Talking Bailouts on CNBC at 12:30pm EST

by: David Sirota

Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 12:15

The heads of bailed-out banks could still receive nearly unlimited pay under a new Democratic proposal to rein in executive compensation for firms participating in the taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout, according to at least one House Democrat, who hopes to add tighter restrictions this week.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Cal.) predicts that new legislation aiming to limit executive pay for firms helped by the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) leaves loopholes allowing bank CEOs to reap millions of dollars even as taxpayers spend hundreds of millions to rescue their companies. Sherman said the new proposal takes steps to curb executive bonuses, but places no limit on "$1 million-per-month salaries" and other lavish perks, leaving corporations with broad freedom to pay their CEOs whatever they choose.

There's absolutely no compelling reason to leave any loopholes in legislation reforming the terms of how that money is doled out. We're talking about $350 billion here - an amount of money so large that the government is in a position to give orders to recipients, not sit back and watch our taxpayer cash get wasted (again).