Americans outraged: AIG bonuses

Dear Mr. Mark Silva,

Every GOP congresscritter needs to be asked right now if they agree with their de-facto leader Rush Limbaugh that the AIG executives deserve millions of dollars in bonuses, paid by American taxpayers, even when they caused massive losses and failure for the company.

Thankyou, America

I thought Obama signed on to the provision in the stimulus package to protect the bonus to retain "highly qualified people". He signs the law then complains about the provision?
Maybe he didn't read the bill but this provision was publicly debated.

And you thought you heard rolling thunder from those deadhead bikers?

You ain't heard nothing yet.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=fannie+mae+bonuses+2009&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I heard Fannie Mae were getting bonuses, and did a search. Hit the link.

OH OH OH--HA HA HA!!!

Either Obama is putting his foot down, OR

He's pulling our collective leg!!!

Here consider:

* The Identity Theft Double Whammu (Sirotablog):

"The New York Times reporta that MasterCard now admits that 'more than 40 million credit card accounts of all brands might have been exposed to fraud through a computer secruity breach at a payment processing company.' ... And then--that's right--MasterCard can legally seive on the situation by charging you excessively high interest rates because your credit card has been tuined by you negligence."

* How the Government Puts Our Identities at Risk (Identity Theft 911):

"... the goverment seems to be doing everything it can to help identity thieves help themselves to everything we have..."

Meanwhile..., Dateline easily traced goods bougt with a stolen credit card to a certain adress...

Now consider:

* A Barrel Full of Bad Apples: Police Corruption and the War on Drugs:

"At the federal level, this 'see no evil' attitude extends into the drug czar's office ..."

"Former San Jose, California, police chief Joseph McNarama told the Times, "It's going on all over the country, and corruption ranges from chiefs and sheriff on down to officers."

In FajitaGate (San Francisco), three off-duty cops acted exactly as if no law exists... Then ten higher-ups were indicted for covering-up...

"A key ruling in the case was that under California law, Obstruction of Justice required that there be an active conspiracy ... not merely an individual or set of individuals acting on their own."

Of course, in the issue at hand Mortgage Brokers drastically hiked-up sub-prime interest rates, pulling the rug right out from beneath people's feet--DRIVING THEMSELVES RIGHT OUT OF BUSINESS!!!

The US Commission on Civil Rights Report on the Irregularities of the 2000 Florida Presidential Election called upon the DOJ to prosecute government officials for certain crimes (see: Executive Summary)--instead DOJ investigators turned a blind eye!!!

Finally, consider:

* Grim proving ground for Obama's housing policy (Boston Globe):

--Obama helped Tony Rezko (now in prison for extortion, ect.) get $87 MILLION to renovate 1,000 low-income Chicago apartments!!!

* Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate (NY Times):

--Obama's radiation-leaks bill caved-in to Power Co.!!!

* America's aging nuclear reactors (National Catholic Reporter):

"A new worry among nuclear power industry watchers and nuclear idustry insiders is whether safety concerns are being short-changed as the government renews licenses of the nation's aging nuclear reactors. SOME PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS SAY CAPITAL HILL IS IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY'S POCKET."

It would be interesting to know what question Gallup actually asked.

If Americans are "outraged," they aren't showing it. I haven't seen street demonstrations against AIG today. The conversations around the coffee pot in my office, or the ones that I overheard at lunch, didn't mention AIG at all, let alone their bonuses. The only ones who seem to be expressing "outrage" are those who feel that they must in order to get re-elected, and some of the perennial screamers on this board (you know who you are).

Where's the outrage?

Druggy Rush, the leader of the Republican party, defends AIG excutives getting huge bonuses:
http://www.popmartian.com/politrix/2009/03/rush-limbaugh-defends-aigs-bonuses/

The amazing thing is that Limbaugh's Republican "base", who'll probably never set foot near NYC and who'll never make $500K in their entire lives, will eat this up and say, "Mega dittos, Rush!" while believing that their hero is a true "man of the people."

The term "dittohead" has never been more appropriate, because most of those folks have never had an original thought of their own.

Every Obama defender ought to read what ABC News is reporting:

"AIG employees kept doling out donations to politicians, including presidential candidate Barack Obama, after getting bailed out with federal funds last year, raising the question whether those politicians will now return the money.

AIG executives gave more than $630,000 during the 2008 political cycle even as the company was falling apart.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance reports, more than $120,000 of that money was donated after AIG received its first $85 billion in federal bailout funds last September. The company has since received a total of $170 billion in taxpayer cash to prevent its collapse.

Their generosity included more than $23,000 to Obama’s campaign.

Both Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain raked in much larger sums from AIG earlier in the year. Obama collected a total of $130,000 from AIG in 2008, while McCain accepted a total of $59,499.

This raises two key questions: Was any bailout money used to make political contributions? And will the politicians who received AIG cash give the money back?"

That's right--Obama votes to bail out AIG, and gets rewarded with campaign dough from the people he bailed out.

It's easy to see why Obama's media buddies at The Swamp are working so hard to conceal these facts.

We need to take a broader view of AIG's malfeasance. We are all justifiably outraged by AIG's handling of the bonus issue. But if it turns out that AIG was involved in a criminal conspiracy to commit fraud, the bonuses will take care of themselves.

It's unrealistic to expect Tim Geithner to adequately address either either issue -- the potential criminal wrongdoing, or the bonuses. He's got enough on his plate trying to stabilize the financial system and usher in an economic recovery.

But the Obama Administration does have a responsibility not just to make sure taxpayers don't get screwed, but also enforce the rule of law. That's why there's a Department of Justice, and that's the job of the Attorney General.

So the White House would be wise to put Eric Holder in charge of sorting through the dirty underside of the AIG bailout. If there was criminal activity, bring the perpetrators to justice. And if not, who better to seek every legal remedy for retrieving the "failure bonuses" than the government's top lawyer?

Let Geithner deal with righting financial ship. But for justice and matters of law, it's time to get serious and hand things over to the DOJ.

I see the Ding Dong Loony Lefties are spouting nonsense that Limbaugh supports the AIG bonuses. He neither supports nor is against the bonuses. His position is what does it do for you by denying these people their bonuses, which were contractually obliged? Is my life going to be better by taking their money? Is Bill/Jeff? That is what happens when Dingy Loony Lefties get their information from Ding Dong Loony Left websites.

Now, the real story is that yet again, THE WORLD'S WORST JOURNALIST, Mark Silva, continues to ignore that Barack Obama, his boss, KNEW about these bonuses last week. He ignores that Barack Obama's "anger" was read off a TelePrompTer. He ignores that Tax-Cheat-in-Chief Tim Geithner also knew of these bonuses MONTHS ago and said NOTHING. And that Chris Dudd included a provision in the speundulus bill that allows such bonuses.
How can the Chicago Rottune be considered a reputable and legitimate source of "news" when its reporters ignore facts and choose not to report them?
The Chicago Tribune: An absolute JOKE!

Henry Kissinger and the Bush family are connected to AIG via the Carlysle group:

"And why did they go along to bail out AIG? Because Henry Kissinger is on the board of directors and they are intimately tied with BlackStone Group and the Carlysle Group (the Bush family)"
.
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/feds-aig-bailout-henry-kissinger-carlyle-group-get-150billion

.........
That's right--Obama votes to bail out AIG, and gets rewarded with campaign dough from the people he bailed out.It's easy to see why Obama's media buddies at The Swamp are working so hard to conceal.

Posted by: Peter Zenger | March 18, 2009 5:40 PM
...........

AIG can't directly donate to any federal candidates but individual employee's of AIG (being citizens of ths country) have the right to donate to whomever they want to.

Try again, Petey...

I thought Obama signed on to the provision in the stimulus package to protect the bonus to retain "highly qualified people". He signs the law then complains about the provision?
Maybe he didn't read the bill but this provision was publicly debated.
Posted by: B Weildered | March 18, 2009 4:48 PM

Probably did -
but for politicians only-

Catch up, will you? Chris Dodd has just blamed the Obama administration for inserting the bonus language in the bailout bill. And then, at 5:45 today, he's saying that he, too is responsible.
This is all a Democrat fiasco because the Demos totally shut out the Republicans from inserting any language in the bill.

How can the Chicago Rottune be considered a reputable and legitimate source of "news" when its reporters ignore facts and choose not to report them?The Chicago Tribune: An absolute JOKE!

Posted by: John D | March 18, 2009 6:18 PM

Little Johnny Nerfball,

Your leader, the leader of the Republican party, Mullah Limbaugh, did in fact come out today in full support of the AIG executives receiving big fat bonuses for tanking their companies.

Just days after alleged death-squad leader Dick Cheney gave his hearty endorsement to Rush Limbaugh as the Republican Party’s new boss, Limbaugh weighed in on the controversy over $400 million in taxpayer-funded bonuses slated to be paid to derivatives traders at insurance giant AIG.

"Let me tell you something, folks. I am all for the AIG bailouts, and I am all for the AIG bonuses. Well, I’m not for the bailouts, well, in a way I’m for the bailout because I’m for the bonuses.” - Rush Limbaugh
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http://www.pensitoreview.com/2009/03/18/gop-boss-hog-limbaugh-i-am-all-for-aig-bonuses/

There should be mass resignations in Congress and the White House. We should demand the following resign immediately, Starting with Gieithner, Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, and Reid. Then maybe the rest of Congress will fall in line and start putting the America people first. What a change that would be. The corruption in Washington is enormous. Washington, Adams, and Jefferson are probably rolling over in their graves.

John D Dingbat,
The only one's who would be surprised that President Obama found out about the bonuses a couple of days before everyone else did are Wingnut idiots like yourself. He is the PRESIDENT afterall.

The Republican party may not have been able to come up with any new idea's the last 30-35 years and they've reduced themselves to a regional party (the South)....but their robot minions (John D, Jeff, Bruce etc) sure have mastered the fine art of propaganda and fake outrage.

There should be mass resignations in Congress and the White House. We should demand the following resign immediately, Starting with Gieithner, Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, and Reid. Then maybe the rest of Congress will fall in line and start putting the America people first. What a change that would be. The corruption in Washington is enormous. Washington, Adams, and Jefferson are probably rolling over in their graves.

Posted by: Paul | March 18, 2009 8:06 PM
................

More fake outrage from the minority Republican party wingnuts...

This is hilarious considering that Paul didn't think Washington, Jefferson and Adams would be rolling over in their graves when the Republican party was busy deregulating wall street, starting trumped up wars and giving out tax cuts to the rich.

This is all a Democrat fiasco because the Demos totally shut out the Republicans from inserting any language in the bill.

Posted by: Derrick | March 18, 2009 6:46 PM

Nice try, RNC Brucie...

I can't wait until they fix health care and global warming.

Except from PG, where is the outrage on the Fannie and Freddie bonuses? Do you think Brothel Barney the Banking Queen is upset about this? I doubt it, this is just funneling gov't money to democrat appointee who in turn funnel it back to the dem politicians.

Do you think Brothel Barney the Banking Queen is upset about this? I doubt it, this is just funneling gov't money to democrat appointee who in turn funnel it back to the dem politicians.

Posted by: Terry | March 18, 2009 9:59 PM

Wow, what great political discourse, anti-gay slurs. Does slamming him make you feel manly Terry? Or are you tdesperately trying to deny your true nature? Anyway, you've shown your true colors. Intolerant, ignorant, and incapable of reasoned discussion.

Judy,
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deadhead bikers, Druggy Rush, Mullah Limbaugh, death-squad leader Dick Cheney - there's tolerance.
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I really don't care where Brothel Barney pounds his sausage. He was dating an executive at Fannie Mae - Herb Moses. No conflict of interest there???

Terry, Take responsibility for your own actions and your own words., You're clearly a homophobe and a bigot. Your hate filled language is YOUR responsibility, no one elses.

Judy,
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Speaking of hypocracy - where's your outrage against Ornery and yo mama?.
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Or do you just call out the conservatives but leave the flatliners alone?