Speaking Of Bonuses...

Two great examples of liberal hypocrisy on bonuses.  First, here's a liberal newspaper company that was very harsh on the AIG bonuses:

While the national media stoked populist outrage over retention bonuses paid by AIG to executives, at least one of the newspapers involved had a bonus scandal of its own. Philadelphia Media Holdings, which publishes the Inquirer and the Daily News, paid $650,000 in executive bonuses less than two months before declaring bankruptcy (via Romanesko):

Though the company teetered on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, this past December Philadelphia Media Holdings awarded bonuses to CEO Brian P. Tierney, vice president of finance Richard Thayer and Daily News publisher Mark Frisby. …

PMH filed for bankruptcy in February. Toll, of the homebuilding Toll Brothers company, confirmed that the PMH board knew the company¹s fiscal situation was dire. "The financial condition of the papers was obviously not good," said Toll. "We knew what was going to happen sooner or later."

So why give out $650,000 in bonuses? "We thought it was deserved," he said. "But we can't get into the details because we're involved in bankruptcy proceedings."

That's certainly a more nuanced approach than the Inquirer took in its editorial about the AIG bonuses. It criticized Wall Street and AIG specifically for — wait for it — detaching bonus payments from performance:

Bonuses never should have been given to the people who helped to create the financial crisis. AIG's financial- products unit devised the infamous "credit-default swaps" that helped to bring the company to the brink of collapse, necessitating the bailout.

In 2008, this arm of AIG lost $40.5 billion. But employees at the business unit are receiving $450 million in bonuses under a retention program begun a year ago. The latest installment of those bonuses was paid out to 418 employees Friday; an additional $230 million is to be paid later.

Apparently, when Wall Street lost its way, it also lost any sense that "bonuses" should reward superior performance.

Apparently, there was a lot of that going around, including at the very offices that produced this editorial.

Pot, meet kettle.

Still, when it comes to superhuman feats of hypocrisy, no one beats the standard-bearer: Congress.

Boy, Congress sure was outraged when it was reported that AIG handed out bonuses this past year.
They sure raised hell for a week.
Some members even wanted to tax AIG employees 1,000% for their bonuses...

Of course, it was these same democrats who passed legislation that allowed AIG to award the bonuses.

Today it was reported that Congress also handed out millions of dollars of bonuses in 2008 to staff members.
FOX News reported:

While Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole, lawmakers have a longstanding tradition of rewarding their own employees with extra cash -- also courtesy of taxpayers, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Capitol Hill bonuses in 2008 were among the highest in years, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks payroll data. The average House aide earned 17 percent more in the fourth quarter of the year, when the bonuses were paid, than in previous quarters, according to the data. That was the highest jump in the eight years LegiStorm has compiled payroll information...

Last year alone, more than 200 House lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, awarded bonuses totaling $9.1 million to more than 2,000 staff members, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of office-disbursement forms. The money comes out of taxpayer-funded office budgets, and is surplus cash that would otherwise be forfeited if not spent.

Shouldn't we demand that these bonuses be returned to the taxpayers?
Shouldn't they be taxed 90% too?

And those bonuses were after a pay raise, mind you.

It's a lock: from now on, if you aren't 100% certain that your rep is one of the handful of good ones, VOTE THE INCUMBENT OUT.  Every time.

There's my two cents.