Axelrod: Banks should rethink bonuses

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Wall Street firms preparing to hand out seven-figure bonuses to employees should rethink their plans, a senior White House adviser says.

David Axelrod, appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," was asked if investment banking firms -- some of which were recipients of taxpayer funded bailouts -- should rethink plans to distribute lucrative bonuses.

"Well, they should do that," he said. "I think what they need to understand is, on the same day that you saw stories about these bonuses, you saw a story about how wages are at a 19-year low.

"The American people have limited tolerance for this." Axelrod said.

Saying Americans "don't begrudge success," Axelrod asserted that the banks "ought to do the things that they should to help this country, and that's lending, and that's standing down on financial regulatory reform."

The U.S. government and taxpayers came to the investment banks' defense when they were "teetering on the brink" and the banks now have responsibilities which they should meet by "increased lending," he said.