Why bonuses have touched a nerve

No, it's not because you and I are jealous of those who get them.

It's because the bonuses, themselves, are wrong on a fundamental level:

"The Wall Street bonus system needs overhauling because what happened at AIG is not an isolated incident. It is commonplace to pay bonuses even when there is no evidence that there is an equivalence between the bonus and the work performed. The bonus is paid to keep them from leaving.

"It amounts to extortion, because by paying employees twice, first for work done poorly, second for cleaning up their own mess, corporate managers, employees, and directors in effect conspire to fleece the stockholders, in this case U.S. taxpayers who own 80 percent of AIG shares. Contracts arranged through a conspiracy are not valid, and we should not hesitate to set them aside.

"The bonuses paid under the terms of those contracts are much more than a pimple on the face. They are a malignant tumor." (emphasis mine)