No One At White House Realizes President is De Facto CEO of AIG
Filed under: A.I.G., Barack Obama, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
There is much hand wringing and continual cries of “outrageous” from the Obama Administration over the AIG bonuses. Mere displays of consternation are not going to be enough to still the righteous fury of the American public over the original ‘too big to fail’ company, though.
Put simply, many Americans viewed the original corporate bailout – all $700 billion worth – as inherently unfair, as a reward for the corporate thugs who wrecked the entire U.S. economy. I fear this issue of $165 million in bonuses could be like an interception thrown deep in an opponent’s territory — a momentum crushing political game changer for the president.
The video at the end of this post, I believe, shows the disconnect. White House aide Austan Goolsbee is interviewed by Chris Matthews on Hardball. Goolsbee comes across as insincere in his pique with AIG. He says the president is outraged, the Treasury Secretary is outraged, blah, blah, blah. He is seemingly exuberantly outraged himself, saying by God, these AIG guys shouldn’t be allowed to have a meal out in a restaurant let alone those poor taxpayers’ money! Frankly, it looks like an act, it feels like an outrageous act.
The Obama Administration is talking about – I don’t know if it’s policy yet, or what it will take to make it policy – allowing local judges to change the terms of mortgages between homeowners and their lenders. This sounds an awful lot like jimmying with contracts. On the other hand, the Obama Administration is playing the outrage game over AIG’s use of bailout money – mugging for the cameras – yet shaking their heads, looking at their shoes and saying, “You know, it’s these damn contracts … these guys have us over a barrel.”
Here’s a question for Washington: When does our 80% stake in this pathetic company begin to mean something. Doesn’t 80% ownership give the American people – through their elected representatives – a say? Isn’t the President Obama or Secretary Geithner the de facto CEO of AIG?
No more conspicuous displays of outrage over the likes of AIG, please. Just do something, and at this point letting the whole damn company collapse would be as good as pulling the plug on the pigs’ bonuses.
Where Is All the Bailout Money Going? Banks Aren’t Telling …
Filed under: Bailout Bill, Recession, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
The other day the Associated Press asked 21 banks who took in billions in U.S. taxpayer provided federal bailout money four questions:
- How much of the money take has been spent?
- What was it spent on?
- How much is being held in savings?
- What’s the plan for the rest.
Silence. Here’s hoping that the New Year brings a Congress and Adminstration willing to force some transparency out of these corporate welfare cases and hold them accountable for real results and sound business practices. In the meantime, we’ve got Cramer:
Jim Cramer Goes Ballistic on Bailed Out Banks
Vice Presidential Debate Time & News
Filed under: Joe Biden, Presidential Campaign 2008, Sarah Palin
Palin – Biden Live Tonight all over the Tube at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Obama Veepstakes – Does a Biden Pick Spite Hillary’s States?
Chris Matthews’ Strong Case for Hillary for Veep
I keep hearing the pundits talking about how Sen. Barack Obama isn’t “comfortable” with this person or that person – the chemistry isn’t there. Screw the chemistry, let’s win this damn election.
Chris Matthews had a great segment tonight on Hardball with Howard Fineman and Andrea Mitchell. You can watch the whole 14 minutes or so at the end of this post. Those states in green look awful good.