Friday, April 3, 2009

Pattern: Taxpayer Money, then Bonuses


The day after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received $46 billion in taxpayer cash, Fannie and Freddie announced bonuses. They shifted from performance bonuses to retention. NYT's Dealbook reported:


Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage-financing giants that the government rescued last fall, have outlined plans to pay an additional $159 million in bonuses to retain employees in 2009 and 2010, on top of the nearly $51 million already paid out last year.

What happened to providing a good job to do, along with salary and benefits, as the means to retain people? These executive hand outs grow tiresome. Performance and retention turn into deformance and detention. Now the Obama team wants to spread the poison of pay for performance to education and healthcare. Ignorance lives.