Protests against corporate greed aren’t just for left-wing activists anymore. Now that there’s a recession, lawmakers are beating war drums, too, aiming their ire at American International Group Inc., where executives who shook the government’s piggy bank won’t be able to count on performance bonuses after all (via The Washington Post).

Outside Denver’s Wells Fargo Center yesterday at noon, as many as 100 Service Employees International Union members and other activists gathered to bring attention to “corporate excess” at a time when increasing numbers of Americans are losing their jobs and struggling to keep their homes, writes the Denver Business Journal. AIG’s $165 million in bonuses were the “last straw,” says SEIU president Andy Stern.

The Post reports that the House heard the populist uproar yesterday, approving a “near total tax” on bonuses paid to AIG employees and other firms that accepted billions of bailout bucks. If you’re up to it, take a quaint stroll down AIG’s memory lane, including bonuses, with this timeline from ProPublica.

Meanwhile, a local icon of monetary gluttony, ex-Qwest chief Joseph Nacchio, has come up with another reason he should avoid going to prison next week (and it doesn’t have anything to do with potential cancer). This time, Bloomberg News writes, a judge is considering whether Nacchio can remain on bail while the U.S. Supreme Court considers his petition to appeal his conviction for insider trading.