Now wait a minute. This is a pretty important point here and Lord Paulson is completely wrong. Paulson appears to be suggesting that Wall Street did everyone a favor by graciously accepting taxpayer money, so no, there's no link between the $250 billion and executive compensation. Maybe Congress can quit their ridiculous TV stunts that Waxman loves so much and instead address issues like this and assert their damned authority. (I say this as a person who likes Waxman, but hate the made-for-TV dramas. I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment either.) Congress needs to quit acting like a secondary player in this and step up, now. Also, if I hear one more Wall Street pundit tell me about how neutral Paulson has been when the evidence says the contrary, I'm going to scream.
Treasury officials have argued privately that banks aided this way should be exempt from the toughest executive pay restrictions in the rescue legislation passed by Congress.Here we go...two Senators from opposite sides agree. Great. Let's see some action then.
Some lawmakers disagree.
"Restrictions on executive compensation will ensure that taxpayer money is not wasted enriching the same people whose poor decision-making created this crisis," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. yesterday. "It is imperative that these restrictions, including limitations on the incentives for executives to take excessive risks and the elimination of golden parachutes, should apply to any capital injection program."
Exempting the banks in the program is "not in the spirit of the thing," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.
