By downsized

March 21, 2009 7:44 PM | Link to this

Shovel ready project; building bunkhouses and gallows on the Washington Mall. Fill with bankers, lobbyists, government parasites and their minions. Let’s see who starts telling the truth about where the money went and give pardons for turning states evidence. Bring Madoff and the rest out for public humiliation. A real and truly historic American moment. Francoise Villon is smiling.

By vick

March 20, 2009 12:46 PM | Link to this

Good point, and I think that Chris Dodd can kiss his Senate seat bye bye…

By waterboard Madoff

March 20, 2009 12:39 PM | Link to this

Chris Dodd should return his AIG political contributions if HE has any shame.

By vick

March 20, 2009 11:27 AM | Link to this

“Have the recipients of these checks no shame at all?” asked Representative Earl Pomeroy, Democrat of North Dakota. Summing up his personal view of the so-far-anonymous A.I.G. executives, he said: “You are disgraced professional losers. And by the way, give us our money back.” (NY TIMES/March 20, 2009)

By waterboard Madoff

March 20, 2009 8:59 AM | Link to this

Allegory? French revolution? Now that Dodd has acknowleded he lied, is it unreasonable to ask for the head of this hedge fund lackey?

By vick

March 19, 2009 12:06 PM | Link to this

I believe the Nazis were the last “civilized” modern users of the Guillotine so that prospect would seem rather unlikely…

By waterboard Madoff

March 19, 2009 11:54 AM | Link to this

The ruling elite are afraid of the masses turning on them. Will we see a guillotine in front of the capial building?

By vick

March 19, 2009 10:23 AM | Link to this

“Washington is all in a tizzy over who’s at fault. Some say it’s the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility, I’m the president.” - PRESIDENT OBAMA, on executive bonuses at AIG.

By Dave

March 18, 2009 8:51 PM | Link to this

Jayne, the Boston Tea Party was NOT about excessive or unfair taxes, just that the British citizens in the colonies did not have a representative to vote on the taxes. We paid lower taxes here than they did across the pond.

By vick

March 18, 2009 8:17 PM | Link to this

Do we have a consensus then; that AIG bonus bangers should jump off the nearest cliff?

By Jayne

March 18, 2009 7:48 PM | Link to this

The Dayton Tea Party group is a grassroots movement to protest President Obama’s stimulus bill, foreclosure bailout, and huge federal budget. Come to the Dayton Tea Party - April 15, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Location: Courthouse Square, Downtown Dayton at 3rd and Main This gives taxpayers an opportunity to be heard. www.daytonohioteaparty.com On December 16, 1773 citizens of Boston came together and protested the actions taken by the British Crown to support a company that faced bankruptcy due to mismanagement and corruption. We know this event today as the Boston Tea Party. This event was one of many that eventually led to the declaration of our independence from Great Britain and the unfair taxation that was taking place at that time. Today thousands of Americans are fed up with what we perceive as unfair taxation. Our federal government is taking money from hard working people in order to pay off mortgages and bail out companies that should be allowed to go bankrupt. Our elected officials are stealing our money and that of our children and grandchildren so that they can pay for tattoo removal and pig odor studies. If you count yourself as an American, fed up with excess taxation and individuals like Chuck Schumer of New York spending your hard earned money on pork that you “don’t care about”, join us April 15, tax day as we send a message from the Miami Valley to those bankrupting our nation and stealing our money for their “stimulus packages” that contain “no pork”. Please join us on April 15, 2009 and make your voice heard. Protests are being held across the country. You are not alone with your frustration. Go to www.daytonohioteaparty.com and RSVP to confirm your attendance.

By vick

March 18, 2009 7:13 PM | Link to this

Author Author, this recession belongs to George W. Bush. It began over a year ago. The stock market went into freefall on his watch. Thanks, for the absurd letter. We all love a little laughter.

By AuthorAuthor

March 18, 2009 6:37 PM | Link to this

This is a bit off the subject, but Vick, you’re such a flaming Liberal I just had to send it to you: Last week, Mike DeNunzio, the chair of the San Francisco Republican Assembly sent this letter of apology to the San Francisco Chronicle, based on a letter writer from Castro Valley who had indicated that the Republicans should apologize to America for its many problems. March 9, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Dear Editor, Karl Hodges of Castro Valley wants Republicans to apologize for America’s many problems. (Chronicle March 6th) He is correct; the GOP owes America an apology, and it must also make amends. As Chairman of the San Francisco Republican Assembly I apologize to every man, woman and child in America. We Republicans failed to do our job to defeat the most unaccomplished and unqualified presidential candidate in U.S. history. We Republicans apologize for expecting the media to do its job and expose a glib community organizer who never held a real job. We especially apologize for failing to convince rational adults that infantile slogans will not protect life, liberty and property of the American people, and the free world. Prudent investors who create jobs know this president is using the economic crisis to impose a radical leftist agenda on America and dismantle the free market. This is why the stock market is falling and unemployment is rising. America’s adversaries, know this president who opposed the liberation of Iraq and the successful surge, now leads the party of defeat that cried - “this war is lost.” This is why the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, Iran and Al Qaeda will make the world a more dangerous place. An apology is not enough; the GOP must make amends, and help this president FAIL to bring European socialism and second-rate national health care to America. We Republicans also will tell every American what this president will never say or do: “We will pay any price, bear any burden to assure the survival of liberty,” and with no apologies. Mike DeNunzio AuthorAuthor p.s. Welcome to The United Socialist States of America

By vick

March 18, 2009 1:58 PM | Link to this

AIG bonus info: “The bonus figures were lofty. The highest one was $6.4 million, and 6 other employees received more than $4 million, according to the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo. Fifteen other people received bonuses of more than $2 million and 51 received $1 million to $2 million.” (NY TIMES-March 18, 2009)

By vick

March 18, 2009 1:45 PM | Link to this

This AIG brouhaha is still dominating the news. Thanks to all of you who have made thoughtful comments about it.

By Patrick

March 18, 2009 1:07 PM | Link to this

No. I don’t think they should kill themselves but the DDN should kill this “book review”.

By TRS

March 18, 2009 10:37 AM | Link to this

I’m ticked at the AIG deal; but, perhaps even more so at the pontificating BS coming out of DC. Irishguy pointed out Dodd’s amendment. Geithner was in on the bailout meetings when he was Pres of the Fed bank. Frank and Dodd’s footprints are all over encouraging AIG to dig a deeper hole in the sub prime mess and now they stand in “outrage”. It will be interesting to see new poll numbers regarding congressional approval. Appears Congressional polls are heading back to the dumper again and rightfully so. Governing is so much harder than demogogary and so far they are proving themselves not up to the task.

By irishguy

March 18, 2009 9:27 AM | Link to this

It appears Mr. Obama rec’d a $101,322.00 “bonus” from AIG. I wonder if he’s “choked up with anger” about that waste of taxpayer $$

By Emmett Thornton Beaver

March 18, 2009 8:38 AM | Link to this

Again more social page sophistry. What book are you reviewing?

By Julie

March 18, 2009 8:29 AM | Link to this

If the government would like to give all working American’s a $1 mil. bonus, I’d be okay with these execs keeping theirs.

By kyle

March 18, 2009 7:36 AM | Link to this

I THINK ITS ALL A BUNCH OF B.S. CONTRACT OR NO CONTRACT THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES FOR TAKING THE BONUS MONEY GIVIN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION.AND REMEMBER KARMA’S A B***H THEY’LL GET WHAT’S COMING TO THEM

By irishguy

March 17, 2009 10:53 PM | Link to this

jeff, hope you feel better now! It appears Mr Dodd (D) CT added special amendment 354 to H.R 1 which allows his contributors from AIG to reap their rewards. hhmm..

By jeff

March 17, 2009 10:07 PM | Link to this

Thy should all die,I WORK A HARD DAY EVERYDAY NOBODY OR NO EMPLOYER HAS EVER OFFERED ME EVEN A BONOUS AT 52 I hate them all ,and all you cry baby littel BITCHES WHO FEEL FOR THESE PEOPLE YOU SHOULD ALSO ROTE IN HELL WITH THEM

By Jeff

March 17, 2009 6:51 PM | Link to this

Execs should takethe money that they are contractually bound to be paid. That’s how contracts work. The politicians should stand before the American people and admit they screwed up by meddling in the free market. They should also admit that they have known about these contracts for a long time and are only now using them for political gain and a weapon to attack free enterprise. Politicians should also apologize or commit suicide for all of the lies they have told and the tax dollars they continue to waste. $160 million? Our government wastes that every day on useless social programs.

By AIGravated

March 17, 2009 6:41 PM | Link to this

The best option regarding the contracted AIG bonuses would have been to refuse to pay them and let the planned recipients sue and explain in court why they deserved them.

By 912 Member

March 17, 2009 6:13 PM | Link to this

This whole thing is a scam by the Democrats. They have known about these bonus payments for weeks. Chris Dodd wrote bonus protection into the stimulus plan that protected these bonuses listed before February of 2009. Remember, Dodd was the largest recipient of campaign monies from AIG and Obama was next. Wake up America, this is a ruse that has been planned for months. Those who voted for Obama need to wake up before you are chained to the government dole for the rest of your life. Liberty is soon lost when citizens believe that government has their best interest in mind.

By waterboard Madoff

March 17, 2009 6:06 PM | Link to this

The public outrage should be focused on the incompetent clowns that roam the halls of Congress. When the House finance committee questioned bankers,it was remarkable how litle knowledge the committee members had of the industry they oversee. Congress had no problem accepting the huge campaign contributions from AIG, Citi, Goldman. Conflicts of interest abound.

By Joe

March 17, 2009 6:00 PM | Link to this

Many of the problems in our society (business, government and public) are the result of MONEY, POWER and EGO’S.

By truthdetector

March 17, 2009 5:37 PM | Link to this

Just remember this: If they can sieze the money that an employee under contract earned, they can sieze your money (or more likely your 401k account) ‘for the good of the people’ too. ———————— If they can take from Peter to pay Paul, then later they can take from Paul to get Mary to vote for them.

By td

March 17, 2009 5:28 PM | Link to this

It would be ok if they kill themselves, if there are no funeral costs and we get a chance to p**s on their graves.

By bb

March 17, 2009 5:17 PM | Link to this

Since this is the people’s money we should just put it up for a vote on the next ballot and see if they are worthy of getting our money for their bonus. I will bet the anser would be NO since they would not even have a job if it was not for the people Bailing them out in the first place, they would be un-employed now!!!!

By Rob

March 17, 2009 3:32 PM | Link to this

Here’s the thing, though - the “worthless investments” these guys executed were all rated and bonded. And why were they buying so much, particularly in CDSs? Because if they didn’t, somebody else would - and they can’t loose any business when they have investor pressure to return double digits every year. Kids - it’s relatively easy to see all the mistakes with the perfect vision of hindsight. But I’ll bet not a single shareholder of AIG ever put a proposal up at the annual meeting asking the company to slow down their growth until completing a risk assessment on the strategy to the growth targets. I’ve seen a lot of “tea party” outrage, but I have yet to see the first mutual fund holders meeting where they stop to inquire “If and how were we complicit in all this?”. I’d like to believe that the normally mild mannered Senator from Iowa was simply genuinely outraged. But it is fair to ask if there isn’t another motivation. He has been the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee for a long time and has his fingerprints all over the original bailouts. And there is that little matter that for the first time in his career, a Democratic challenger (Vilsack) is polling with 2% of him. Don’t get me wrong - I actually know some of his staffers and I don’t think he’s necessarily a cunning and manipulative schemer. All I’m suggesting is that these are fair questions.

By irishguy

March 17, 2009 3:27 PM | Link to this

On 2nd thought, maybe I shouldn’t give it a try. It’s a mortal sin to waste beer and i don’t think at my advanced age I can still drink that fast!

By irishguy

March 17, 2009 3:24 PM | Link to this

Dave, excellent point! Bernie would deserve PBR, Nati Lite, Little Kings or some such swill. I’d be willing to try it with Michelob, or Budweiser, with or without dye. I’m sure that some of our fellow posters would consider my choices swill.

By JT

March 17, 2009 3:03 PM | Link to this

As a free marketeer I believe this whole bailout mess is a huge pile of crap. Government meddling in banks and other like entities is what started this mess, thanks to Barney, Chris and Bill in the 90s. You reap what is sown.

By Dave

March 17, 2009 3:02 PM | Link to this

Irishguy, I think we need more detail about which beer you would dye to waterboard Madoff. In my experience, when bars add green dye, they tend to do it to crappy beers. That could tip this practice over into the realm of torture.

By Mark from St Paul

March 17, 2009 2:47 PM | Link to this

Grassley has already backed down, but AIG is as obstreperous as ever. Increasingly some are speculating that they’re refusing to identify the people getting the bonuses because it appears they mostly worked out of the London office. In other words they’re giving huge bonuses to foreigners who tanked their investment portfolio by buying up worthless paper and cutting every possible corner so they could buy way more than would have been prudent even had the investments been solid. I have long said that the theft of amounts over one million dollars should be a capital crime. This unit “stole” billions. Why are they not in jail awaiting arraignment? I’m cutting Obama some slack because he inherited the most criminally partisan DOJ in the history of our Republic, and it will take a while to get it fixed so it can go after white collar criminals who hide behind very expensive lawyers.

By Irishguy

March 17, 2009 2:40 PM | Link to this

hhhmmm..waterboarding with green beer…I might be able to handle that…. And no, I haven’t started drinking….yet. I’m still at work

By vick

March 17, 2009 2:20 PM | Link to this

Irish, I know St. Patrick’s Day can make some overexuberant but I have to think that waterboarding Madoff is still torture, even when using green beer. I have a better idea, lock him up with hardened criminals. That’s legal and it certainly would be something that would make Bernie quite nervous. Who knows, he might even come to regret bilking those billions, the life savings of some Americans.

By Irishguy

March 17, 2009 2:08 PM | Link to this

Waterboard Madoff, What a great idea!! Vick would you go along with that? BTW Raines is a protected species, a minority Dem. The media knows better than to publicize his unscrupulous actions.

By TRS

March 17, 2009 1:40 PM | Link to this

Seldom do I agree with Chris Dodd, but I believe a specically directed tax on bonus for those institutions which took TARP or bailout money is a way around the contractual obligations. My only concern is that it be temporary for once any tax is in place, its tough to eliminate, especially in a tax hungry government environment. In the future, to heck with bonus - how about profit sharing? You turn a buck, you get rewarded….you don’t you won’t. Its time to quit reward lousy executives, managers and boards.

By waterboard Madoff

March 17, 2009 12:48 PM | Link to this

This is just more political theatre to keep the masses looking at Wall Street instead of Washington. Franklin Raines received over 90 million dollars from Fannie based upon overstated earnings. Frank, Dodd,Grassley, et al didn’t demand Raines throw himself on the knife.

By H. Lee

March 17, 2009 12:24 PM | Link to this

Should they commit suicide? Nah, I think the deep bow and the return of the bonus money, plus return of any salary they received over $75k, would suffice for me. I’m a forgiving soul.

By Blowfly

March 17, 2009 12:21 PM | Link to this

Grassley is a surprisingly sophisticated guy for someone who comes off as so unsophisticated. He’s a Senate banking heavyweight, and (I say this as a Dem) someone that I generally respect. He’s obviously genuinely angry, but he had a hand in doling out this money without strings so I’d be careful about playing the suicide card. On another note, I’d like to see these contracts that AIG claims they are obligated to pay. I find it very surprising that any employment agreement would provide for payment of bonuses without giving the employer “any” discretion at all. That would be very odd. I think the AIG execs would commit suicide in a heartbeat if they thought it would increase the price of their AIG stock.

By lmj

March 17, 2009 12:15 PM | Link to this

Oh, and when I heard Grassley’s comment I thought, “He’s going to get grief for that statement.”

By lmj

March 17, 2009 12:13 PM | Link to this

I don’t think any of us truly understand the inner workings of AIG or many of the other banks or financial institutions which are in trouble. If we did, would they have gotten into as much trouble as as they are? I was even disgusted that our local school superintendent took a 6% pay increase when the district can’t pass a new levy and continually asks the rest of the staff (certified and non) to forego increases. Full disclosure, I’m a retired teacher - but not from this district. I just know this city is hurting with foreclosures and business closings.

By Irishguy

March 17, 2009 12:12 PM | Link to this

Vick that sounds good to me! Do you have room for a stowaway?

By vick

March 17, 2009 12:09 PM | Link to this

Is that April 15, Irish? I think I’ll be at my condo in Barbados drinking rum and Coca Colas with Charlie Rangel and Ruth Madoff. You know I’m joking….AIG is paying all my expenses. Ha!

By Irishguy

March 17, 2009 11:54 AM | Link to this

Vick, I hope the Senator knows more about it than I. His is the populist stance. I was just stepping up to your challenge. As I stated i’m upset with the whole bailout situation. I’m planning on attending the Dayton Tea Party on Tax Day, how ‘bout you?

By vick

March 17, 2009 11:37 AM | Link to this

Irish, Senator Grassley has distinguished himself over his long career as a cost cutter, a pork slasher, a conservative cut from Reaganite cloth. Do you think Chuck understands the bonus situation at AIG? Do you think he would make such a dramatic statement if he wasn’t convinced that these bonuses are an outrage?

By Irishguy

March 17, 2009 11:27 AM | Link to this

Vick, I’ll take a “stab” at it. Without knowing all the details, other than AIG is contractually obligated to pay them. It may be possible these folks worked for areas within AGI that were profitable and had nothing to do with the failing of other entities. Perhaps they came aboard to correct other’s errors and get AGI on the right course and the bonus package was the way to bring the best talent on board. I believe the bonuses are less than 1% of the federal (our!) money AGI rec’d. All that said, it is a PR disaster and I’m not thrilled to hear about it. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty PO’d about the whole bail-out scheme.