News flash: Wall Street banks paid nearly $1.6 billion in unwarranted bonuses to executives at the peak of the financial crisis, when taxpayer bailout money kept many of those big banks alive. And, a second news flash: Government officials in Washington, D.C., say there is nothing anyone can do about it.

None of this should be surprising, given the excesses of Wall Street and the culture of greed among America's wealthiest financiers and traders. Nor should the stated inability of federal officials to do anything about it be surprising, given the cozy relationship between Wall Street and Washington politicians — meaning millions of dollars in campaign donations and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on lobbying

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Mich., famously said during the banking crisis that Wall Street is the most powerful lobby in Washington, adding, "Frankly, they own the place."

The truth of that statement is made more clear all the time.

The report came out last week, with Kenneth Feinberg, the so-called pay czar of the Obama administration, naming 17 financial companies, including familiar names like Goldman Sachs, American International Group (AIG) and Citigroup, that paid out huge amounts using questionable or lax criteria.

Feinberg said the payments were not illegal. He called them "ill-advised," preferring not to call them "contrary to public interest," which would have triggered a legal authority to get tougher with the banks.

Feinberg said he thought shaming the bankers was punishment enough. Really?

Feinberg said he worried that taking the tougher action would have exposed the banks to shareholder lawsuits. So?

These banks were receiving billions of dollars of taxpayer support to keep them from failing and they still paid gigantic bonuses to their top executives. The fact that Feinberg and the Obama administration understand that and yet try to only shame the bankers to behave better is instructive.

Do they really think the executives who pocketed million-dollar bonuses feel shame or care?

The rapid repayment of taxpayer bailout money by 11 of the 17 banks left Feinberg with even less leverage to do anything about the outrageous bonuses, he said.

About two weeks ago, an article in the New York Times reported that Wall Street banks were ramping up, planning to hire 2,000 new workers, because profits were up and conditions were good for making more money — more risky trading and betting than making loans. This creates a stark contrast with much of the rest of the country, where the recession is still taking a toll and tens of millions of people remain unemployed.

Another interesting note: British taxpayers are enjoying a bit of relief as a new 50 percent tax on bankers' bonuses over about $40,000 has brought in $2 billion to the government.

The tax on excessive bankers' bonuses, introduced in December, was designed to curb excessive pay. The fact that it's bringing in a few billion dollars to the government is a side benefit, but the big bonuses continue.

Such a tax on excessive bonuses by Wall Street banks has not been talked about seriously in Washington, D.C., thanks, apparently, to Wall Street's many friends and beholden politicians.

Taxpayers should also know that while many big banks have paid back their TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) billions, they are still benefiting from special treatment — the ability to borrow money from the Federal Reserve at near-zero interest, something most observers call a back-door bailout.

One observer suggested Washington could tell U.S. bankers that as long as they benefit from this back-door bailout, bonuses are capped. Why is the Obama White House or Congress not making this point, and instead trying to just shame these shameless bankers? Is it because Durbin is right — they own Washington? It certainly looks that way.