The chief executive of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc., whose bankruptcy filing last month dramatically escalated the Wall Street financial crisis, faced angry lawmakers Monday and defended his leadership and the millions of dollars he and other executives made as the company's troubles mounted.

Although taking "full responsibility" for the actions that led to the nation's largest bankruptcy ever, Richard Fuld told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that his company was overwhelmed by a "financial tsunami" caused by a series of "destabilizing factors," including lack of investor confidence, short-selling, credit downgrades and rumors.

Oh yeah, and hookers are getting really expensive these days