IIRC the particular example of this that was lauded around as Wall Street laughing at the common man wasn't exactly what the headlines made it out to be. The company had guaranteed those bonuses before the collapse. They were contractual obligations. Unless the company was in bankruptcy, I don't think there was anyway for them to escape paying them (and since they most likely technically count as payroll, even bankruptcy might not have been enough to avoid those payments). Putting these in the contracts was probably a bad idea, but once it's there, it's there. [Feel free to cite other examples, or refute what I've said. I'm not married to it. :)]
17 firms paid out bonuses, IIRC AIG was the only one that had that binding contract and for good reason, they where built to implode. I don't know if all of the firms had a similar structure, but the bonuses while Rome burned where by no means a one off case.
