FRANK BERNHEISEL

You gotta love it

Well, we have the politicians and the Federal Reserve worrying about a recession and lots of people are defaulting on their loans, and Bear Stearns and Bank of America are going to the Arab states for money to prop up their finances and some of the loan companies are going bankrupt.

The rest of us are watching the stock market go down and worrying about our 401K or other account. So we are all sharing the pain of the housing bubble, right?

Wrong!

Countrywide Financial Corporation founder Angelo Mozilo, one of the nation's highest-paid chief executives, was paid $48 million in 2007. He stands to reap $115 million in severance-related pay if his troubled company is acquired by Bank of America Corporation, regulatory filings show.

Free rides on the company jet are also included in Mozilo's departure deal, and the company will pick up his country club bills until 2011. Of course, the stock of Countywide is in the toilet, down 82 percent to $2.63, and so Mozilo has lost a bunch, right?

Wrong again, he started selling out in 2006 when the stock was at its high.

Ain't capitalism great?