President Obama vowed to try to stop the faltering insurance giant American International Group from paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives, as the administration scrambled to avert a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street that could complicate Mr. Obama’s economic recovery agenda.
“Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G. warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay,” Mr. Obama said. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?”So far, so good. Color me impressed.
White House officials said that the administration is not looking to take A.I.G. to court to stop the company from paying out the bonuses. But they said the Treasury Department would be trying to figure out what they can do to block A.I.G. from making the payments within the legal confines of A.I.G.’s contractual obligations to the executives.Jeez, we own 80 percent of the damned company. Ownership doesn't give us a say in how the place is run...?
Maybe Obama will finally come to understand two things:
1. Geithner is not the man for the job. He's part of the Wall Street culture.
2. No matter how much Obama speaks of bipartisanship, no matter how fervently he seeks a "centrist" (read: Wall Street friendly) solution, the conservative media will damn him as a Socialist and will try to convince the population that he is the sole cause of the crisis. Screw the half-measures. Nationalize. Take control.
Added points: The headline is a joke, dummies. (The last sentence was not addressed to most readers, but to the few who show up each and every day just to pen hate messages which will never be published.)
On a completely separate subject: I was the topic of a post on the Confluence which generated some 400-plus comments. Even I had to stop following the thread. Part of me wants to discuss the brouhaha here; another part of me prefers to go on to other matters.
16 comments:
There seems to be a new wrongness when it comes to selecting personnel these days. Basically, anybody who has been in politics at least 10 years, has skeletons.
Everybody else is too inexperienced.
BZero is doing exactly what he was placed in office to do - continue the progroms of Bu$h in addition to smearing the D brand into oblivion. I understand it is normal to point out what he should be doing, but it's nagonnahappen. What I do not understand is why intelligent people are still questioning why - why BZero, why - duh. He has neither the integrity nor the grit to cross his handlers - he basically just doesn't care. The better question, how do we stop this NOW. We know corporate media is not going to help. Reading blogs has been my only salvation - like minded people who are so much more intelligent than I - I just keep thinking we need to stop him(corporate cabal). BZero is only a cipher - nothing more. Who knew someone could be found to make Bu$h look good.
Go with the other part of your intentions, Do not address what happened on the Confluence. Either you are the Devil Incarnate, or a bastion of free speech.
BTW, MYIQ, where are you?
I am not impressed. Notice the phrasing in the paper: Obama is doing it to "head off" populism, not because what AIG is doing is inherently wrong. Now, this may be the WP spin, but in this case, I think they understand Obama's motivation.
Because if I were in Obama's shoes, I'd be doing everything to whip up populism and ride that wave to enact reforms of the system. But Obama is more interested in squelching it.
The One doesn't seem to have any problems with getting the auto companies to abrogate their contractual obligations to the retired union members, why the hell is he so solicitous of the bastards who created this shitpile?
If you go over to Democratic Underground, you would be amazed at the contortion acts the Obama groupies do, even if it means sacrificing Democratic Party principles. Case in point is education. The groupies try to find some reason to support "merit pay," even though the idea is based on a false premise schools are businesses and can be run on business models. Unbelievable, but being a slave to a cult does that.
You don't think God made the trillions of $$ disappear and then ensured that 'new' trillions of $$ would be siphoned off to eliminate any possibility of so-called 'reparations'? You know, 'eliminate the impossible, and everything that remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth'? Are federal reserve notes still made ob king cotton?
Shorter version: have you read Russ Baker's "Family of Secrets"?
I'm right here.
I don't care what anyone says, Cannonfire is still one of my favorite blogs.
I never expected my support of this blog to cause such turmoil though. I guess some people have a much looser definition of "anti-semitism" than I do.
Haven't shareholder rights been gutted? Perhaps along with the bailout, they should have reestablished the right of shareholders to sue the company as well as other means of shareholder action against management.
Too much has been done in a knee-jerk fashion without forethought. Either that, or there was never any intention by the Obama administration to actually solve the problem.
What take away the power of his contributors?
White House officials said that the administration is not looking to take A.I.G. to court to stop the company from paying out the bonuses
More evidence - as if any were needed - that Obama doesn't know how to negotiate: you don't take an option off the table until you have to; it weakens your position.
And even if you do take an option off the table, you DON'T tell the other party you did until you have to - you make them think you might still do it: the more things they have to consider, the more their attention is split, which gives you an advantage.
Now, I'm sure the Obots will say he's faking them out by saying he is while not actually doing it, but he's never shown any evidence that he's that tricky.
----
Alessandro - On HuffPo, Gary Hart said something along those lines about Hillary: She has been in politics so long she MUST be compromised, corrupt, etc., so don't vote for her. In doing so, was saying explicitly what Edwards and Obama said by implication in the debates (Edwards called her part of a 'corrupt culture'; Obama - while answering a question which implied her - compared everyone with experience to Cheney and Rumsfeld) and what Bush said (regarding everyone in Washington)in the 2000 campaign.
Sergei Rostov
Despite your incendiary comments on Riverdaughter's post, I'm still a huge fan. I'm glad it's all out in the open. I'm not at all sorry I stood up for you. You're my favorite curmudgeon.
Boston Boomer
myegoz2xu is at the Devils Incarnate Conference. Please don't speak of the Devil, or as the proverb will have it, he will appear.
Joseph, no sweat...even if some of us have less to add to your substantive posts as to your more gossipy ones, we're digging both...well, speaking for myself and extrapolating...
NY Times:
The attorney general Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said Monday afternoon that he had not received the information he was seeking about the American International Group’s $165 million in bonuses and would issue subpoenas for the data soon.
The payments to A.I.G.’s financial products unit, which was responsible for billions of dollars in losses at the insurance giant, were sent out on Friday, Mr. Cuomo said. The attorney general had demanded that A.I.G. hand over the information by 4 p.m. on Monday.
"I believe in transparency and disclosure," Mr. Cuomo said on a conference call. "We believe taxpayers have a right to know."
fake outrage by O. It is obvious that the game plan is to get Os face on TeeVee daily.
Talk especially cheap in O'Land. I want him to actually do something.
"Screw the half-measures. Nationalize. Take control"
In for a penny, in for a pound!
Barry was supposedly a good basketball player, but he's fiddling and diddling in the paint, afraid to drive to the hoop.
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