The incredible firestorm over the $165 million bonus payout at failed insurance giant AIG has dramatically revealed the depth of the public anger at private companies that enrich themselves at taxpayer expense. Congressional action to recoup these bonuses through taxes would be a positive step, but merely undoing the AIG bonuses will leave in place tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for banks and corporations that routinely overcompensate their executives. This report includes a chart that identifies key taxypayer subsidies for executive excess and the various reforms now pending in Congress that speak to these problems.
Beyond the AIG Bonuses
Many taxpayer subsidies for executive excess have not yet hit the headlines.
March 26, 2009
Sarah Anderson, Chuck Collins, Sam Pizzigati