Thursday, March 19, 2009

Shimkus Votes to Get AIG Bonus Money Back

From the Office of Congressman John Shimkus

Washington, DC...Congressman John Shimkus (R, Illinois-19) voted to impose a 90 percent tax on employee bonuses if the company they work for received assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was the Wall Street bailout program.

It has recently become known that Senator Dodd removed language from the stimulus bill that would have prohibited the bonuses AIG employees received. He is quoted as saying that Obama Administration officials asked that the language be removed.

"I would like for the taxpayers to get 100 percent of these funds back, and will continue to fight till every penny is returned," Shimkus said. "This incident shows the lack of control on these TARP funds and the lack of government oversight about how the money is spent.

"While I share concerns that the courts may rule against this legislation, the Democratic majority allowed these bonuses to be distributed. I voted for this legislation to send a signal to Wall Street and those companies abusing taxpayer dollars that Congress and the American people are not going to stand by and let them waste our money.

"As a reminder, I have consistently voted against all the bailouts - Wall Street, AIG, the banks and auto companies. We are throwing money around to all the big shots and forgetting about the people," Shimkus added.

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