Obama is going to be doing a media tour this week to get the public behind him after being thrown off track this week. Geithner and the President will be touting the help that will be needed to shore up the banks.
Did Team Obama drop the ball or throw the game?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
By Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
American International Group, an insurance company that has received about $180 billion in taxpayer funds, this month paid $165 million in bonuses to executives whose bad judgment is largely responsible for the financial mess we're in.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, wants the government to take back the bonuses. This is a change of heart for Mr. Dodd, because it was he who inserted in the "stimulus" bill an amendment which specifically protected from restrictions on executive compensation "contractually obligated bonuses agreed on or before Feb. 11, 2009." The amendment applied principally to AIG.
This apparent hypocrisy was not helpful to Mr. Dodd, who has been criticized for receiving a cut-rate loan from Angelo Mozillo, CEO of Countrywide Mortgage, one of the worst of the subprime mortgage lenders, and for his purchase of a $160,000 Irish "cottage" with the assistance of an insider trading felon for whom Mr. Dodd had arranged a pardon.
But it gets better.
The AIG bailout has been a way to hide an enormous second round of cash to the same group that had received TARP money already," wrote former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer in Slate Tuesday. "AIG was nothing more than a conduit for huge capital flows to the same old suspects, with no reason or explanation."
Perhaps there's a hint of an explanation in this: Employees of Goldman Sachs contributed $955,473 to the Obama campaign. Employees of CitiGroup contributed $653,468; employees of JPMorgan Chase, $646,058; employees of Morgan Stanley, $485,823
If you want to read about Obama's Crocodile Tears over the AIG bonuses click here.
Showing posts with label AIG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AIG. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
GOP Blasts Kanjorski, Carney Over AIG
Times-Tribune Reporter BORYS KRAWCZENIUK highlighted a report that the National Republican Congressional Committee(NRCC) accused Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney of [either failing to read the bill or knowingly supporting “a bill that would hand out millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses to Wall Street executives.”]
As usual, Paul Kanjorski has been posturing(pandering) to the public that he is their champion in looking out for their interests. Paul, when are you going to return AIG's donations?
U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski labeled as “troubling” the $165 million in bonuses paid over the weekend to current and former executives of American International Group as he led the hearing into the ailing insurance giant Wednesday.
“Something is seriously out of whack, and AIG needs to fix it now,” Mr. Kanjorski, D-11, Nanticoke, said in remarks at the hearing of the House Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, which he heads.
As it turns out, the stimulus bill included language inserted by Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut that exempts bonuses in employee contracts in place before Feb. 11 from the bill’s prohibitions on bonuses paid with Wall Street bailout money. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law Feb. 17. Mr. Dodd said he inserted the language at the White House’s request, but had no indication it was AIG-related.
The facts bear out that the TARP bill was put through Congress in a hurry. Paul Kanjorski was part of that process, and now he wants to cry about the horse roaming free when the barn door was left open by his vote. It has been known for months by Kanjorski and the Obama administration that there were bonuses to be paid. At the time the TARP bill was passed bonuses were discussed.
Paul, you were right. “Something is seriously out of whack."
To see how much was actually paid out by most of the firms click here. Forget the $165 million read this headline "Banksters used $85 billion of $140 billion taxpayer TARP money for bonuses in 2008".
The American public is just waking up to the egregious acts of the bonuses. Here is an article that appeared in the Pittsburh Tribune-Review back in November on the subject. "Bailout execs get bonus billions" Paul, do you read the newspaper??
Since it is not election time Kanjorski doesn't have the D-TripleC to run to his defense with their out and out lies.
As usual, Paul Kanjorski has been posturing(pandering) to the public that he is their champion in looking out for their interests. Paul, when are you going to return AIG's donations?
U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski labeled as “troubling” the $165 million in bonuses paid over the weekend to current and former executives of American International Group as he led the hearing into the ailing insurance giant Wednesday.
“Something is seriously out of whack, and AIG needs to fix it now,” Mr. Kanjorski, D-11, Nanticoke, said in remarks at the hearing of the House Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, which he heads.
As it turns out, the stimulus bill included language inserted by Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut that exempts bonuses in employee contracts in place before Feb. 11 from the bill’s prohibitions on bonuses paid with Wall Street bailout money. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law Feb. 17. Mr. Dodd said he inserted the language at the White House’s request, but had no indication it was AIG-related.
The facts bear out that the TARP bill was put through Congress in a hurry. Paul Kanjorski was part of that process, and now he wants to cry about the horse roaming free when the barn door was left open by his vote. It has been known for months by Kanjorski and the Obama administration that there were bonuses to be paid. At the time the TARP bill was passed bonuses were discussed.
Paul, you were right. “Something is seriously out of whack."
To see how much was actually paid out by most of the firms click here. Forget the $165 million read this headline "Banksters used $85 billion of $140 billion taxpayer TARP money for bonuses in 2008".
The American public is just waking up to the egregious acts of the bonuses. Here is an article that appeared in the Pittsburh Tribune-Review back in November on the subject. "Bailout execs get bonus billions" Paul, do you read the newspaper??
Since it is not election time Kanjorski doesn't have the D-TripleC to run to his defense with their out and out lies.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Glenn Beck Exposing The AIG Scam
Out of $108 billion that was given to AIG $62 billion went to foreign countries and only $44 billion remained in the United States. The media is keeping us focused on the $165 million bonuses while AIG money is flowing out of our country. Hear what the Judge has to say about the bonuses and contracts. Unions, pay attention. Your contracts could be voided by the government if you follow his argument.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Kanjorski Can't Keep His Hands Off The Money
Can you imagine the audacity of AIG giving out bonuses to its employees when it is taking federal bailout money?? The whole AIG discombubulation has been screwed up ever since it started. Now you have New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo investigating the AIG bonuses. Congress is threatening to enact an AIG tax because Chris Dodd put an amendment in the TARP package that helped AIG execs keep those bonuses.
Read this commentary from Larry Kudlow.
This whole AIG fiasco — where the entire political class is suddenly screaming over bonuses paid to derivative traders in AIG’s financial-products division — is just a complete farce. What it really shows is how the government has completely bungled the AIG takeover. Blame the Bush administration and the Obama administration. It also shows, once again, why the government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything.
And as for the $165 million or so in AIG bonus payments, the Obama administration — including the president, Treasury man Tim Geithner, and economic adviser Larry Summers — knew all about them many months ago. They were undoubtedly informed of this during the White House transition.
So there’s no big surprise. Nobody should be shocked. But President Obama is doing his best play-acting ever. He knows full well that the nationwide outcry against federal bailouts and takeovers is only going to get worse on his watch. His poll numbers are already falling, and this AIG episode is going to pull them down more.
Incidentally, has anybody asked Team Obama why it is more than willing to break mortgage contracts with a bankruptcy-judge cram-down, but won’t cram-down compensation agreements for AIG, despite the fact that the U.S. government owns the company? Kind of odd, don’t you think?
Along comes ABC News Jonatahn Karl who reports that Paul Kanjorski accepted 12,000.00 from AIG last year. Our tax money ended up in his campaign. He kept saying during the campaign and later how he was warning everyone of the impending financial crisis. But that didn't stop him from accepting our money through them.
At least Kanjo is now included in the "AIG's Best Friends ($$$) in Washington" list.
Wouldn't it make sense that if the execs have to give the bonuses back Kanjo should return the contributions???
Read this commentary from Larry Kudlow.
This whole AIG fiasco — where the entire political class is suddenly screaming over bonuses paid to derivative traders in AIG’s financial-products division — is just a complete farce. What it really shows is how the government has completely bungled the AIG takeover. Blame the Bush administration and the Obama administration. It also shows, once again, why the government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything.
And as for the $165 million or so in AIG bonus payments, the Obama administration — including the president, Treasury man Tim Geithner, and economic adviser Larry Summers — knew all about them many months ago. They were undoubtedly informed of this during the White House transition.
So there’s no big surprise. Nobody should be shocked. But President Obama is doing his best play-acting ever. He knows full well that the nationwide outcry against federal bailouts and takeovers is only going to get worse on his watch. His poll numbers are already falling, and this AIG episode is going to pull them down more.
Incidentally, has anybody asked Team Obama why it is more than willing to break mortgage contracts with a bankruptcy-judge cram-down, but won’t cram-down compensation agreements for AIG, despite the fact that the U.S. government owns the company? Kind of odd, don’t you think?
Along comes ABC News Jonatahn Karl who reports that Paul Kanjorski accepted 12,000.00 from AIG last year. Our tax money ended up in his campaign. He kept saying during the campaign and later how he was warning everyone of the impending financial crisis. But that didn't stop him from accepting our money through them.
At least Kanjo is now included in the "AIG's Best Friends ($$$) in Washington" list.
Wouldn't it make sense that if the execs have to give the bonuses back Kanjo should return the contributions???
Monday, March 9, 2009
AIG Warned of 'Crisis' if Government Didn't Help
Details are starting to emerge surrounding the lastest amount of money, $30 billion, that was given to AIG on top of the $130 Billion it already recieved.. From ABCnews
An AIG report to the Treasury Department last month warned that if the government didn't come to its rescue again, its collapse would trigger a "chain reaction of enormous proportions" that would "bankrupt the entire system" and make it impossible for AIG to repay the billions it already owed the U.S. government.
Click here to read their confidential report. It is mind boggling but there is one part that I find interesting on the last page. Capitalism may be alive and well with Obama..."Insurance is the oxygen of the free enterprise system. Without the promise ofprotection against life’s adversities, the fundamentals of capitalism are undermined".
An AIG report to the Treasury Department last month warned that if the government didn't come to its rescue again, its collapse would trigger a "chain reaction of enormous proportions" that would "bankrupt the entire system" and make it impossible for AIG to repay the billions it already owed the U.S. government.
Click here to read their confidential report. It is mind boggling but there is one part that I find interesting on the last page. Capitalism may be alive and well with Obama..."Insurance is the oxygen of the free enterprise system. Without the promise ofprotection against life’s adversities, the fundamentals of capitalism are undermined".
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Paul Kanjorski Gave Them $85 Billion -AIG Execs Party On Our Money
According to an article by Brian Ross of ABC News, the ink wasn't dry on the "Failout" plan approved by Paul Kanjorski, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, and Gregory Meeks known as the Beating 5 (due to the beating the American public is taking over providing this failout)before the generous executives over at AIG spent $440,000.00 on a retreat that included pedicures and manicures. "(E)xecutives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today." Room rates generally hover around $1,000.00 per night.
Some thoughts come to mind-gluttony, ravenousness, voracity, avarice, greediness, unaldutlerated audacity, and self-indulgence. Joe Six Pack's thoughts on the matter were vengeance, retribution, reckoning, and justice. Foghorn Leghorn would say that these boys are more mixed up than feathers in a whirlwind. These executives have clouded their senses of acquisition and enslavement to ever more material pleasures, the attendant power, and a need to store up surplus gratification at the expense of hard working Americans. Our reaction to the news starting to filter out of Washington should be a tsuanami of epic proportions.
Washington needs to have an epiphany that the American public has limits of toleration. Richard Fuld, former CEO of Lehman Brothers, getting his lights knocked out symbolizes that limit. Both Fuld and the execs at AIG are shameless in their actions.
If you really want to see why the Failout was so important visit rightcoast for an excellent post for contribution figures obtained from OpenSecrets.
Some thoughts come to mind-gluttony, ravenousness, voracity, avarice, greediness, unaldutlerated audacity, and self-indulgence. Joe Six Pack's thoughts on the matter were vengeance, retribution, reckoning, and justice. Foghorn Leghorn would say that these boys are more mixed up than feathers in a whirlwind. These executives have clouded their senses of acquisition and enslavement to ever more material pleasures, the attendant power, and a need to store up surplus gratification at the expense of hard working Americans. Our reaction to the news starting to filter out of Washington should be a tsuanami of epic proportions.
Washington needs to have an epiphany that the American public has limits of toleration. Richard Fuld, former CEO of Lehman Brothers, getting his lights knocked out symbolizes that limit. Both Fuld and the execs at AIG are shameless in their actions.
If you really want to see why the Failout was so important visit rightcoast for an excellent post for contribution figures obtained from OpenSecrets.
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