“I am calling on the president of the United States to cancel those bonuses and explain to the American people, the taxpayers who bailed out Freddie and Fannie, why he continues to reward failure,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said at a news conference Tuesday.
The bonuses? Oh, a mere $12.8 million in bonuses approved for 10 executives at the government-seized mortgage companies.
Fredie Mac and Fannie Mae have received about $141 billion in taxpayer funds since the government took them over in 2008:
Politico first reported the $6.46 million in bonuses for the top five officers at Freddie Mac -- including $2.3 million for CEO Charles E. Haldeman Jr., who is stepping down next year -- and $6.33 million for Fannie Mae officials, including $2.37 million for CEO Michael Williams, for meeting modest goals.
A second bonus installment for Freddie executives in 2010 has yet to be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Politico reported.
According to the White House, clamping down on what it czlled 'excessive compensation' on Wall Street via Dodd-Frank was just fine, but none of those provisions apply to Fannie and Freddie. Given who wrote Dodd-Frank and their history with those institutions, it's not hard to imagine why.
Just for the record, here's a flashback from candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign:
“I’ve always said that any action with respect to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needs to put taxpayers first and can’t under any circumstances bail out shareholders or senior management of that company.”
Lest you think this is yet another Republican attempt to embarrass the president,Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had this to say when asked about this obscenity by reporters:
“A gag reflex in front of all of you would be improper.”
If Barrasso tries to get legislation passed to have Fannie and Freddie execs forfeit their bonuses, it'll be interesting to see if Reid supports it.
1 comment:
why he continues to reward failure,
because he's a commie.
another reason could be that they each kick in a couple of points to his re-coronation.
OT
ff, are you screening the hussein trolls? i bet they come out of the woodwork on this. opining how this is required by law. as if that matters to these commies.
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