Friends of the Street.

• Author: Hightower, Jim
• Position: The Lowdown - Financial executives' bonuses

Once again, we are faced with the question that has long bedeviled political analysts and barstool pundits everywhere: Is the pusillanimity of Democrats worse than the stupidity of Republicans?

The question arises because of a curious vote in the House of Representatives to restrict the bonus money going to those nimble-fingered financial whizzes at Wall Street firms being bailed out by you and me. It was curious because there had already been a vote to do this the month before. Back then, after we commoners learned that MG and others were merrily tossing million-dollar bonus checks to their top executives (even as they pleaded for Washington to rescue their sorry butts), a genuine populist furor swept across the country, sales of pitchforks spiked, and Washington simply had to act.

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We will "do everything we can to get those bonuses back," promised President Barack Obama, who coolly explained that he was seething inside. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa went further, barking that AIG's bonus-grabbers should do the honorable thing. Return the money? No, fumed the Senator, they should commit hara-kiri. So, back in March, the House voted overwhelmingly to reclaim the bonus money by putting a near total tax on it.

Then, however, pusillanimity and stupidity settled over Washington like a blinding fog.

Let's start with the Democrats. They had put on a good show, denouncing the Wall Street bankers with righteous rhetoric, then pushing a properly populist reform through the House--but suddenly they went wussy. It seems that lobbyists for the finance industry, which is a major funder of the party's candidates, had been working behind the scenes, applying soothing cold presses to the fevered brows of Democrats and cooing softly about the need to show restraint.

Also, White House "Friends of the Street," like chief economic adviser Larry Summers, were urging a kinder, gentler approach to executives' compensation. (Coincidentally, Larry was paid $5 million last year to be an adviser to one of the biggest hedge funds on Wall Street and drew another $2.7 million in speaking fees, mostly from various financial giants now getting taxpayer dollars.)

Next thing you know, Obama himself changed his scolding tone, urging the public not to...