Reid names three to deficit-reduction commission

BUDGET

Reid appoints three to deficit commission

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) named three lawmakers Tuesday to President Obama's deficit-reduction commission, choosing the chairmen of the Senate Budget and Finance committees, as well as his own deputy, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.).

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has long advocated a mix of tax hikes and entitlement cuts to close the nation's yawning budget gap. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who has authority over tax policy, has also called for entitlement cuts and tax reform, though he strongly opposed pursuing a deficit reduction plan through an independent commission outside the regular legislative process.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), who has authority over discretionary spending, told reporters that he declined to serve on the commission, leading Reid to name Durbin, a traditional liberal likely to be wary of deep spending cuts.

Tuesday's announcement marks the first legislative appointments to the panel. Aides said congressional Republicans and House Democrats are unlikely to make their picks before next week.

-- Lori Montgomery

WALL STREET

Financial firms pay out 17% more in bonuses

Wall Street firms paid out $20.9 billion in bonuses last year, up 17 percent from 2008, when the financial industry received taxpayer bailouts, according to a report Tuesday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The average taxable bonus rose 25 percent, to $123,850, as fewer employees divvied up the bonus pool as a result of industry-wide layoffs, DiNapoli said. Payouts at the largest firms rose even faster.

The $20.9 billion figure is still significantly less than the $33 billion bonus pool in 2007, at the height of the bubble. But Wall Street pay in 2009 accounted for 24 percent of the wages paid to workers in New York City in 2008, even though the industry accounted for only 5 percent of city jobs.

"Wall Street is vital to New York's economy, and the dollars generated by the industry help the state's bottom line," DiNapoli said in a statement. "But for most Americans, these huge bonuses are a bitter pill and hard to comprehend."