As I was watching the news last night everyone was in an uproar about the AIG bonuses.  It got me to thinking. What is the difference between AIG giving out bonuses using taxpayer money and Congress giving themselves pay raises using taxpayer money?   Not much.  As more information comes out it looks like Chris Dodd (D – Conn.) had something to do with putting an amendment in the legislation that protected those exact bonuses during the negotiations on the $700 billion stimulus bill.  According to Fox Business, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. The provision, now called “the Dodd Amendment” by the Obama Administration provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009” — which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax. Dodd is now trying to cover his tracks and is wanting to tax these bonuses with a 98% tax.   Yes, Congress is just as much to blame as AIG.  I had to laugh when news anchor, Charles Gibson of ABC News, asked business correspondent Betsey Stark who the bonuses were going to and she said they were going to the division that essentially helped run AIG into the ground.  This made me laugh because I think about those pay raises that Congress has given themselves over the years as they run the country into the ground.

There has been a lot of interest in companies meeting at hotels and resorts.  It seems that it’s not okay for them especially those who taken bailout money to hold any kind of conferences or meetings.    The media has made a sport of finding out what companies are going where or doing what.  I don’t think they give a second thought to the people that work in the travel industry.  According to a Politco.com article, luxury or upscale hotels and cruises are at the top of the venues the firms are avoiding, and Roger Dow, president of U.S. Travel Association says news reporters have been found staking out hotel lobbies in search of fresh targets. While I understand that some may be upset that taxpayer money might be used for these trips, I don’t think that people including the President, are looking at the whole picture.  According to the U.S. Travel Association, business travel sustains 2.4 million jobs, injects $240 billion a year into the national economy and generates $39 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue.  Shouldn’t we be more concerned about the employees than the companies? What are the employees going to do if no one is meeting or traveling? Hours will be scaled back and potentially jobs could be lost.  This is not fair. I really don’t care if a bank or any other company has a meeting at a ritzy hotel or resort.  What I care about are the employees that the ritzy hotel or resort employs.  I urge you to visit www.keepamericameeting.org  When America meets, America works.