Geithner Aide Lobbied for CEO Bonuses

The Treasury's new chief of staff once fought for the very executive bonuses Washington is trying to curb. When working for Goldman Sachs, Mark Patterson lobbied against a 2007 bill supported by Barack Obama to help limit Wall Street payouts. The initiative died in Senate committee. "Whatever Patterson had done, he could claim a success," David Corn and Jonathan Stein write in Mother Jones.

Goldman Sachs, the White House, and the Treasury are keeping mum about Patterson's opposition to the bill—but he was registered to work on it. And whatever he did, it clashed with Barack Obama's values. "How Patterson has gone from serving Goldman Sachs to serving the Obama administration is a tale that could use some more transparency," Corn and Stein write.