Washington Limits Wall St. Bonuses, Free Lunch as Well
Billy Parker
Published Aug 1, 2009
Modified Aug 1, 2009
Congress voted yesterday to pass a bill curbing executive bonus pay, attempting to prevent what they call "perverse incentives" for execs in the face of a public outcry that came with news about big bonuses being handed out to bigwigs at some of the Bailout Babies of '08. The bill's passage came on the same day as a well-timed new report from Andrew Cuomo documenting how rampant big bonuses were at places like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs; AIG originally set off the bonus backlash earlier this year. The vote in Congress was primarily down party lines; Democrats tried to emphasize that shareholders would get a say in dictating just how much companies are warranted to dole out. It was also reported yesterday that CEOs have also lost out on another bonus—free lunch at the White House. In order to prevent any conflict of interest, the Obama administration has been billing executives who share a meal inside executive offices with the president. The News says there hasn't been a case of presidential penury since Jimmy Carter started charging Congressmen for coffee and danishes when they came to visit.
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