Ranting...

[ajblakejr]

By the way...
Can I please work for a company that gives bonuses based on performance...and then I can perform so badly; make such bad investments that I cause the company to be on the brink of bankruptcy?

...fail so epically that the "little" people have to give my company money so as not to collapse the economy...and after that can I take that money and get my million plus bonus anyway?

Can I please?
Yes makes perfect sense to me!

Oh. no....wait I know... I'll go to all my friends and their friends and even the wealthy and beautiful people ...and I'll get them to give me hundreds, no thousands...hell, MILLIONS of dollars and tell them I will invest it for them; because you know; I got street credibility and all...I'm a very intelligent person you know...damn near a genius... and then I'll just buy .....oh I don't know...yachts and cars and Park Avenue Penthouses and I'll think you are all so stupid that you won't miss your life savings you trusted me with. Yeah...that's the job I want!!


Why are we not kickin booty and taken names??? I'm just asking.

There... I feel much better now!

 

[Jones]

[FONT=georgia, times new roman, times, serif] Welcome to double-standard America

[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] The AIG scandal has made it apparent that we are ruled by a government of men, not laws. [/FONT] By David Sirota
[FONT=times new roman, times, serif]Mar. 21, 2009 |
United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard likes to say that Washington policymakers "treat the people who take a shower after work much differently than they treat the people who shower before they go to work." In the 21st century Gilded Age, the blue-collar shower-after-work crowd is given the tough, while the white-collar shower-before-work gang gets the love, and never before this week was that doctrine made so clear.

Following news that government-owned American International Group devoted $165 million of its $170 billion taxpayer bailout to employee bonuses, the White House insisted nothing could be done to halt the robbery. On ABC's Sunday chat show, Obama advisor Larry Summers couched his passive-aggressive defense of AIG's thieves in the saccharine argot of jurisprudence. "We are a country of law -- there are contracts (and) the government cannot just abrogate contracts," he said.

The rhetoric echoed John Adams' two-century-old fairy tale about an impartial "government of laws, and not of men." Only now, the reassuring platitudes can't hide the uncomfortable truth.

Last month, the same government that says it "cannot just abrogate" executives' bonus contracts used its leverage to cancel unions' wage contracts. As the Wall Street Journal reported, federal loans to G.M. and Chrysler were made contingent on those manufacturers shredding their existing labor pacts and "extract[ing] financial concessions from workers." In other words, our government asks us to believe that it possesses total authority to adjust contracts at car companies it lends to, and yet has zero power to modify contracts at financial firms it owns. This, even though the latter set of covenants might be easily abolished.

According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, these allegedly inviolate AIG agreements promised bonus money the company didn't have and were crafted by executives who knew the firm was collapsing, meaning there is a decent chance these pacts could be invalidated under "fraudulent conveyance" statutes. They also might be canceled via "force majeure" clauses allowing one party to rescind a pact in the event of extraordinary circumstances -- like, perhaps, the collapse of the world economy. (Note: BusinessWeek reports that corporations are already citing the recession as reason to invoke such clauses and nix their business-to-business contracts.)

But, then, those legal cases require a government that treats AIG's shower-before-work employees with the same firmness that it treats the auto industry's shower-after-work employees, not the government we currently have -- the one that believes "the supreme sanctity of employment contracts applies only to some types of employees but not others," as Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald says.

Mind you, this double standard works the other way, too.

Congressional Republicans have long supported the laws letting bankruptcy courts annul mortgage contracts for vacation homes. Those statutes help the shower-before-work clique at least retain their beachside villas, no matter how many of their speculative Ponzi schemes go bad. But for those who shower after work, it's Adams-esque bromides against "absolving borrowers of their personal responsibility," as the GOP announced it will oppose legislation permitting bankruptcy judges to revise mortgage contracts for primary residences.

Certainly, for all the connotations of fairness inherent in American politics' "country of law" catchphrases, most of us know that the selective application of legal principles is as old as the Republic. However, lots of us are only now discovering that inequality is so pronounced that the time of day we bathe determines the enforcement and reliability (or lack thereof) of even the most basic contracts.

We are just realizing that for all the parroting of America's second president, we are ruled by a government of men, and not of laws.
[/FONT]

 

[Jones]

Just in case the you're not pissed off enough yet about this whole fiasco: The Big Takeover

 

[tieguy]

This is in fact another diversion created by the liberals to take our minds off current economic conditions and to also fuel the move towards socialism that is currently taking place.


1) Congress gave AIG the money without any preconditions. As previously stated AIG had mismanaged thier own cash reserves which is why they were in financial trouble. With that said why would you then give them more money to mismanage without any preconditions.

2) Congress grandstanding on TV was a real treat. Congress invented and patented the art of wasting taxpayer monies. To see them pretend to be outraged at AIG was laughable.

3) Its another little story being woven to get american pissed off at the fat cat executives. Many americans are losing thier jobs and or thier homes right now. Playing up the AIG bonus issues creates a lot of resentment against the rich and thus builds support for the move towards socialism. Expect more diversions like this as the move towards a socialistic society continues.

 

[wkmac]

The AIG mess has consumed a lot of news focus of late and has many Americans focused on this issue. Of course, there is the obvious political manuevers trying to shift the blame and Sen. Dodd has admitted some guilt in respect to the bonus issue giving ground for democrat blame. In the sport of politics all is fair in love and war.

However I got curious about a more exact timeline of events and I find a somewhat interesting one at the CBS News website. In respect to AIG, reading through the timeline I found this entry for Sept. 16, 2008'

Sept. 16, 2008: The U.S. government announces an $85 billion emergency loan to rescue AIG, saying a disorderly failure of the company could hurt the already delicate financial markets and the economy.

2 days later on Sept. 18th, Congressinal leaders were given the now infamous Paulson/Benanke Nightmare Scenario of economic doom and meer hours away from Martial law having been now documented by several republican and democrat Congressman.

In the panic to follow, the timeline goes like this:

Sept. 19, 2008: Following a series of ad hoc measures, the U.S. government announces a broad rescue plan for the financial system, including a program to buy hundreds of billions of dollars of bad mortgages and other forms of toxic debt that have been weighing down U.S. financial companies. The Fed and Treasury Dept. shore up money market funds, which had also come under siege during the crisis, and the SEC temporarily bans short-selling - a way of betting that a stock will fall - against shares in 799 financial stocks.

Sept. 25, 2008: Washington Mutual Inc., one of the nation's largest banks, collapses under the weight of its enormous bad bets on the mortgage market. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seizes WaMu and then sells the thrift's banking assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion. With $307 billion in assets, Seattle-based WaMu, which was founded in 1889, is the largest bank in American history to fail.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., key members of Congress claimed agreement on an outline and crucial details of an urgent multibillion-dollar plan to stave off the crisis, but Republican members of the house balk at the plan and suggest an alternative plan. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain join negotiations, and late in the day, McCain sides with the House GOP alternative plan.

Sept. 29, 2008: In a surprise break from party leaders, House legislators defeat the $700 billion emergency rescue plan backed by the Senate and the White House for helping the nation's financial system. In reaction to the move, the Dow Jones industrials plunge nearly 780 points, the most ever point drop for a single day.

Oct. 1, 2008: After senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners, the $700 billion financial industry bailout passed on a 74-25 vote and moved on to the House.

Oct. 3, 2008: On a final vote of 263-171, the House of Representatives approved the revised $700 billion government bailout plan and sent it to President Bush for his certain signature.

But let's go back to that Sept. 16th action of loaning $85 bil to AIG. This action was not an act of Congress but an act of the Federal Reserve with the blessing from President Bush. The website GOPUSA posted the following AP news story on Sept. 17th with the following quoted from within.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a bid to save financial markets and economy from further turmoil, the U.S. government agreed Tuesday to provide an $85 billion emergency loan to rescue the huge insurer AIG. The Federal Reserve said in a statement it determined that a disorderly failure of AIG could hurt the already delicate financial markets and the economy.
It also could "lead to substantially higher borrowing costs, reduced household wealth and materially weaker economic performance," the Fed said.
"The President supports the agreement announced this evening by the Federal Reserve," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "These steps are taken in the interest of promoting stability in financial markets and limiting damage to the broader economy."
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the administration was working closely with the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other government regulators to "enhance the stability and orderliness of our financial markets and minimize the disruption to our economy."
"I support the steps taken by the Federal Reserve tonight to assist AIG in continuing to meet its obligations, mitigate broader disruptions and at the same time protect taxpayers," Paulson said in a statement.
The Fed said in return for the loan, the government will receive a 79.9 percent equity stake in AIG.

Now Congressional leaders were briefed but this action was done without the Congress and did not need their approval. In fact, I believe the meeting served as a pump primer for the infamous Paulson/Bernanke nightmare scenario set to come 2 days later. And let's be honest, the Bush years like the Clinton like the Bush like the Reagan like the...you get the point were filled with socailism so to make that charge now and now alone is completely baseless to historical fact IMO

There is no argument Congress is at fault in many respects but IMO to blame Congress and Congress alone, especially in wording used to suggest it might be all democrats is false and downright deceitful with dolus malus but then there's plenty of dolus malus going around these days from both political sides. My hope is that politicians will one day be seen as all being witches and we can revive the age old Malleus Malifricarum or HexenHammer and vanquish them from our presence.

The scenario of economic peril was long brewing and as much as republicans love to cook up quotes of their own warning democrats of coming doom back in 2005' and 2006', there were others back in the late 1990's and early 2000's who warned and were completely ignored. But in fairness, some democrats parade blame and wave the flag of Ownership Sociey being the culprit but let me ask this of the democrats. When these ideas were being floated, where were you giving the clairion call of warning of impending doom from such policies? Oh I see, saving it for now were we! Thanks for your due diligence and fudicary duties in looking out for my behalf. With societal leaders in Washington like you, Osama bin Laden is starting to take on a different look!

Well at least for sport we can watch the idiots in red against the idiots in blue dance around about teleprompters, slamming special needs people, making facetime on Leno or whoever and try to get a pinch of trim from a congressional page or in an airport bathroom. Bring on more wine and circus or in our case, beer and wings!

Rome didn't fall in a day but I'm wishing they had. At least I'd have historical reason to have hope this lunacy might soon end and we could get on with life.

Some people want to rule life while most just want to live in it!

Sic semper evello mortem Tyrannis

 

[wkmac]

Socialism something new? Not hardly. I can find nowhere in traditional free market economics where gov't tax dollars injected into private business ventures is taught as a course of operation. Under socialism of Mussolini, it was a normal if not required practice. Here's a timeline of US gov't market interventions over that last 80 years so socialism is not anything new with the new adminstration of democrat Congress.

Bailouts gone by

1932 -- The Hoover administration creates the Reconstruction Finance Corp. to facilitate economic activity by lending money in the Great Depression.
1933 -- The Roosevelt administration creates the Home Owners' Loan Corp. to buy $3 billion in bad mortgages from banks and refinance them to homeowners to stem a rise in foreclosures. The government makes a small profit.
1971 -- Congress saves Lockheed Aircraft Corp., the nation's biggest defense contractor, from bankruptcy by guaranteeing the repayment of $250 million in bank loans.
1979 -- Congress and the Carter administration arrange for $1.2 billion in subsidized loans to bail out automaker Chrysler Corp., then the nation's 10th-largest company. There ultimately was no significant cost to the government, since the loans were repaid.
1984 -- Congress effectively takes over the ailing Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust, which failed with $40 billion of assets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. injects $4.5 billion to buy bad loans.
1989 -- Congress establishes the Resolution Trust Corp. to take over bad assets and make depositors whole. Resolving the S&L crisis takes six years and $125 billion in taxpayer money -- roughly equal to $200 billion in today's dollars.
1998 -- The government brokers a $3.6 billion private bailout in the collapse of the Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund, although no government money is involved.
2001 -- Congress authorizes $5 billion in cash after the Sept. 11 terror attacks to help shore up the airline industry and follows up with $10 billion in loan guarantees.
2008:
March 16 -- The Federal Reserve agrees to guarantee $29 billion of Bear Stearns' assets in connection with the government-sponsored sale of the investment bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
July 11 -- Federal regulators seize IndyMac Bank's assets after the mortgage lender succumbs to the pressures of tighter credit, falling home prices and rising foreclosures. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says it will cost about $8.9 billion out of its $53 billion insurance fund.
Sept. 7 -- The Treasury Department seizes teetering mortgage finance institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, temporarily putting them in a government conservatorship with plans to inject up to $100 billion into each.
Sept. 16 -- The government announces an $85 billion emergency loan to rescue American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurance company, in return for a 79.9 percent stake in AIG.
Sept. 19 -- The Bush administration announces a plan to let the government buy hundreds of billions of dollars of bad mortgages and other forms of toxic debt that have been weighing down U.S. financial companies.