As if jumping executives from the roofs of bank and wall street buildings wasn’t enough of a public sidewalk hazard, the House overwhelmingly passed a near total tax on bonuses paid to employees of AIG and other bailout biters. And to really nail the coffin – it’s retroactive.

The House vote sent some employees into a panic about the prospect of, in effect, having to give up money they might already have spent. And it had regulators fearing it could undermine the Treasury’s efforts to stabilize the financial system if banks tried to flee the bailout program or if other firms refused to participate in coming rescue operations to protect their bonuses, some executives said.

Story on NYTimes

Ps! If you happen to be a sad executive, here’s a little tax free bonus from us on WIOD: the streamed Leno interview with Obama.