(D-Maine)
At a time when so many Mainers are struggling to make ends meet or find a job, we cannot allow taxpayer money to fund bonuses for Wall Street executives who got us into this terrible economic hole to begin with. Unfortunately, that’s just what some bailed out executives have done and are still trying to do.
But is shouldn’t be surprising. The bailout – which I voted against – contained extremely weak limits on executive compensation. As a result, firms that received more than $350 billion in federal bailout funds increased executive benefits by an average of 4% over the last year. In the meantime, small businesses and families continue to feel the brunt of the recession. The idea that these executives, who came before Congress hat-in-hand only a year ago, continue to hand out multi-million dollar bonuses is appalling.
To make up for the weak protections in the bailout, Congress has since passed stronger limits on executive compensation for companies that receive financial assistance from the federal government. As you may have heard, despite these new restrictions and the Administration’s appointment of a “pay czar,” companies that received bailout funds have gone back to business as usual.
In order to address this, I recently joined my colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging them to take action. We pressed the Administration to investigate excessive compensation for Wall Street executives and to push for a strong plan that will limit irresponsible bonuses.
I am glad that they appear to have listened.
On October 22nd, the Administration said they would crack down on those companies that received funding through the Wall Street bailout. The Treasury Department announced that they will force the seven companies that received the most bailout funds to cut bonuses to their 25 highest paid executives by an average of 90% from last year.
I applaud the Administration’s decision to slash the undeserved bonuses of these executives. It is a positive step toward ensuring that corporate executives who accepted taxpayer dollars are held responsible for their actions and not rewarded for driving their companies into the ground.
But we must keep the pressure on. We must insist on the highest levels of accountability. The livelihoods, health, and retirements of millions were put in jeopardy by the irresponsible actions of these companies. The outrageous pay packages and golden parachute retirements must end, and real transparency must be put in place.
If the Administration does not keep up the pressure, the American public will have little confidence in our economic system and our recovery efforts will be hampered as a result. Let’s keep the pressure on and make sure that taxpayers are not funding excessive pay packages for bailed out CEOs. Millions of people, and thousands in Maine, could use the help more.
