Apr 4, 2009
Bonuses at Fannie and Freddie
By Monday it should be clear whether the thundering outrage over the AIG retention bonuses will have been followed by a thundering yawn over the $210 million in retention bonuses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employees that were announced Friday. Although the Fannie/Freddie maximums are smaller and the total will be spread over more employees than at AIG, the fact remains that Fannie and Freddie are under government control following their major meltdown, taxpayer bailout, and instrumental contribution to the housing bubble. Failure of these bonuses to receive significant media/Congressional attention would suggest very short attention spans or selective outrage against the private sector.