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Friday, January 30, 2009

Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots' From CNN

Finally....someone is making sense...understands reality!! What do you think?

http://us.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/30/executive.pay/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One day after President Barack Obama ripped Wall Street executives for their "shameful" decision to hand out $18 billion in bonuses in 2008, Congress may finally have had enough.

An angry U.S. senator introduced legislation Friday to cap compensation for employees of any company that accepts federal bailout money. Under the terms of a bill introduced by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, no employee would be allowed to make more than the president of the United States.
Obama's current annual salary is $400,000.


"We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer," an enraged McCaskill said on the floor of the Senate. "They don't get it. These people are idiots. You can't use taxpayer money to pay out 18 billion dollars in bonuses."

McCaskill's proposed compensation limit would cover salaries, bonuses and stock options.

On Thursday, Obama said the prospect that some of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout could end up paying for bonuses to managers of struggling financial institutions was "shameful."

The president said it was the "height of irresponsibility" for executives to pay bonuses when their companies were asking for help from Washington.

"The American people understand we've got a big hole that we've got to dig ourselves out of, but they don't like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they're being asked to fill it up," Obama added.

McCaskill's proposal comes three days after struggling banking giant Citigroup -- which has taken about $45 billion from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program -- reversed plans to accept delivery of a new $42 million corporate jet. The company changed its mind under Treasury Department prodding.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Friday defended corporate bonuses, saying that cutting them also means slashing jobs in the Big Apple.

"If you somehow take that bonus out of the economy, it really will create unemployment," he said on CNN's "American Morning." "It means less spending in restaurants, less spending in department stores, so everything has an impact." Sphere: Related Content

3 comments:

Carolyn Evans-Dean said...

What has Giuliani been smoking? The people who receive those huge bonuses are the same people who still have enough money to go to restaurants. The rest of us are trying to decide whether to buy food or pay the heating bill.

Aly Carm said...

What a load of crap!I can't believe some of this stuff.

Annie said...

MartianChick, welcome to the blog! And I agree totally with both you and Aly, this is INSANE!

Makes me wonder if anyone has yet made a blog called

Claire McCaskill Rocks!

Then open it up for comments and feedback, send the results to her to take with her....

Until the People step up and support those lawmakers who even dare to step outside of party lines....nothing will change. And kudos to her for speaking up!!!

I hope it happens. I'm Canadian and I'm angry about it (for the American people)....our government is now talking bailouts too....

the whole thing is out of hand. I hope the People step up, now is their chance!

Cheers,

Annie

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