VISIT US ONLINE AT www.metro.us Kelly takes her second chance page 16
The return of Julia Roberts The Word
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BOSTON • WEEKEND, MARCH 20-22, 2009
Finally, some action: A 90% AIG bonus tax And the good news is, the greedy bankers can’t challenge in court Nicolas Cage is an ‘artist’ page 09
The political blame games tied to the AIG fiasco continued Thursday, however the House of Representatives finally responded to the American people’s outrage by approving an eyepopping tax on high-end bonuses to bailed-out companies. The House voted for a 90 percent tax on bonuses of employees earning at least $250,000 a year, in companies who received at least $5 billion in bailout money.
“We want our money back, and we want our money back now for the taxpayers.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi The Senate could, as early as today, consider its own plan to impose a 70 percent tax for companies receiving at least $100 million in bailout. Democrats and Republicans swapped blame for legislation allowing the $165 million in bonus-
es to be paid in the first place. However Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner acknowledged partial blame, saying, “I was in a position where I didn’t know about these sooner, I take full responsibility for that.” The good news for American
taxpayers is that there is little prospect the new tax being overturned in in court. “If they had tried to just single out AIG, you may have had a constitutional issue,” said Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst at CCH, Inc. “But they tied it to all people receiving bailout funds, even if it is retroactive. However, at least $20 million of the bonuses were paid to AIG executives in London, who will avoid the new tax. METRO MORE ON P/04
HEAR THAT? HE’S THE VOICE OF THE T NATHAN FRIED-LIPSKI/METRO
A psychedelic SXSW page 12 Pols look to push off the Pike hike page 02
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BOSTON. Those recorded announcements you’re hearing on your subway car or bus right now? The man — or voice — behind them is longtime MBTA employee Frank Oglesby Jr. For nearly 20 years, Oglesby has been taping those recordings. He goes into a recording studio every few months to tape new stuff when the T needs to update something, including earlier this week when he completed some new bus announcements. “I enjoy doing it. It’s cool,” he said. MORE ON P/03
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