YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK, NOT WORKING AGAIN-SENATOR CHRIS DODD IS A DUD!

We all expect incompetence and stupidity from our government officials, and we are never disappointed, as usual!

The ex-presidential candidate, exuding gravitas in his manner of speaking, tacked on 11 pages (count them-11 pages) of pay restrictions into the stimulus bill.

As usual, Mr. Dodd, never making a real living in the real world, chose to reward incompetent an non-motivated slackers instead of those employees who can actually pull the "stimulated companies" out of the toilet.

His pay restrictions limit bonuses severely, while allowing unlimited salaries. WOW, what a genius that Mr. Dodd appears to be! stop those performance bonuses dead in their tracks.

So let me see if I understand his proposed reward program for the troubled companies getting federal handouts of every type.

Let's use the example of a trader at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs...or wherever for instance.

The trader makes the firm $100 million in trading profits, and to reward him for this phenomenal effort, the firm wants to pay him a 5% bonus on top of his base $250,000 salary. After all he made them $100 million in profit....5% even sounds cheesy, cheap.

Heck I would pay my trader 50% as a bonus if he made me $100 million.

Yet, scrooge...I mean Mr. Dodd, does not understand this concept of rewarding top performers.

Under his proposed plan, that trader could at most get more than 1/3 of his pay as a bonus. So this trader would get $332,500 as his reward for making $100 million for the firm!

So the firms that need the help the most, to succeed and pay back the government loans or handouts, can not possibly reward great results....they are limited by Senator Dudd...I mean Senator Dodd, with his ridiculous slacker plan.

What his plan would allow however, is to pay any slacker of the firm's choosing a salary of UNLIMITED amount, say $50 million a year whether there was performance or not!

Under this plan, all good traders, rainmakers, performers would immediately leave the troubled companies that need them the most, for those companies (competitors) who will reward good performance; thus leaving the worst companies to fend for themselves.

Good idea Senator, where did you get that idea from, a slacker?

It gets worse...I mean funnier.

Senator Dodd, also mandates that TARP recipient companies can take clients to lunch at only those establishments identified by no less than "the Secretary of the Treasury...", otherwise it may be deemed to be an excessive lunch and not reimbursable.

Great, you now need to call the Secretary of the Treasury and leave him a message with his secretary that he call you back as soon as possible because you want to go to either Wendy's, McDonald's or the Four Season's Dining Room. Could get back you you as soon as he finishes a meeting with the President....you'll be waiting for the call.

Nice...Senator....you are really doing well for the taxpayers....really saving them money.

So, again, we have your government at work....screwing things up and doing it with a straight face.