A reality check for Wall Street (Rep. Leonard Boswell)

Early this week, I joined with my colleagues on the Populist Caucus in a letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner and Attorney General Holder that challenged them to finally address the exorbitant salaries and bonuses paid out to Wall Street executives whose companies drew huge government bailouts last year. Banks that were rescued from the brink of bankruptcy are now returning to business as usual, while my constituents on Main Street continue to suffer in an unforgiving economy. We have passed strong legislation this Congress that gave the Administration a mandate to rein in executive compensation at companies receiving taxpayer money. In this letter, the Members of the Populist Caucus urged the Administration to finally enforce those laws.

On Thursday, the White House responded. Kenneth Feinberg, also known as the White House “pay czar,” announced mandatory salary cuts and limits for the top executives of the largest companies still receiving government assistance through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). He gave warning that the Administration will also conduct salary reviews of other financial institutions receiving taxpayer funds.

Now, I represent a much diversified district in central Iowa that has both rural and urban interests. My constituents range from factory workers to farmers to life insurance executives. However, it seems to me that central Iowans all have one thing in common. We are just not prepared to stand idle while the executives of Wall Street, who largely caused this financial crisis, return to their ways of multi-million dollar payouts – especially on the taxpayer’s dime. These are executives that would have been out of a job and companies that would have blinked out of existence if not for the hard-earned tax dollars of every day, average Americans.

It is time that Wall Street put an end to a pay structure that rewards irresponsibility and gambling with the livelihoods of so many. The Populist Caucus was founded to refocus our government on the needs of the middle class. My colleagues and I will continue to provide a voice to these families and work with them to rebuild our economy from the ground-up.