It seems Fannie Mae missed the memo: massive bonuses are out of style. The mortgage finance company plans to pay four top executives retention bonuses of $1 million each, more than double the amount paid out last year, according to a document filed with the SEC. Like bonuses paid to executives of Merrill Lynch and AIG, the payments are controversial because Fannie Mae recently received billions of dollars in federal aid and was essentially taken over by the government in September. Fannie Mae said that financial regulators approved the bonuses because keeping top employees “was essential to ensure our viability through 2010.” (Associated Press)A group of ten Republican congressmen criticized a Justice Department investigation into Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Wednesday. The House judiciary committee accuses Arpaio of using racial profiling to target illegal immigrants. In the letter, Republican congressmen claim that cracking down on police officers could have the effect of “politicizing or chilling immigration efforts.” Arpaio has become a hero of the anti-immigration movement for leading a three-year crackdown on illegals in Arizona, which has included controversial tactics like occasional crime sweeps in mostly Hispanic neighborhoods. (Associated Press)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=144752