Some things never change.

David Sambol, the out-going president of kaput mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp., is taking his family on an African vacation -- on Countrywide's Gulfstream IV.

Yes, the guy in charge of the company that sold hundreds of thousands of suspect mortgages to people who couldn't afford them is leaving on a jet plane, for a nice three-week-long vacation in Africa with his family.

But you know, it's been a stressful year for Mr. Sambol, what with his company nearly collapsing and that stressful fire sale to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Not to mention being hauled before Congress to account for his part in helping facilitate the global credit crisis.

Marie Antoinette would have understood completely. "Let them take a vacation," she would have said. "An African safari would be nice. The kids will love it."

It is not as if the president of Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) has a lot of employment opportunities now that the mortgage bank has come near collapse and been sold to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Nevertheless, the big bank felt compelled to pay chief operating officer David Sambol a total of $28 million over three years to stay on.

According to Reuters :"The amount, which vests over three years, is 37 percent higher than the $20.4 million that Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis was compensated in 2007 to run the second-largest U.S. bank."

Call it a disappointment. Sambol was one of the senior officers at Countrywide who pushed for greater subprime lending to poor borrowers who could not make payments. Certainly, Bank of America must have someone in its mortgage operation who could take over.

But, rank has its privileges. Bank of America would probably like someone experienced to clean up the mess. The shame of its is that Sambol could not get a job as dog-catcher in the open market.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

I've been banging the drum on Angelo Mozilo's heinously bad stewardship and overcompensation for awhile now but sorry folks: I gotta get at least one more post out of this travesty.

Mozilo, who is CEO of troubled lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC), is eligible to receive stock awards valued at $10 million this April. The awards consist of performance-based restricted stock units and stock-appreciation right and will vest upon the consummation of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)'s acquisition of the company.

The fact that Mozilo sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stock at prices 5 times the current price raises questions about whether he really need to be compensated further.

But that's not the worst of it. Chief Operating Officer David Sambol could receive a $1.9 million retention bonus upon completion of the merger.

The purpose of a retention payment is to keep an executive from jumping ship to another more lucrative opportunity. But I've got to ask: Given that Countrywide is the poster child for idiotic lending, bad management, and poor corporate governance, is Mr. Sambol really that in demand that a $1.9 million retention payment is necessary. Or is this just more of the "loot the company while you still can!" stuff that has come to characterize the descent of Countrywide?