There was plenty of partying on Wall Street this Tuesday as the lid on banker pay was lifted. Once government bail-out money -- TARP funds -- is returned, government control of banking practices (read: big salaries) disappears. And that's exactly what's been done by a bunch of the biggest banks... Pay back quick. No TARP, no salary caps.

Bankers were at the bars last night, but consumers get the hangover. After all, that public money was supposed to free up loans, create jobs, and lead to consumer confidence and paying off debts. With unemployment projected to stay above nine percent through 2010, wages stagnating and now not even the lip service to government oversight, the average American has good reason to feel even less secure --not more confident.

Remember, these are the same banks who fought -- with success -- against an interest rate cap of fifteen percent on your credit card loans. They have pledged to their shareholders that they will bear down on the public-- charge maximum interest on consumers and small businesses. No salary caps for them, no grace periods for you on your credit cards.

But while these banks chart a course to squeeze profits out of every corner of America, the fact remains that there is no end in sight for the housing bust, so reports Business Week, which projects a further drop of twenty-five percent in house prices. And therein lies the rub.

Those bankers out celebrating this week still hold billions of dollars in troubled mortgage investments. In fact, ratings agencies are cutting and reviewing the status of $534 billion in mortgage securities right now, making them worth less and less. The reason? Noone wants -- or can -- buy all the underlying assets: which is to say the house you, or your cousin or co-worker is losing. So, the lesson is: you cannot stabilize the mortgage market and undercut the working family simultaneously, you just can't.

But if you are a banker you can party... just enough to get that bonus and forget about tomorrow.

The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, public television and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com