It was only a matter of time before we got to this point. And it took Northern Trust Corporation to do it. That is the evil corporation that has sent John Kerry on a mission to make sure that he is seen as a watchdog for the taxpayer!

Here's the set up. Northern Trust is a bank based out of Chicago. It received $1.6 billion under the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). According to the bank, it did not seek TARP assistance, but it agreed to participate in the program at the request of the Treasury Department. The TARP funds were essentially forced on Northern Trust. Northern Trust has made it clear in corporate statements that TARP "funds are not allocated to operating expenses, including marketing, advertising, corporate sponsorship or charitable activities."

Back in the fall of 2007, the bank signed a five-year contract to sponsor the Northern Trust Open, which is a PGA tour event. We are talking about a year before TARP even existed, okay folks? On February 19th-22nd .. just last week .. the bank held its second annual golf tournament. Phil Mickelson won, for anyone that cares. The event included parties and concerts and goody bags from Tiffany's. Does it look bad? Yeah. But is that the whole story? Of course not.

Then comes John Kerry, Barney Frank and the rest of the wealth-envy crowd. They are upset with the "extravagant spending practices of U.S. banks" that receive taxpayer money. John Kerry actually pulls out this line, "Americans who play by the rules are losing their jobs and struggling to pay their mortgages ... It's an embarrassment that this legislation is necessary, but some companies clearly need a reality check to get their priorities straight so taxpayer money is used to get their house in order and not to pay for lavish parties."

So what legislation is he talking about? Under John Kerry's legislation, which would go into effect March 1st, a TARP recipient could not "host, sponsor, pay for conferences and events and pay for holiday or entertainment events for the year in which they receive TARP funds." You can seek a waiver from the ... government ... for an event that the TARP recipient believes would be directly related to the operation of business. If you violate this restriction, the TARP recipient would have to reimburse the government taxpayers for the cost of the event and pay a $100,000 fine per violation.

Barney Frank is already calling on Northern Trust to refund the taxpayers for the golf tournament.