Comments on: A.I.G. = The Audacity of Obama Voting Present

By: ChrisWWW

ChrisWWW — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:21:36 +0000

Media Matters says the Dodd story is false:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200903170026?f=h_top

By: CStanley

CStanley — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:15:16 +0000

Yeah but they're the ones in charge of the respective committees…
Funny how that happens.

By: mikkel

mikkel — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:12:18 +0000

Yeah but they're the ones in charge of the respective committees…

By: ChrisWWW

ChrisWWW — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:47:49 +0000

mikkel,
You can add Schumer to that list. However, I think we'd be foolish to pretend the stink is limited to even a handful of Congress members.

By: mikkel

mikkel — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:07:47 +0000

Dodd and Frank are about the worst when it comes to being pawns of the financial powerhouses, which is depressing because it completely destroys any of their positive thoughts about individual liberties.

By: elrod

elrod — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:00:15 +0000

CS,
I'm a bit skeptical of the reporting from Fox Business on the Dodd amendment. They didn't quote the language of the bill so I have to wonder if they paraphrased it to embarrass him. Not that it's necessarily BS. I just don't believe Fox Business on this quite yet.

By: elrod

elrod — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:56:12 +0000

The problem is that the biggest GOP challenger to Dodd is Larry Kudlow. And there are few people who define Wall Street corruption worse than Larry Kudlow.

Dodd is unpopular now in CT. But he will win again. Only Rob Simmons – the very moderate former Congressman – can give him a challenge.

By: HemmD

HemmD — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:15:51 +0000

Is now the time to discuss just where the line is between PAC donations and bribery? The above bill makes good sense only if you wish to tell voters one thing and guarantee your donors the income they've paid for.

The AIG mess is bigger than run of the mill politics. Follow the money, both Wall Streets fraud and pay offs to legislatures who made the fraud possible. I don't care who gets caught in that net, nail em.

By: CStanley

CStanley — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:41:33 +0000

Forget Obama for the moment- there's one particular Congressman who really needs to go home as a consequence of the AIG mess.

Here's the audacity of Chris Dodd today:

But the damage control did not seem to satisfy incredulous lawmakers in both parties, who said the image of financial executives taking huge bonuses from a taxpayer-funded rescue puts the president in a politically impossible position.

"I warned them this would be met with an unprecedented level of outrage," Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), the chairman of the banking committee and part of a group of senators who pressed Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to stop the bonuses, said yesterday.

And here's the summary of the Dodd amendment to the AIG bailout:

Dodd Amendment Rules

* 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).

So, what? He was warning Geitner and the administration that the bill he wrote would provoke outrage?