There will be a lot more finger pointing this week in the Congress over the $165 million in controversial bonuses at AIG and the effort by lawmakers to levy a 90% tax on that money.
The Senate will try to move forward on the bill approved late last week by the House, while the White House will really get a lot more heat this week on what it wants in terms of executive pay and bonus legislation.
Partly in a response to the action by the Congress - which evidently came as a surprise to many Wall Street firms - the Obama Administration will roll out some of its own ideas on the subject this week as well.
Basically, the White House will urge financial firms to give bonuses when your company makes money, not just because you can give big bonuses.
As for the bonus tax bill, which would apply to AIG and any firm taking federal bailout dollars, my gut is telling me that this legislation will not become law anytime soon.
The Senate may approve a bill - but I wonder if that will just sort of sidetrack the issue - especially if the bill is much different than what made it through the House last week.
The Founding Fathers designed the House to be the more reactive body. When the people speak, the House acts.
The Senate isn't like that at all - and I bet this week will see more political game playing on the AIG issue, but not necessarily quick action on the tax bill.
Tomorrow will be a big day on the matter as well, as a House committee hears from Treasury Secretary Geithner and Fed Chief Bernanke on the AIG bonus issue.
That's sure to bring up a lot of uncomfortable questions on when they knew about the bonuses and why didn't they stop them. Should be interesting.
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