U.S. PIRG Tax and Budget Reform Advocate Nicole Tichon has released Bailout Briefing #1: How to Stop Rewarding Failure. It focuses on comparing executive compensation approaches, including the provisions of the newly-enacted law (as part of the Recovery package). The detailed accompanying table compares the executive compensation provisions of the new Recovery law, the Geithner guidelines and other federal proposals. Each quarter, we will update our recent report, Failed Bailout, with a new Report Card on the status of the transparency and accountability of the bailout.

In other banks behaving badly news, Chairman Barney Frank and 17 other House Democrats have demanded that Northern Trust Bank return its $1.6 billion in TARP money, which it apparently used for classic rock concerts (Chicago; Earth, Wind and Fire; Sheryl Crow), golf tourneys and Tiffany swag bags. Read more at the website TMZ.com, which helped break the story.