Subscribers toASI’s E-Newsletter may have noticed the addition of a weekly survey to the news features section. Here we present the results of the March 24 survey.
Should companies receiving government bailout funds be banned from paying bonuses?
Yes: 71.1%
No: 26.8%
Should the government levy severe taxes on bonuses paid to employees of companies receiving government bailout funds?
Yes: 46.4%
No: 51.5%
ASI recently added a comment box to its weekly E-News survey. Here are a few highlights from the past week.
“Bonuses should be based on performance, not a contract. Do well, make money, get a bonus based on the results. Tank the company, no bonus - and maybe lose your job.”
“If companies required government money to stay solvent, then the original employee contracts should be void. I would like to know how a contract mandates bonuses when the company loses money. Those bonuses should be included in their salaries. The companies mention that they need to pay their bonuses to keep these people. If I was a CEO, I would not want to keep employees that put my company in the red.”
“First, not all divisions on these companies are unprofitable. Why should all divisions lose bonuses? This could lead to extremely poor performance across the board just when these companies need everyone to be more profitable. That being said, if the division loses money, then no one should get a bonus. Secondly, if the government were to increase taxes on bonuses it would kill the American spirit!”
“My taxes are not another's bonus. My taxes are to help the masses, not the few.”
The Obama administration knew what it was doing. Therefore, you cannot punish companies for accepting money and paying bonuses.”
“Bonuses up to a certain amount, say $50,000, should be exempt from taxes, etc.”
