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Mr Earl

Chris Dodd

line him up next to Barney Franks and let them twist in the wind!

Jet Gorgon

^ The doddering old fek. Saw that in the news, and he's backpedaling faster than Clinton on his BJs.
I don't know who is the bigger slime ball: Dodd, Pelosi, Reid or Frank. Hey, the new Gang of Four!

panama hat

Didn't the administration just table a proposal to tax bonus payments on companies that are under federal funding at 90%? That's one way to get around the contractual obligations. Brilliant, I say.

Jet Gorgon

Ohy do try to keep up, dim cap.

WASHINGTON – Denouncing a "squandering of the people's money," lawmakers voted decisively Thursday to impose a 90 percent tax on millions of dollars in employee bonuses paid by troubled insurance giant AIG and other bailed-out companies.
House passes bill taxing AIG and other bonuses

This is all a stupid mob mentality. Face it, most of the bonuses went to the AIG's FP staff in LONDON. Try and get that money back. The press has totally mucked this up, as has both sides of Congress. What's $165 mil when bambam has shoved a $700bil+ stimulus bill thru Congress that NOBODY read, which included the OK to give bonuses that were approved before Feb 11? Ya, ask Chris Dodd about that -- he made that provision.

Oh, and what did the Fed do to help yesterday? It printed $1 TRILLION in fresh new bank notes to buy up some Treasuries. Get your money outta US dollars, folks.
reportonbusiness.com: Fed expands rescue with trillion-dollar plan

panama hat

Oh so true . . . I spent the whole of Wednesday travelling - that's what some people do when they work . . . not just bedsit and walk dogs.

So, how was my post wrong?

So now you disagree with the move? Weren't you for some sort of action previously?

Wasn't the number 7 employees getting 3 million each out of how much? 21 million out of how much is 'most'?

SEA Traveler

Close call but Pelosi takes the cake.

Muadib

Just another shining example of how the 'hired help' in Washington are screwing the pooch... Won't be long before mob mentality does take over in the US...

Jet Gorgon

^ Ouch! I hope the BO's don't get a puppy.

Earl, Dodds is in major sh*t in his home riding in Conneticut, too.

Washington (AP) – Democrats may want to start thinking about a bailout for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, whose political stock has slipped amid the financial meltdown.
As a five-term Democrat who blew out his last two opponents by 2-1 margins in a blue state Dodd, D-Conn., should be cruising to re-election in 2010...But...A recent poll showed former Rep. Rob Simmons running about even with Dodd.

In addition:
The GOP is slamming Dodd, claiming he is cozying up to Wall Street insiders, raking in bundles of their campaign cash, shirking his banking panel duties and running for president as the economic crisis erupted in 2007.
He’s also under investigation by a Senate ethics panel for mortgages he got from Countrywide Financial Corp., the big lending company at the center of the mortgage crisis.
Dodd's political stock tumbles

Hey, dim cap, if you throw out numbers and supposed news bites, you're supposed to use linkie-poos. Maybe you should get Milkie or Norts to proof all your posts to help you save face. I'm surprised you added any possibly real info tho, as your posts are normally filled with snivelling attacks on other posters. Guess you feel like "big man" doing easy-pickin biz that allows you to oppress poor people in Asia, huh?

attaboy

The US Constitution Article I, section 9, clause 3 states: "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

I think that's what we will have if the bill which the House passed makes its way through the the Senate and is signed by the President. The government can't single out citizens for ex post facto punishment. That's a road we don't want to go down no matter how upset people are. I'm amazed at how quickly members of Congress acted like a mob. Did anyone watch Charlie Rangel. He sure wants to change the subject. No need to continue on about his tax fraud. I know what kind of person Barney Frank is when he calls for the names of those who received bonuses. He wants to fire up the mob and wave the list of names. Shamefull. The man should be thrown out on the steps of the Capitol. Howabout we call for the name of Barney Frank's boyfriend at Fannie Mae? I want to know how much in bonuses Barney Franks boyfriend received at Fannie Mae.


The AIG bonuses were to be given to those people who stayed on at AIG and who helped to clean up their departments and in the case of credit defaults swaps make what sense they could of AIG's holdings (of credit default swaps) and close down the department permanently. They were being asked to stay on and terminate their jobs in an orderly manner. Why should people stay at their desk without an incentive? It would be in their own self-interest to look for new steady work asap in this kind of job market. They could have walked away an let someone not up to speed sort it out. This is a plausible scenario which would explain the bonuses. Whether it's true, I don't know.

Did anyone suggest that these bonuses should have been converted into restricted stock which couldn't be sold for three years minimum? Then there would have been an incentive to clean up the company and make it a desirable entity.

I don't want to get into when did Geithner know. He says he didn't know until March 10. On March 3rd he appeared before Congress and was specifically asked about the bonuses by Congressman Crowley.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/20/v ... march-3rd/


What really upsets me is the misdirection and scapegoating done by members of Congress and President Obama. Civilized leadership investigates, detemines guilt and looks to the statutes for degree of punishment. It does not misdirect the angers of the people, it does not further foment the anger and it does not scapegoat others to save its own skin. That sort of base human instinct should not be tolerated amongst our leadership. Subsequently, Obama said he'd take responsibility. He will take on our sins even though he's not to blame. He's innocent. I don't need him clouding the issue with religious mist. The responsible people should be known. This isn't some religious event which can't be explained and which should be resolved on faith.

Someone needs to pay for this economic catastrophe, I mean the whole shamolee, the entire mess. Pull them from the private sector and the public sector. I say Senator Dodd for having outright lied about his involvement in writing the loophole for the AIG bonuses is a good candidate. We got him outright lying. Barney Frank for taking Fannie Mae money and then vigorously defending Fannie Mae against federal investigators by ridiculing them should pay. Both should be booted when up for re-election. Where is the call for justice? Or is that only used to stir the mob?

__________________
As a kid I always thought my nickname was "attaboy" until I realized they were rooting for the dog: "Attaboy, get 'em! Get 'em!".

Norton

This was all that he needed to say. He has only been in office for a couple of months so statements related to inheriting the problem are superfluous and obvious. Not just for the AIG issue but any others that exist or may surface in the near future. Simply should have said, "These AIG bonuses are unacceptable and my administration will see none are paid." Lots of ways to do this including amending the TARP bill.


A "crisis" has a way of focusing attention on the ills that caused it. The causes and blame for the financial crisis are the result of our government and big business having a far to cozy relationship for far to long. When everything is going along fine and there are no disasters the public takes no notice of the thousands of bills and actions the government makes. Many of these are far from being in the best interest of the "people".

Identifying and bringing all those culpable for the economic meltdown would likely result in thousands of folks from both the private and government sector being brought to justice. Easy to point the finger at a few but in fact it was a gigantic team effort. Fixing it will require fundamental change in the relationship between government and private industry. A good start would be to eliminate lobbying and campaign funding by big business and special interest groups which in turn need to be "paid back" by elected officials when in office.

Badly needed reform but not likely to happen.

__________________
There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.

Woodrow Wilson

El Gibbon

Lost in the hullaballu re. the "Contracted" bonus payment issue is a small but unheralded FACT.

While Treasury was scared shitless about 'potential' lawsuits for breaking contract law, little did they realize there are a plethora of current and ongoing legal precedents in the US.

Firefighters, cops, and others are being forced to take vacation or 'off' days in order to balance local and state budgets. All in direct violation of signed and enforced labor contracts with those same government agencies. Take a peek at some of the California reductions in state agency's programs.

Too bad the US Gov't doesn 't have the balls of some of the states and municipalities.

Could it be that these high roller (Salaried) employees are the largest contributors to political campaigns of both parties has any influence???? NO SHAME ON ME for mouthing such egregious contemplations.

E. G.

__________________
"If you can't stand the answer --
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GooMaiRoo

Your outrage at the AIG bonuses is pure myopia, some sort of crude political instinct to blame 'the liberals' for all of America's ills. In reality, Wall Street insiders have been seamlessly gang-raping the American taxpayer under the watch of Clinton, Bush and Obama with Democrats and Republicans being equally at fault.

The US dollar is being diluted by six trillion (trillion) dollars to subsidize Wall Street firms and investment banks. Much of AIG's $180 billion gift (including the $165 million in bonus money) was orchestrated by the George W. Bush regime. AIG bonuses constitute about 1/1000 of the taxpayer money given to AIG. Why aren't you outraged about the other 99.9% that AIG received?

By the way, you don't seem too worked up over the major role that George W. Bush and his treasury secretary Henry Paulson played in this. AIG should have been in receivership last year and they wouldn't have had bonus money to give.

Again, Ron Paul got it right. He seems to be the only American politician of any stature who is looking at the big picture:

DrivingForce

conversely I think all those who voluntarily returned it should be listed though and held up as examples if they have no objections of course..

panama hat

My question:

Your response.

The coup de grace:

The irony. The irony.

Jet Gorgon

You have taken everything out of context again, as usual for you.
You should stick to ripping off poor people in third-world countries, dc. You really know sh*t about anything else, which is why most posters just ignore you.

panama hat

Obfuscation and denial again? Par for the course. Which part did I take out of context and what should I have provided a link for?

Nasty, nasty. Also par for the course.

Define 'most', as you and BG hardly qualify for 'most'.

attaboy

Someone at Treasury should step up and explain why they had Dodd rewrite the bill to include the bonuses. It might possibly end the death threats to private citizens who had no control of the legislation making process.


Madoff is not enough. He was some maverick running a ponzi scheme. I want the people involved in the subprime scam. Dodd and Frank are perfect seeing how they are the chairmen of the banking committees of their respective branches of Congress. Both took money and Dodd got caught in an outright lie. Whether he remembered his role in the AIG rewrite or not he outright lied.

Someone at Moody's who rated the mortgage-backed securities as A+++ ( or whichever rating they give for quality instruments) must explain themselves and pay.

Any head of Fannie Mae generating large bonuses for themselves by buying up bad loans Countrywide Financial and the others didn't want, they should be asked to explain themselves and pay. Jamie Gorelick the woman responsible for the "Gorelick Wall" which kept the CIA and FBI from exchanging their terrorist intelligence, she wound up working at Fannie Mae. She took home $730,000 in bonuses. She needs to explain herself and pay.



People are free to add to the list.

Norton

Oh, oh! An invitation which will result in the TD record for most number of posts.

My contribution to the list - SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

attaboy

^Mods, please split this topic so I can finally make my way into the Century Club.