It was Charles Rangel, as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who introduced the legislation today imposing a 90 percent tax on the bonuses paid to execs at bailed-out companies. "These people are getting away with murder," Rangel proclaimed on the House floor earlier today during the debate over the bill. But now the bill has passed and Rangel's work is done and it's time to return home. First-class, baby! Via a tipster who emailed us moments ago: "Charlie Rangel is on the Acela RIGHT NOW in FIRST CLASS. Got up to make sure it was him and it is. I know plenty of congressmen ride first class but it's still annoying." And a tad ironic, too!

An AIG corporate security memo, leaked to Gawker, advises employees on how not to fall victim to the populist horde calling for their heads. Click to see it in full.

"Protecting the Sarah Palin brand" has to be right up there with being the Octo-Mom's publicist in the Annals of Totally Futile Shit.

[Amy Winehouse in London; image via Bauer-Griffin]

Well, well. Michelle Obama has some nice arms, and now all the ladies want some nice arms. Women of America: resist this arm fixation. Do you want to end up just as dumb as men?

Foolish idealists have banded together and formed a Facebook group protesting the University's choice to have honey-dipped actor James Franco as their keynote graduation speaker. Because looking at that mug for 30 minutes is torture.

Much has been made in recent weeks about TMZ's decision to focus its attention on the financial crisis and corporate misbehavior. When the site revealed that the bank Northern Trust had hosted a golf tournament and a series of splashy parties even after receiving $1.6 billion in taxpayer money, editor Harvey Levin told the Times it was "the most important thing" TMZ had ever done, and one of the site's photographers said that while "Britney is fluff," stories about "Northern Trust, Madoff, and politicians in D.C. really have an impact on the country." It's nice to see TMZ's dedication to hard-hitting investigative journalism continues. Today a TMZ cameraman ambushed Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion outside a juice store near the offices of ABC News did his best to get Champion to utter the world "fruit" on camera. Now they just need to start gay-baiting the sons of disgraced Wall Street execs and they'll get the mix down perfectly. The video of the Cuomo/Champion encounter is after the jump.

Everyone's mad about banks spending bailout money! It's outrageous that anyone would take taxpayers cash and then actually use it. These whiffs of populism are like nitrous — a brief thrill that accomplishes nothing.

In your servile Thursday media column: the scoop on Steve Bartelstein, the Singapore Judiciary blows, Eric Holder's willing to help newspapers die slower, which is good, because nobody wants to pay much for one:

Every hotel has a gimmick these days, but the one the Helmsley Hotel is offering up may be the most morbid. In honor of tax season—and the late Leona Helmsley's famous aversion to paying them—the hotel is offering "tax-free" rooms, a promotion that shaves roughly $50 off the $250 room rate. No word on whether the hotel has other Leona-inspired specials in the works, although given all the trouble that Trouble caused, a doggie-friendly deal seems like a natural follow-up. [HotelChatter]

Sarah Palin is seeking the advice of a Scientologist as she plots her 2012 presidential run, which just makes sense to us.

Olivia Palermo is getting a little help from MTV as she tries to convince the world she isn't as horrible as you might think she is given her role as resident bitch on The Hills. Per the network's "official" TV blog: "With all the Olivia bashing that's been going on lately, we wanted to remind you that she has a totally separate life from what you see on The City. Not only is she way more casually dressed in person (we've spotted her in jeans and heard her cop to breaking out the spandex!) but she's also way more chill. And happier! And dating the hottest guy ever." Okay, sure, Johannes Huebl is nothing to sneeze at. But the hottest guy ever? Bold claim, MTV! But feel free to watch the video of Johannes flexing his abs in "nut-hugging briefs" so you can judge for yourself.

Wall Street Journal editor Robert Thomson urged his charges to work faster. To underline the point, some system that feeds WSJ stories to Dow Jones Newswires will now be called "URGENT" instead of "Speedy."

Maxim is covering the financial crisis the only way they know how: The new issue of the mag features a piece on the hottest business reporters on CNBC and Fox Business. ("Foxy financial reporters are fixing the recession in our laps," the story starts.) It's no surprise that they're taking that approach, of course, but to assign Maria Bartiromo a hotness level on par with Lou Dobbs? Ouch! Clearly the makeup department at CNBC has been pretty busy today touching up Maria's tear-stained cheeks. The charticle is below.

Well, that was unexpected. On last night's Idol elimination episode, twasn't Scott (as I predicted) or Anoop (as some of you did). It was blondie Alexis who went home. Wha' happened?

Not much more than a year ago, Chris Dodd thought he could be president. Today, he might lose his Senate seat because he's up to his ears in AIG and lied about it.

Despite being total bullshit, the idea that you can "cleanse" your body with days-long juice fasts persists. If a new story is to be believed, Cleanse Mania is affecting rich women and fameballs alike.

Twitter is "the latest computer craze," according to easily startled Today hostess Meredith Vieira, who didn't get the answer she expected from wacky Stephen Colbert when she asked if he used the microblogging service. Watch!

Almost forty years ago, Charles Manson and members of his "family" cult killed seven people. He's still alive, still in jail, and still scary-looking. California's Department of Corrections has released a new photo of him.

And you thought Washington was constitutionally unable to get anything done in a hurry. The House passed legislation this afternoon to recoup most of the $165 million in bonuses paid out to employees of AIG. The bill applies a 90 percent tax on bonuses given to executives who earn more than $250,000 and who work for companies that have received at least $5 billion in government aid.