Should those that voted for the TARP bill be responsible for the AIG bonuses?
@Justathought12 (103)
United States
February 6, 2010 11:15am CST
Does anyone else believe that the members of congress that voted for the TARP bill should have to pay back the TARP money used to pay bonuses? I know that the Constitution protects them from that, but I just wonder how many people think they should be held responsible for that money. It would have been very easy to write into the bill that this money could not be used to pay any bonus, insteed in was writen so that TARP money could be used for bonuses.
1 response
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
6 Feb 10
From what I've read these bonuses, which I am strongly opposed to, are part of a prior contract AIG had with it's employees. Their agreement with the government concerning the TARP funds is a separate issue. I do believe that compensation contracts should have been looked at and modified...not only because of the bonuses no one there deserves, but also because I believe that the people responsible for creating that financial mess should have had their salaries cut.
To answer your specific question though, no, I don't believe that the individual members of Congress who voted for this should be held liable. Someone dropped the ball...AIG wasn't looked at as closely as it should have been...but not every member of the legislature is familiar with contract law.
