SUSIE GHARIB, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT ANCHOR: House Democrats go all out to get the AIG bonus money back. Today they slapped a 90 percent tax on those payments. Meanwhile Treasury Secretary Geithner says he`ll take the heat for the AIG bonus controversy. DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT ANCHOR: And the Fed`s bold move to buy up billions in mortgage-backed securities had phones ringing off the hook at mortgage lenders today. Everybody and their brother wants to know if now is the time to buy or refinance.

GHARIB: Wal-Mart is spreading the wealth. The giant retailer is making its largest ever annual bonus to employees. The $2 billion plan includes almost a billion for hourly workers.

GERSH: Then, the cruise industry thought its business was recession resistant, but that was before the economy fell off the cliff. Coming up, a look at how the industry is navigating stormy seas.

GHARIB: I`m Susie Gharib.

GERSH: And I`m Darren Gersh. Paul Kangas is off tonight. This is NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT for Thursday, March 19.

GHARIB: Good evening everyone, a big admission today from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about those controversial AIG bonuses. He told CNN he approved a provision in the stimulus bill letting AIG employees keep their bonuses. Geithner was concerned the government could be sued if the compensation contracts were broken. He says he`ll take quote full responsibility for the situation. Meanwhile, it looks like Congress has figured out a way to get that bonus money back. The House OK`d a bill today to impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses, not only at AIG but any company receiving more than $5 billion in government bailout loans. As Stephanie Dhue reports, lawmakers are quickly responding to public outrage over companies abusing taxpayer money.

STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: AIG`s Washington headquarters became the gathering point for labor unions to protest the million dollar bonus payments. On the House floor, lawmakers echoed the anger. Democrat Earl Pomeroy hurled his own insults at AIG executives.

REP. EARL POMEROY, (D) NORTH DAKOTA: By any measure, you are disgraced, professional losers and by the way, give us our money back.

DHUE: Outrage moved into action with passage of a bill to tax bonuses at a 90 percent rate. Employees who got bonuses after December 31, 2008 and make more than $250,000 a year would be subject to the tax. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it a matter of fairness.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: It isn`t right, it just simply isn`t right when there is a reward, a spelled out in advance reward, for those who will take undo risk. When they fail they get a bonus; the taxpayer gets the bill.

DHUE: There are doubts about whether the House bill is constitutional and how much of the money it would recover. Republican minority leader John Boehner voted against the bill, charging it was little more than a cover for the Treasury not dealing with the bonus issue earlier.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: This bill is nothing more than an attempt for everybody to cover their butt up here on Capitol Hill. It`s full of loopholes. A lot of these people who are getting these bonuses are likely live in London and it`s not clear how raising this tax is going to recover that money. The fact is the Treasury secretary can recover all this money and he can do it immediately.

DHUE: But emotion ruled the day with an overwhelming vote in support of the proposal. Budget analyst Stan Collender says the bill should be a warning to firms that receive government support.

STANLEY COLLENDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, QORVIS COMMUNICATIONS: You don`t invite the government into your home, charge them billions, if not hundreds of billions of dollars for the privilege and then kick them out the next morning when the government`s cramping your style. The government will be there with either these strings, if not shackles attached, for quite some time.

DHUE: Pressure is growing on AIG executives to return their bonus money. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has received a list of bonus recipients, which could be used as leverage to get the money back. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.

GHARIB: And fresh questions tonight about how Citigroup is spending its bailout money. The struggling bank is shelling out $10 million to overhaul the executive suite at its Manhattan headquarters. Citi says combining two floors of offices into one will eventually save more money than the renovation expenses. The bank has received $45 billion in Federal bailout money.

GERSH: The battle remained the same on Wall Street today as those who believe the worst is over continue to duke it out with those who don`t. This morning, concern the economy might hurt financial stocks won out, bringing the market down. Stocks fought back after the Federal Reserve announced it would expand the TALF. That`s the trillion dollar program to support consumer lending. But the day still ended in the red. The Dow closed off 85 at 7400. The NASDAQ fell 7 points to 1483. The S&P 500 dropped 10 points to 784. Look at the bond market, the bond market dodged (ph) a profit taking after yesterday`s big surge in prices. The 10-year note fell 10/ 32 to 101 and 7/32, lifting the yield to 2.61 percent.

GHARIB: The government`s bailout of the U.S. auto industry is now expanding to companies that make auto parts. The Treasury said today it is providing $5 billion in financing to auto parts suppliers. The money will reimburse them for parts that have been shipped to auto makers but not paid for. It`ll be up to GM, Ford and Chrysler though to decide which suppliers need help.

Meanwhile General Motors plans to ask Uncle Sam for more money for itself. Dow Jones reports GM needs additional funds to keep operating through April. Earlier this month, GM withdrew its request for $2 billion to get through March because cost-cutting measures were working. According to Dow Jones, the Obama administration will decide before the end of the month on GM`s bailout request.

GERSH: Speaking of bail outs, someone didn`t do a credit check on some of the firms getting billions in government bailout money. Thirteen of them owe more than $220 million in delinquent back taxes. Two companies owe more than $100 million each. But we won`t know which firms they are at least for now, because the House Ways and Means Committee said it can`t legally release their names. Representative John Lewis, a senior committee member, calls the tax cheats a disgrace and says he`ll investigate.

GHARIB: And millions of Americans are investigating the drop in mortgage rates. Those rates are at fresh lows today thanks to the Federal Reserve`s blockbuster plan to pump over a trillion dollars into the mortgage market. The move heated up phones at mortgage providers with calls from people who had been waiting to buy or refinance a home. At Scott Gurvey reports, there`s lots of interest but few easy answers.

SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: I checked in with my mortgage lender in New Jersey today. You may have checked in with yours. Melissa Cohn, president of Manhattan Mortgage, says the Fed set off a stampede.

MELISSA COHN, OWNER & PRESIDENT, MANHATTAN MORTGAGE: The phones have been ringing off the hook. The e-mails are flying in and everyone is waiting for what they have been told could be that 4 percent mortgage rate.

GURVEY: My banker`s rate is still well above 4 percent and his message for me was not yet when I asked if it made sense to refinance. Freddie Mac`s weekly survey on mortgage rates, released today but taken before the Fed announcement, quotes a 30-year fixed at 4.98 percent.