Fair (and Unfair) Pay
Day 10
Jan. 29, 2009
"That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful ... There will be time for them to make profits and there will be time for them to get bonuses. Now's not that time."
—President Obama, responding to a report that Wall Street bankers gave themselves nearly $20 billion in bonuses even as the government was spending billions to bail them out
Obama seems legitimately angry about a New York Times report that financial executives gave themselves billions in bonuses this year and says he has instructed Treasury Secretary Geithner to express his anger directly to the leaders on Wall Street.
The mood is in stark contrast to the celebration that went on in the White House earlier in the day, when Obama put his signature on his first piece of legislation: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, designed to make it easier for workers to sue over gender-based pay discrimination.
Back in Obama's home state, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is unanimously impeached from office over allegations that he tried to sell Obama's vacant Senate seat, among other things. Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn is promptly sworn in to replace Blagojevich. Obama says in a statement that the vote "ends a painful episode for Illinois" and wishes the new governor good luck.