Brown seeks tax on post-bailout bonuses for execs
The Columbus Dispatch – WASHINGTON — In another sign of the anti-Wall Street mood gripping Capitol Hill, Sen. Sherrod Brown wants to impose a 50 percent tax on bonuses paid to executives who work at banks and companies that accepted taxpayer money in the 2008 financial bailout.
Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner declined to endorse the idea in a meeting yesterday with Brown and other Democratic senators, the Ohioan said, "Chances are pretty good we can pass this."
Brown, who introduced the bill yesterday, said during a conference call that the money raised would be funneled to smaller banks to help them make loans to small businesses. Many smaller companies complain that large financial institutions are denying them credit.
Brown said the tax would be levied against executives accepting bonuses of more than $25,000 a year. He added that his bill would cover banks and investment firms that had repaid the federal government — with interest — the loans they received.
