The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119596   Message #2594871
Posted By: JohnInKansas
22-Mar-09 - 06:48 PM
Thread Name: BS: Wal-Mart to award bonuses
Subject: RE: BS: Wal-Mart to award bonuses
The whole flap over the AIG bonuses is just a diversion to keep people from noticing what's actually in the latest "Bailout" bill.

REFERENCE: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (.pdf)

All the news media have been enthusing over the "$400 stimulus rebate ($800 for married couples, and more for those with rug rats)" that "everybody will get."

The fact is that only people who are employed and receive a "paycheck" will get any part of this. The "rebate" (page 195) is limited to those who have "earned income" and is limited to 6.2% of the persons "earned income." To receive a $400 rebate, you must have a "paycheck" showing someone paid you at least $6,451.61 as an employee.

Among others, Social Security income, Payements from a retirement plan, Disability Payments, withdrawals from an IRA or 401k, Railroad Retirement Act payments, Unemployment payments, and earnings from investments are NOT EARNED INCOME , so if you got laid off, fired, or retired, you get NOTHING.

There is a separate "benefit" of "up to $250" for persons on Social Security (but not, apparently on Disability? or unemployed, etc.) and for a few other "retirement" plans; but no credit for marriage or children, and the "exculsions and conditions" take up about 16 pages in the Act.

There is, as mentioned above, a "whole bunch of wordage" about "Technology in Health Care" that's intended to encourage automated record keeping and that could be helpful; but I'll have to talk to a few doctors about the real costs of such automation to tell whether the individual limits are significant relative to what it costs the doc. (A $40,000 "grant" isn't likely to be a deciding factor in whether to spend $120,000 to impress the clients, and my docs won't get anything because they all "updated" several years ago.)

There is a section on "Limits on Executive Compensation" (page 402) that was meant to address the "bonus" issue; but it's not exactly "strong" due to the simple fact that the bonuses given by AIG and others are embedded in prior existing laws.

John