The House moved quickly to vote yes on a bill to tax big employee bonuses given by companies who have taken substantial amounts of TARP money. The bill would impose a 90% tax on bonuses to highly compensated employees of companies that received more than $5 billion (with a b) in TARP money from the government.
The final vote was 328-93, one of the most bipartisan bills yet to pass the House. At the close, almost as many GOP Reps had voted yes as voted no, a stark contrast from prior bills this season, including the stimulus bill. 243 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted yes, while just 6 Democrats and 87 Republicans voted no.
The measure now moves to the Senate where it faces an admittedly more difficult vote. However, Senators from both sides of the aisle had proposed similar legislation earlier in the week; the Senate version had considered a less painful tax on the employee side with the imposition of a matching tax on the employer side.
I would not be surprised to see a modified version of the bill passed by the end of the month. It’s March madness on a totally different level.
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