Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase's investment bank slashed their compensation in the fourth quarter, responding to political pressure that will probably persist as details of bonuses for their top executives emerge in coming weeks. The three Wall Street firms set aside $39.9 billion for pay in 2009, below the 2007 record of $44.7 billion. The total fell short of the $46.1 billion five analysts expected this month and is almost $10 billion less than what some analysts estimated in October. 'There's no question that Wall Street got the message from Washington,' said Michael Robinson, a senior vice president of Levick Strategic Communications and former head of public affairs at the Securities and Exchange Commission. 'But positioning the big banks with big bonuses as the bad guys has played well for politicians, and they are likely going to keep coming back to it. To some extent, banks a 