Lesser Known Parts of the Stimulus Package....

In the last few days there has been a lot of outrage about the bonuses paid at AIG. Part of the grumpiness has been related to the notion that it is a bit odd to offer executives who have either had a hand in driving a company down to the dumps. We now hear that two other welfare queens of the financial mess (who are currently asking for another sixty billion between them) are planning to pay their executives some pretty large bonuses.

"It was critical to retain their most important asset -- their employees -- who are being asked to play a vital role in the nation's economic recovery. As the previous senior management teams left, it would have been catastrophic to lose the next layers down and other highly experienced employees." That is what the guy who was responsible for playing out this dough said - sounds a lot like the people at AIG doesn't it? But these bonuses are going to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie's EVP is getting $611,000 now and then another $429,000 next February on the base of a salary that is $676,000. The company's CFO is getting a total of $1.1 million on a base salary of $385,000 for the same period.

What is interesting is that you don't hear the jackals on the Hill (Dodd and Frank) yammering about that money. Not a peep out of Brad Sherman. Although the proportions are smaller the concept of giving bonuses here is about as appropriate.