The Administration made it clear at least a week ago: play ball with us, or else.
But President Barack Obama wasn't in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public's reaction to such explanations. "Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn't buying that.""My administration," the president added, "is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."
Anybody ask him about those Fannie and Freddie bonuses?
In the letter, a copy of which was made available to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Lockhart defends the bonuses as vital to retaining talent at the two companies, the main providers of funding for U.S. home mortgages. Fannie and Freddie, which reported combined losses of about $108 billion for 2008, are being propped up by capital infusions from the U.S. Treasury.
..."It is not realistic to expect that experienced and highly skilled employees will indefinitely continue to work as hard as they have if we do not provide reasonable incentives to perform," Mr. Lockhart wrote. He argued that the companies need "skilled and experienced staff" to manage safely their more than $5 trillion in debt and guarantees of mortgage securities.
"For personal privacy and safety reasons," Mr. Lockhart said, it wouldn't be appropriate to release the names of all employees receiving bonuses of $100,000 or more.