Oops! He Did it Again

Bush has left one more skid mark on his way out the door. And, in my opinion, it's a doozie.

Apparently, at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the $700 billion bailout that cut the legs out from under the provisions to set limits on executive compensation and provide penalties to companies that broke the rules. The change restricted the penalty to companies that received funds by selling assets to the government via auction. Since Paulson and the administration have decided to spend most of our money by simply giving it to ailing companies, this means that these companies have slipped through a mighty large loophole.

The best, make that worst, part is that Paulson was telling Congress that direct funding of companies was going to be rare and that most would receive their funding after auctioning assets. He tells them this while planning to do the opposite. None of the $335 BILLION dollars dished out by the government so far as gone through the auction process.

So, while you and I might complain about the outrageous executive "cash awards", bonuses or tax breaks, there appears that there is little if anything that can be done. I wasn't even aware of the practice of deducting compensation payments from a company's taxable income. Basically they get to give this money away to their executives and not count it as income. The provision, before it got screwed by BushCo, banned any deduction over $500,000, changed the tax code and allowed the IRS to impose penalties. But no more!

Essentially this little one line change to the law stripped it of any oversight capabilites.

Way to go Junior. Why don't you retire to Maine with Daddy and stay the hell out of Texas!