I’m an IT engineer with $130K annual salary while working for a California bank for the past 8 years. Last November, our company is put into FDIC receivership and sold to a TARP recipient bank on the same day. The new bank will lay off most people in my department, but agree to pay those laid off a retention bonus based on our years of service and retention date (laid off date). In my case, I’m getting 6 months of pay as retention payment, and an addition $40K to stay through July to convert our IT application and data to the new bank. This bill will take most of this money away since my wife's salary coupled with the severance will put us over $250K. But we are not rich executives who run the company into ground or the one decide to accept federal assistance. To us, this money is like a severance payment that will get us through the tough times once we get laid off. The irony is my tax money is used for a TARP bank to take over and eliminate my job. Then in the name of protecting taxpayers, Congress will tax away my severance.