300,000 more second quarter job losses. Wachovia economist Mark Vitner said, "We knew it was only a matter of time before we started to see more sizable job cuts."

These job cuts are not relegated to within the boundaries of the United States. Citigroup is expected to include as many as 400 London employees in their cuts - a small fraction of the jobs expected to be lost in London due to the worldwide collapse of the mortgage funding collective.

The international effects of the mortgage collapse are also not restricted to America. British banks, led by the Royal Bank of Scotland, are expected to call upon their shareholders to raise capital to cover shortfalls. These banks can't just go to George's Cash Cow (the Fed) and pick up a generous gratuity from Benny the Bad Penny (Bernanke)!

But despite the free spending of Your Money by Bush's Federal Reserve Chairman, there are limits to how much of a rescue that squandering will buy. In December and January, Citigroup raised capital by selling ownership stakes to sovereign investment funds controlled by Abu Dhabi, Korea and Kuwait, and the expectation is that the fire sale isn't yet over. The Age of Melbourne reports that National Australia Bank is interested in purchasing Citi Smith Barney, Citigroup's Australian wealth management business. NAB made the purchase funds the old fashioned way - they EARNED it!

Buried in the celebratory debris was this little tidbit I stumbled upon. As if things weren't bad enough, BusinessWeek commentator Chris Farrell is promoting the idea that it's time to eliminate taxpayer subsidies for housing. "Yes, you read that right," he sneers. "Why should homes get preferable tax treatment over stocks and other investments?"