Of Washington Hypocrits and AIG
Posted by: The BoBo // Category: A Nation at Risk, America, Congress, Hypocrit, Obama, Politics, President, US Constitution, government
Don’t you just love the way that those Dems are “suddenly” outraged at the bonuses being paid out to AIG employees? Interestingly enough, Senator Dodds actually crafted the amendment in that stimulus package that allowed AIG to do just that – and me oh my – Senator Dodds was also the #1 recipient of donations from AIG – care to guess who number 2 is? Yup – Teh Obamessiah. Click on the image to take you to the report.
Here’s exactly what Senator Dodd put in that stimulus bill (read the full story here):
- Crack down on bonuses, retention awards and incentive compensation: Bonuses can only be paid in the form of long-term restricted stock, equal to no greater than 1/3 of total annual compensation, and will vest only when taxpayer funds are repaid. There is an exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009.
- For institutions that received assistance totaling less than $25 million, the bonus restriction applies to the highest compensated employee; $25 million to $250 million, applies to the top five employees; $250 million to $500 million, applies to the senior executive officers and the next top 10 employees; and more than $500 million applies to the senior executive officers and the next top 20 employees (or such higher number as the Secretary determines is in the public interest).
You gotta love this fake outrage. Is there anybody out there that still believes in this government to do the right thing for WE THE PEOPLE?
If you’re looking for others of like mind – might I suggest this place: The 9.12 Project. There are hundreds of thousands of members of this website that are just absolutely fed up with our government and their out of control spending and the power grap. This is a site for everybody – whether you are Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc – that wants to come together as a whole to let the government know we are tired of their games. Also – because of the thousands of people rushing to this site every day – it has a tendency to crash. If you don’t get to it now – bookmark it and try again later.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: AIG, bonuses, Chris Dodd, Congress, Democrats, government, Obama, Politics, Republicans, The 912 Project
March 17th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Nice gimmick but your impasse does not work. Donations and Bonuses are not the same thing. If you were to report on all congressmen donations, all the giants and small companies will be listed. Dont confuse campaign donations, which are democratic, with the actual obscenity of giving out bonuses for wrecking the company and taking a bite at the US economy’s expense. I think once in a while is necessary in politics to bite the hand that feeds but AIG bit the whole arm. What Dodd and others, including Obama, should have done is attach legislation modifying employees’ contracts. If people are losing their jobs because the market is shrinking, then employees should not be allowed to have bonuses if your company has posted the biggest quaterly loss in US history and takes taxpayer bailout money.
Reply to sayitclear
March 17th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
THE FLEECING OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS. THAT’S WHAT THIS IS. NOT A ONE OF THEM CARE EITHER.
Comedy Pluss last blog post..Awww…Mondays #9
Reply to Comedy Plus
March 17th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
AND NOBAMA IS THE BIGGEST LIAR I’VE SEEN IN A VERY LONG TIME.
Reply to Comedy Plus
March 17th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
@Sayitclear – I think you missed the point. I wasn’t comparing the donations to the bonuses. I was pointing out the hypocrisy of D.C. and the fake outrage. They wrote those bonuses in to the bill and now they decided to act like they didn’t know it.
However, the sizable donations to both Obama and Dodds paints a clear picture of catering to a special interest – you know – something that Obama said he would never do.
Reply to The BoBo
March 17th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
@sayitclear,
It also appears to be a quid pro quo. Why would they write that into the bill? It couldn’t have anything to do with the $100K that Dodd and Obama each got in campaign contributions would it?
Did I understand you correctly? You want the federal government to write legislation to modify people’s contracts? So, since we are talking about modifying people’s contracts, would you be for the federal government modifying Hollywood contracts? I know what you are thinking, they didn’t get bailout money. But not every dime of money AIG currently has is bailout money. “Modifying” private citizens’ work contracts sounds very socialist.
As for campaign contributions being democratic, actually they are covered under the free speech amendment. But that is neither here nor there. I take it you might be a democrat, I wonder if you thought contributions to be democratic when it seemed most of the rich people were giving money to Republicans and there was a big call for campaign finance reform; especially from democrats. That call brought us McCain-Finegold. Was it so democratic then?
Tje whole matter comes down to;
1. Were the bonuses part of and required by a legally binding contract?
2. Was it allowed under the stimulus package?
If the answer to both is YES, then congress should not be outraged and they have a duty to inform the public that it was they who allowed it.
If I were an AIG executive, and I could survive solely on my salary, then I would refuse the bonus. Just as if I were a senator or congressman, I would refuse any pay raises until this whole enconomy mess was straightened out (since they are as much to blame as anyone else).
Reply to Raider Steve
March 17th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Don’t forget about the Tea Party protest on April 15th happening in 150 cities, and more to come. The Dontgo Movement has joined in on all of this too, as well as American Solutions with Newt.
This is just crazy that these guys start bashing on AIG. They said they “forgot” about bonuses. Yea right.
On the other hand, I heard from someone, who I believe was joking around, saying that Obama wanted them to get bonuses, so they would move into the top tax bracket and he could tax the hell out of them. But yea, just joking and all.
We cannot have a government who forgets, or who makes such mistakes, and doesn’t treat all of the bailed out companies the same. They are talking about breaking these contracts, but what about the auto industry contracts with the unions in Michigan? They have a choke hold on the auto industry, and had to be bailed out, but the government has hounded them yet.
Consistency is needed, and right now we the people cannot even trust our own government. This is terrible for all of the country, and we need to fix this fast.
Bradley Hankinss last blog post..How About A Little Common Sense?
Reply to Bradley Hankins
March 17th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I agree with Bradley… Consistency would be a welcome form of “change”…
Why is it supposedly acceptable to rewrite (or ignore altogether) these contracts at the government’s request and not rewrite (or ignore altogether) the precious Union contracts for the auto industry? Union contracts are the reason the American auto industry is in distress. (And don’t say Unions are not the problem. They may not be the ONLY problem, but they are definitely a problem. Other auto companies are turning profits. Why? Because they are able to put out a quality product and charge less for it since they aren’t paying union thugs ridiculous compensation packages…)
I know it’s fun to hate rich people, but if those contracts were written before the money was handed over to them, those contracts are legal and binding.
It’s a slippery slope to start allowing the government to decide on their whims which contracts are binding and which aren’t…
janas last blog post..Set your TIVOs!
Reply to jana
March 17th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
@Bradley & Jana – good points regarding the auto industry and consistency in the government. I don’t think we’re going to see that here.
@Steve – nice follow-up. While it was written in to the bill the bonuses are allowed – I’m outraged as a citizen taxpayer that we are paying those bonuses. I can’t fault AIG for it though since it was the government that authorized it. Unfortunately, there are many out there that are only seeing the emotional side of this issue and are also flaming AIG. They haven’t heard the other side. I’m also convinced that those who do know the whole story will still bury their heads in the sand and ignore the obvious – as did sayitclear up there.
Even with the facts out there and the links made available to the stories – he takes my discussion to a different direction to divert the attention away from the real issue.
Reply to The BoBo
March 17th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Before Washington Bails on the Bailouts. They had better have the campaign contributions locked in for their next election.
Oh wait! I guess it doesn’t matter, They can’t bail on it they made it possible when THEY wrote the bill. They are trying to butter both sides of their bread by complaining about it after setting it up that way.
And if they want to modify private contracts then why can’t they modify UAW contracts.
I believe this has been covered but I had to vent!
Cracked Worlds last blog post..Is Washington Ready to Bail on the Bailouts?
Reply to Cracked World
March 17th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
They knew about these before they happened. Olympia Snowe (R) tried to insert an amendment into the stimulus bill preventing this Dems killed it. I’m “outraged” at the $787 billion stimulus.
Yes we can!
Harrisons last blog post..More than all the Tea in China
Reply to Harrison
March 17th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
[...] A chart detailing AIGs recipients of Contributions is detailed at The Bobo Files. [...]
Reply to AIG Bonus Outrage Uncovered | CrackedWorld
March 18th, 2009 at 1:41 am
First off, as far as AIG is concerned, this whole mess is exactly why I called for saying NO TO BAILOUTS! AIG should have failed just as a capitalist system allows. There is no such thing as “too big to fail.”
As far as AIG donations, Dodd has AGAIN been caught being massaged by a corporation: Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Countrywide and now AIG. When will there be hearings and an internal investigation on this guy? The man is a mobster.
No surprise about Obama since he’s basically a slick talkin’ lawyer from Chicago.
vulcanhammers last blog post..Say it ain’t so Obama!
Reply to vulcanhammer
March 18th, 2009 at 4:11 am
@The Bobo,
I agree, I too don’t like the fact that taxpayer money seems to have been used for the bonuses. But, as you said, if it was contractually required, then they have to pay.
If I were the head of AIG, I would call all my people in who are to receive bonuses and I would say,
‘I am not taking my bonus. I would suggest the each of you do the same. AIG has got to come out of this financial crisis a strong and viable company that customers would want to do bussiness with. Taking bonuses after we have received taxpayer money is not good business and does not make AIG look like a company who cares about customers”. The CEO of AIG must lead by example. Because customers are the life blood of any business, a company’s leaders must do all they can to satisfy the customer. Sadly, I understand that not all people think this way.
The same princple applies to congress. They should not vote themselves a pay raise until this mess is over.
I don’t know where sayitclear works, but if the federal government came in and rewrote his contract so that he makes less money, I am sure he would scream bloody murder!
Reply to Raider Steve
March 18th, 2009 at 10:30 am
[...] Via the BoBo Files: [...]
Reply to Washington Hypocrits | pamibe
March 18th, 2009 at 10:46 am
[...] off, hat tip to BoBo for coming across data on donations from [...]
Reply to Return Political Donations From AIG! | RWNJ
March 18th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
@Harrison – Snowe lost credibility when she still voted to pass it. If she was so concerned about it, she should have brought it to the public light then and voted no on that bill.
@VH – agreed. There are still hundreds of small and local banks and credit unions that are operating in a solvent manner. There is no reason why we shouldn’t let these banks fail. Customers would just move to the smaller more reliable banks and insurance companies – helping to boost our economy even further. As it stands now – the longer we allow these giant banks to exist – the longer they will continue to drag this economy down.
@Steve – since when has Congress NEVER voted themselves a raise? I say we need to dump them all. Both parties of this government are totally incompetent. The Republicans started this mess and now the Dems are just making it worse and perpetuating it – and using fake outrage to deflect the blame. Obama came out today and tried to say nobody in his administration is to blame for this AIG debaucle. Bullshit! Geithner crafted the damned deal!
Reply to The BoBo
March 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I will check out that website b/c I am so sick of this gov’t. This going back and forth about who is to blame or who is to applaud is just a waste of time. I think everyone needs to get together to make sure things start looking up and they need to start working for the people and not the dollar!
Reply to Nina Ottosson Dog Brick
March 18th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Started by Republicans
Continued by Democrats
Ended by VOTERS!
It has to end with us. Lets put the lott of them on the unemployment line.
Cracked Worlds last blog post..AIG Bonus Outrage Uncovered
Reply to Cracked World
March 18th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
@Nina – good on ya there, love. The 9.12 Project is a great start. I think between the grassroots of the 9.12 Project and the Tea Parties – Obama and his administration are in for a very rough 4 years.
@I’m with ya there CC!
Reply to The BoBo
October 5th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
It amazes me that now they care and did not think about this before. It is so wacked and the Americian people are the ones that suffer. I just wish we could get some everyday Americians in there to run things.
Reply to All My Pet Supplies
October 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
@AMPS – there were many of us out here sounding the alarm bells warning people of this kind of crap well before TARP and ARRA were put in place. Let’s hope that 2010 and 2012 we’ll find some real Americans with some real common sense to do what is right for this country instead of themselves.
Reply to The BoBo