Wall Street investment banks are making big money again; it's as if the financial crisis never happened. But public scrutiny and criticism is being fueled by the latest reports of record profits, increased risk-taking and million-dollar bonuses.

While most of the country still is struggling, Wall Street investment banks, including recipients of federal bailout funds, are back to billion-dollar profits and million-dollar bonuses. And that makes Americans angry. Taxpayer funds and trillions of dollars of added debt have been spent on bailouts and stimulus spending to combat the consequences of a financial crisis that was largely created by Wall Street greed and excessive risk-taking.

Wall Street is being put under a microscope through the efforts of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. And the outrage that was last fueled by AIG and its bonus scandal is returning as Cuomo issued a report last week revealing that some of the same banks saved from collapse by taxpayer loans had paid out billions in bonuses in 2008.

Citigroup, which lost $27 billion and received $45 billion in bailout money, or TARP funds, paid $5.3 billion in bonuses in 2008. Another TARP recipient, Bank of America, paid $3.3 billion in bonuses in 2008 and also was the recipient of $45 billion in TARP bailout money.

Cuomo found that 4,793 investment bankers and traders were paid $1 million or more in bonuses last year, the same year that the U.S. financial industry nearly caused a collapse of the global economy.

Next week, Wall Street firms are expected to ask the federal government for permission to pay billions of dollars in bonuses.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama appointed a so-called pay czar to limit excessive compensation. The expected debate over a return to fat bonuses on Wall Street will be a huge test for Obama and Kenneth Feinberg, the pay czar.

Though the immediate crisis of a financial meltdown was avoided by government intervention, the issues of how to compensate bankers without encouraging a return to excessive risk-taking remain. The Obama administration's reaction to Wall Street's record profits and requests for bonuses will be closely watched.

Last month, investment bank Goldman Sachs announced record trading revenue amid increased risk-taking. Low cost of capital, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, and a financial marketplace with fewer competitors has put Goldman in a strong position. It's also possible that Goldman's return to taking big risks is partially motivated by the TARP bailout program that aided the big Wall Street firms deemed by Washington to be "too big to fail." The fear now is that other investment banks will feel compelled to follow Goldman Sachs' lead, and take on more risk.

If Wall Street is recovering, the federal government should force divestiture of noncore businesses, downsizing, or a breakup of mega financial firms so that no bank is too big to fail.

In recent weeks, the public's attention has been diverted by the important debate over health care reform. But Americans were disgusted with the revelations of greed and excessive risk-taking on Wall Street that were at the heart of the financial crisis. For Wall Street bankers to again be receiving multimillion-dollar bonuses should reignite public outrage.

To retain credibility on reform, Obama and his administration will have to curtail big bonuses at government-supported banks. The president repeatedly has talked tough on Wall Street's excesses. Now he has to walk the talk.

The House of Representatives passed a bill last month limiting compensation for more financial institutions, but that measure is opposed by the Obama administration. Maintaning such a stance, and siding with, or appearing to be giving in to bankers, would hurt Obama. Already, many Americans believe Washington has been far tougher on Detroit's Big Three automakers than on Wall Street's big investment banks. Adding to that perception are the many Obama administration officials with close ties to Wall Street.

There will be plenty of political pressure to allow Wall Street to return to the good old days of multimillion dollar bonuses. But if Obama allows that to happen, his credibility and popularity will surely suffer.

Obama might want to keep the nation focused on health care reform, but he faces a critical test in how he handles Wall Street's return to billion-dollar profits and million-dollar bonuses.