President Obama slammed the bonuses handed out by Wall Street firms, calling them "shameful" and the "height of irresponsibility." He was referring to NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's report on the bonus situation: While total 2008 bonuses were down 44% versus 2007, the $18.4 billion doled out was still the 6th largest bonus year ever. The average bonus was $112,000 per recipient; Obama said, "Part of what we're going to need is for folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility. The American people understand that we've got a big hole that we've got to dig ourselves out of -- but they don't like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they're being asked to fill it up."
Vice President Joe Biden said, "I’d like to throw these guys in the brig. I do know what they are thinking, and they are thinking of the same old thing that got us here: Greed. They are thinking: ‘Take care of me.’" And Senator Christopher Dodd, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, told reporters, “I’m going to look at every possible legal means to get that money back...I’m going to be urging -- in fact not urging, demanding -- that the Treasury Department figures out some way to get the money back."
Speaking of pay, Obama signed his first bill today (pictured above): The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which, per the White House blog, "which will make it easier for people to get the pay they deserve -- regardless of their gender, race, or age." Ledbetter had sued Goodyear over disparate pay, but the Supreme Court ruled companies are protected from discrimination lawsuits that aren't filed within 180 days. The new bill essentially reverses the Supreme Court ruling.
