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AIG Bonuses and the Feigned Outrage of Obama and Congress

post #1 of 37
3/18/09 at 4:07pm
Thread Starter 
And now we find out the real story, and the finger pointing continues. But it really begs the question - WHY are they feigning such outrage when they purposely put the amendment in the Stimulus Bill (and in a closed door meeting, after hours, and then purposely pushed it through so fast that no one could actually read what they were voting for???)? And why did Chris Dodd lie about it until today? Was someone else going to "out" him that he did, in fact, know about the language of his amendment before it was voted on?

Dodd: Administration Pushed for Language Protecting Bonuses

Note, too, that the source on this is CNN, where Dodd first claimed that he had nothing to do with adding the language and deadline for prior contracts of February 11th, and where he came clean today saying the pressure for the added language came from the Administration. He said the alternative was losing the Amendment altogether, which is the Amendment that limits the pay of executives of companies that receive taxpayer money.
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post #2 of 37
3/18/09 at 4:10pm
When I click on your link this is what I get:

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /forums/And now we find out the real story, and the finger pointing continues. But it really begs the question - WHY are they feigning such outrage when they purposely put the amendment in the Stimulus Bill (and in a closed door meeting, after hours, and then purposely pushed it through so fast that no one could actually read what they were voting for on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
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post #3 of 37
3/18/09 at 4:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yosemite View Post
When I click on your link this is what I get:

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /forums/And now we find out the real story, and the finger pointing continues. But it really begs the question - WHY are they feigning such outrage when they purposely put the amendment in the Stimulus Bill (and in a closed door meeting, after hours, and then purposely pushed it through so fast that no one could actually read what they were voting for on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Strange...should be fixed now.
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post #4 of 37
3/18/09 at 4:50pm
It's working for me.

I watched Liddy's testimony for awhile today. I got a kick out of one of the old geezers on the panel who pointed a finger at Liddy and asked in a scolding tone, "why wasn't this committee informed?" And then it turns out that representatives of the Fed have been in on all of AIG's decision-making ever since the government got an equity stake in the company, so that presumably Bernanke and Geithner have known all of this all along (and if they didn't then why not) Not to mention that they were published in their quarterly and annual filings with the SEC, and so a matter of public record. The old geezer didn't have much to say after that.
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post #5 of 37
3/18/09 at 6:56pm
That oath of transparency has, officially, bit Barack in the hiney.

Are people really and truly surprised by this? Barack is part of the Chicago Political machine, corrupt as they come. Look at his background, I've said it all before to many times, he has associated with terrorists for goodness sake.

We elected him, we got him now. Corrupt, secret, closed door deals for billions that we will have to pay back.
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post #6 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:01pm
I was just watching a video of Barack making a speech to the employees at Catapillar while visiting there. He was saying how Catapillar was going to start re-hiring laid off people and that this was encouraging news, blah, blah, blah, then the very next speaker, after Obama, was the CEO of Catapillar and he said, "well that is not exactly true, the truth of the matter we will be having more lay offs", um yeah, 2500 more people are getting laid off.

So, is Barack, just clueless or does he enjoy making a fool of himself and lying through his teeth? It was bad, he is bad, he is POTUS. God help us.
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post #7 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I was just watching a video of Barack making a speech to the employees at Catapillar while visiting there. He was saying how Catapillar was going to start re-hiring laid off people and that this was encouraging news, blah, blah, blah, then the very next speaker, after Obama, was the CEO of Catapillar and he said, "well that is not exactly true, the truth of the matter we will be having more lay offs", um yeah, 2500 more people are getting laid off.

So, is Barack, just clueless or does he enjoy making a fool of himself and lying through his teeth? It was bad, he is bad, he is POTUS. God help us.
Honestly, I don't think he's lying. But, I do think he is failing to read a whole lot of things he should be reading. Such as, those AIG obligations. They were aware of their existence, but did he have any idea the extent of them? It sure doesn't seem like it.
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post #8 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:23pm
I was one of the ones saying not to prejudge him, give him the opportunity to make his own mistakes. Well. Looks like he's taking advantage of the opportunity. I must say there've been more negatives than positives. Some positives: he's a breath of fresh air in the Oval Office, he's full of energy, he has a certain charisma that commands attention. The negatives: well, the biggie is that he's not using any of his positives to positive effect so far. I hope it's just inexperience and not corruption or incompetence. He disappointed me by signing the continuing resolution in spite of all he said about pork and earmarks. But what's really got me bummed out now:

He's going to be the "surprise guest" on JAY LENO's Tonight Show tomorrow night.

Fer cryin out loud, doesn't he know he's President now? The campaign is over? This is simply none other than disrespecting the office, IMO.
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post #9 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
He's going to be the "surprise guest" on JAY LENO's Tonight Show tomorrow night.

Fer cryin out loud, doesn't he know he's President now? The campaign is over? This is simply none other than disrespecting the office, IMO.
The very idea of that just seems a little bit weird.
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post #10 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:37pm
I don't think he ever got out of campaign mode.
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post #11 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:44pm
I think we'd better get used to it. IMO he's just being himself.

Not to worry. The US is strong enough.

Hoover -> should've stuck with vacuums
FDR -> too many terms
Truman -> dropped the bomb
Ike -> was a sourpuss
JFK -> got shot
LBJ -> well, just LBJ
Nixon -> was a crook
Ford -> was an Edsel
Carter -> malaise, bad taste in sweaters
Reagan -> too many naps
Bush -> problems with lips
Clinton -> can't mention in polite company
Bush W -> mission accomplished (when it wasn't)
Obama -> ???? encourages groupies? TBA

Come to think of it, have we had any really really GREAT Presidents since Washington? Close is no cigar.
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post #12 of 37
3/18/09 at 7:52pm
That AIG Bonus Scandal has me so up in arms!!

I saw on the news yesterday that they paid out bonuses to 73 top executives, making them all millionaires, and of those 73, 11 of them aren't even with the company anymore, and one of the bonuses was for six million dollars!!!

I don't know how they can justify that kind of money for bonuses after going to the government, hat in hand, begging for money to help keep their company afloat!

I hope the government can do something to get that money back and out of the pockets of those greedy people who took it despite the fact that they didn't have enough money to keep their company afloat and had to go looking for handouts.

I just knew in my gut that something like this was going to happen, not particularly with AIG, but in general. I remember saying in another thread about the car companies going asking for money, that their executives should take a pay cut and forgo their bonuses as part of their restructuring. I'm so disgusted with the government for not having made that a part of the agreements between them and the companies receiving the money.
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post #13 of 37
3/18/09 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalie_ca View Post
I don't know how they can justify that kind of money for bonuses after going to the government, hat in hand, begging for money to help keep their company afloat!
Well, the problem they're running into now is that those bonuses were contracturally agreed to long before the financial s*** hit the fan, and so of course, long before they came to Washington for a bailout, and legally speaking, they're required to honor their contracts. To his credit, the current CEO of AIG, who was NOT at the company when these contracts were signed, and who only came to the company at the request of the Federal Reserve, has asked all those involved to give back half of what they were paid. He said today that one person has agreed to give back the whole thing. But for those that refuse, there's really no legal way it can be done.
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post #14 of 37
3/18/09 at 8:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
I think we'd better get used to it. IMO he's just being himself.

Not to worry. The US is strong enough.

Hoover -> should've stuck with vacuums
FDR -> too many terms
Truman -> dropped the bomb
Ike -> was a sourpuss
JFK -> got shot
LBJ -> well, just LBJ
Nixon -> was a crook
Ford -> was an Edsel
Carter -> malaise, bad taste in sweaters
Reagan -> too many naps
Bush -> problems with lips
Clinton -> can't mention in polite company
Bush W -> mission accomplished (when it wasn't)
Obama -> ???? encourages groupies? TBA

Come to think of it, have we had any really really GREAT Presidents since Washington? Close is no cigar.
Yes we have but I don't have to name him, you should know who I'm thinking of.

I point the finger squarely on the morons in Congress for the bailout mess with AIG. The egg on their collective faces is what they get for passing fly-by-night, knee jerk legislation without restrictions on what the money can be used for. Personally, I don't believe in bailing out failing companies but there should have been stipulations in the bailout that didn't allow the money to be used for salary or bonuses. I don't like it but the bonuses are guaranteed by contracts. Congress, in their infinite lack of wisdom, should have put some thought into what they were doing before they did what they did with OUR money. It's obvious that Congress doesn't care because they ignored the outcry of the people they claim to represent when the bailouts were first brought up.

The country will get through this fine but it will be in spite of our politicians, not because of them.
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post #15 of 37
3/18/09 at 8:39pm
Natalie, didn't you read the link, the "government" is the one that did this, all their posturing now is just that, posturing.
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post #16 of 37
3/18/09 at 10:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
Yes we have but I don't have to name him, you should know who I'm thinking of.
Yes, Bryan, I know who you're thinking of and I still think Washington was better. At least for sure when his pre-Presidential service is factored in, there's not even a contest.

Sorry.
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post #17 of 37
3/18/09 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
The country will get through this fine but it will be in spite of our politicians, not because of them.

But when will they realize that and stop electing the same idiots back time after time? We don't just need term limits, we need a Constitutional ammendment changing the terms of all offices to a single term.
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post #18 of 37
3/19/09 at 10:11am
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...efer=worldwide

Quote:
Closed Doors

“The fact is that the bill the president signed, which protected the AIG bonuses and others, was written behind closed doors by Democratic leaders of the House and Senate,†Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley said in a statement today.

“There was no transparency, so the only way the public will ever know who added the language to protect bailout company bonuses is if someone from the small group of Democrats in the room says so,†Grassley said.
That "hope and change" doesn't seem to be working out to well.
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post #19 of 37
3/19/09 at 11:58am
It sounds like there's a distinct lack of info-sharing:
How the Fed Failed to Tell Obama About The Bonuses
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post #20 of 37
3/19/09 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
It sounds like there's a distinct lack of info-sharing:
How the Fed Failed to Tell Obama About The Bonuses
So, you don't believe Dodd when he said he put that in the bill at the urging of the Obama administration?

And if the Obama administration did NOT know about it, why did Barack renege on his promise to post all bills for five days on the internet so people could go through them. And I thought he promised to go through all bills, "line by line" and cut out all the bad stuff?

And why are excuses being made for Obama?
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post #21 of 37
3/19/09 at 1:42pm
I'm rather surprised that Dodd is pointing the finger back at the Obama administration. Rather a foolish thing for a Democrat to do. Either he's telling the truth or he's very, very stupid. You watch, he'll either backtrack and mutter some lie or another about his "mistake", or somehow he'll lose his powerful committee assignment. Somebody will dig up some misdeed and make it public, causing him a great embarrassment; probably even get him to resign.
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post #22 of 37
3/19/09 at 2:05pm
Would it be germane to point out here that Chris Dodd received the most contributions from AIG of all the senators...some $200,000. And Obama was second, with over $100,000? I guess they knew where to invest their money!

And, just to hedge their bets, they gave McCain almost $60,000.
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post #23 of 37
3/19/09 at 4:08pm
Absolutely. And if you've got the numbers too for Barney Frank post them. The contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I mean.
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post #24 of 37
3/19/09 at 8:49pm
If Dodd makes is through this, there is no justice.
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post #25 of 37
3/20/09 at 1:47am
The fake outrage of Congress over the AIG debacle would be comical if it weren't so pathetic. Congress is doing nothing more than trying to cover up their own incompetence in the entire affair. Every one of them needs to be flogged.
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post #26 of 37
3/20/09 at 1:52pm
Heh heh, ya, flog 'em and then put 'em in the stocks, where people can throw rotten tomatoes at 'em.
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post #27 of 37
3/21/09 at 3:00pm
I don't recall if he was actually president yet, but........didn't Bill Clinton go on Arsenio Hall and play his sax???
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post #28 of 37
3/21/09 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PookieBoy View Post
I don't recall if he was actually president yet, but........didn't Bill Clinton go on Arsenio Hall and play his sax???
He wasn't president at the time, it was during the 1992 campaign.

I have to say, I thought that was VERY cool when Clinton, in shades, played the Sax on Arsenio.
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post #29 of 37
3/21/09 at 3:12pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us...2regulate.html

Personally, I think this was a huge plot of Barack's puppet master so they can regulate anything and everything. They are starting down a dangerous path.
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post #30 of 37
3/21/09 at 6:22pm
I thought it was in 1988 that Clinton went on one of the night talk shows and played his sax. It was right after his disastrous speech to the Democratic convention (went way too long).

Many of the Presidents have gone on definitely non-news shows. Even Nixon was on Laugh In. G.H.W. Bush was on Saturday Night Live a few times, and even invited Dana Carvey to sleep at the White House. I think they should do it more, and look less "imperial."
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