The government that we have should be representative of the population of the US. Ideally, we elect the officials... they vote on laws on behalf of their constituents. As long as things ran smoothly, I would say that most Americans haven't really cared about how the lawmakers got there. It's in a politicians best interest to be re-elected. They need money to do so. Who has the money? the big businesses..
I don't think that the operations of these big businesses, like AIG, has been common knowledge or that most American's have really cared. While it may be at a very steep cost, the simple act of those bonuses has caught public attention enough to make the people care. I think that the more people know, and care about it, the more affect this will have on our elected officials. People are watching now, especially since they are the ones footing the bill to bail out the monster corporations. Other large corporations, whether they recieved bailout money or not, are paying a little more attention to their public image at the moment.
Lets be real here... These large corporations are driven by greed for money and power. Banks and credit card companies get more money from higher interest rates, which they can justify charging if it is a risky loan. They expect people to fail. They get more money from it. People didn't care when it didn't directly affect them, but now it has. While people who held stock from these companies did benefit in the past, many have lost great sums of money with the stock market tanking. If these large companies want to continue to have investors, they will have to prove themselves to be a company that will not again put themselves and other people's money in jeopardy with risky moves that negatively affect all.
So what I'm getting at is this.. when these private businesses perform in such a way that it affects the general public, there are consequences. It will get brought up in local elections and such if opponents feel it is a sore spot for the citizens that a certain lawmaker was financed by such an institution. So, the big businesses will have to find a way to change their practices if they wish to continue having their political pull. People care now.. it's just a different ball game entirely. Even the government itself is pointing fingers at corruption within the ranks. It's just unfortunate that relatively everyone, including Obama himself, has accepted money in campaign contributions from representatives of big business.
Of course, that's all in a perfect world. My fear really is that legislation will have to be passed simply because I think people in the presence of money can get a little blinded by what is morally right. I don't think we should take away the american dream of having all the money you could possibly dream of, but when it is at the cost of a less fortunate individual, maybe it should be regulated.
Just think.. $100 million dollars in just bonuses to a few individuals could mean so much more than just a few people benefiting at the expense of all. It could be money put back into the community for free health clinics. IT could be money going to a college or institution for research into new and improved energy sources. For a large corporation, their focus has been and will continue to be on how to keep those $$$ rolling in, unless something happens to entice them to think otherwise.