MANUFACTURED OUTRAGE (Tim, Barry, Dodd approved AIG bonuses)

NY POST ^ | 3/18/09 | EDITORIAL

[Liz]

So now it appears Pres Obama knew all about those AIG bonuses - in time to do something about them....Geithner told Obama before AIG honchos disbursed bonuses to the same folks who bankrupted the company last year. Obama blasted "recklessness and greed," adding "It's about our fundamental values." Took him long enough to catch on. Geithner's Treasury Dept knew of the bonuses last fall. So did the Federal Reserve. Treasury not only never sought to block them - but, in fact, approved them. Obama asked: "How [does AIG] justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Simple - Obama's own Treasury Dept gave them the go-ahead.

[Liz]

NOTE WELL Sen Dodd (D-Conn) is THE lawmaker who legislated US government protection for AIG bonuses via the bailout package.

The question is what Dodd got in return for approving the AIG bonuses----this schlemiel Dodd does nothing unless he gets his.

[freespirited]

We should be able to unseat Dodd next year if we put forward a decent candidate.

[SE Mom]

Madness...it’s all madness.

So far today I’ve heard Dodd wrote something in the stimulus that would PREVENT AIG from getting the bonuses and he NOW says that “someone in committee took the teeth out of what I wanted”...the latest is Dodd says he wasn’t the one who wrote it- it came from Treasury..

The surest example of how corrupt we are is the fact that Dodd and Frank are not out on bail after being arrested for a laundry list of crimes.

They’re pathological and are so accustomed to blurring the lines, they no longer have any.

[Liz]

(Excerpt) Sen. Dodd was AIG’s largest single recipient of campaign donations during the 2008 election cycle with $103,100, according to opensecrets.org — According to the Wall Street Journal, Sen. Dodd placed the bonus protection section into the final stimulus bill, making him responsible, along with Obama, for AIG receiving bonuses. Read on.

Obama's Stimulus Bill Explicitly Grants AIG the Legal Right to Give Unlimited Bonuses
ButAsForMe.com | 03/17/09
FR Posted on 03/17/2009 by wrrock
http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/17/obamas-stimulus-bill-explicitly-grants-aig-the-legal-right-to-hand-out-bonuses/

DETAILS From page H1412 of the Final Stimulus Bill, ``SEC. 111. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: "(iii) The prohibition required under clause (i) shall not be construed to prohibit any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a writte employment contract executed on or before February 11, 2009, as such valid employment contracts are determined by the Secretary or the designee of the Secretary."

This amendment provides an exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009, which exempts the very AIG bonuses Obama is condemning every single chance he gets. The amendment is in the final version and is law. Read more at butasforme.com .........

[DManA]

Public rage is being carefully focused on AIG. Big question is will the public connect the dots and focus some of that rage on AIG’s enablers in Congress and the White House. That’s where it belongs. AIG couldn’t rub us unless our representatives hadn’t opened up the door and welcomed them into our vault.

[maggief]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2208929/posts

The dishonest “Blame Dodd” scheme from Treasury officials -(or Dems eating your own)

[Liz]

Pin AIG woes on Brooklyn boy: Joseph Cassano walked away with $315 million while company staggered
NY Daily News ^ | 3-17-09 | Staff
FR Posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 By Anti-Bubba182
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2208816/posts

In our fury over the bonuses at AIG, we should not forget the PIGs there who pocketed millions while endangering the global economy.

At the top of the list is 54-year-old Joseph Cassano, a Brooklyn cop's kid made good who went oh so bad. As head of the Financial Products unit, Cassano racked up billions of losses while assuring investors it was nearly impossible for his unit to lose.

"It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of [rhyme] or reason that would see us losing one dollar in any of those transactions," he told investors.

Before he was finally fired last March, Cassano pocketed $280 million in cash and an additional $34 million in bonuses. Under a "retirement" agreement marked "confidential," Cassano also got a $1 million-a-month "consulting fee."

AIG subsequently cut off these payments, but Cassano still walked away with more than $315 million while the company staggered under $440 billion in liabilities. Taxpayers had to pour in $170 billion in bailout money....."

[Liz]

We should be able to unseat Dodd next year if we put forward a decent candidate.

Dodd skated away from Countrywide deals (so far)....... but giving AIG the protection of the US govermment for those bonuses will surely do in Dodd.

[Boanarges]

I would love for RUSH to now play the 17 second sound bite of Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor announcing to all the “chattering classes” how America simply doesn’t care about “porky projects.”

Rush nailed it in yesterday’s show saying how the AIG bonus was basically an earmark put in by Dodd. That sound bite needs to be played on his show to illustrate that maybe the people do indeed care, Mr. Schumer.

[KansasGirl]

Dodd is going down in 2010. The campaign commercials write themselves.

[Diogenez]

The real strum and drang should be directed at Henry Greenberg who invented “credit default swaps” with virtually no reserve capital assets to be held for possible claims. Greenberg and the Board of Directors need to be called before BARNEY AND Waxy and then called to a Grand Jury.Greenberg was able to pay himself over $1 Billion for his phony baloney insurance product. The Board and Hank's friends at AIG were able to knock down another couple of $ Billions based on sales of these spurious insurance policies.

[Liz]

Thanks MF-—nice contribution to the thread.

Snort-—all of us sittin’ chere in our double-wides wit our pickups on cinder blocks alongside our lean-tos buleeves dat (/s).

[Liz]

Dodd's going down----his campaign commercials write themselves.

Heh--beautiful.

[Liz]

LAUGH BREAK

Police in Conn. chase outbreak of cockfighting
Boston Globe, March 16, 2009 By Keith O'Brien
FR Posted Monday, March 16, 2009 by GQuagmire

WATERBURY, Conn. - From a garage near an abandoned factory in the south end of town - the sound of squawking in the night. It's an odd noise.... But police in Waterbury knew exactly what they were dealing with. It was another cockfight.(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...

============================

A memo went out to Barney Frank: "Stay home, Barney. This is not what you think it is."

But Barney had already left a message for Dodd ......saying that he could not wait to see Dodd's (cough) package.

[lonestar]

Barney and Dodd should be investigated.

[Liz]

AND NOW THE GOOD NEWS---Dodd's left hand does not know what his right hand is doing (/snic---who knew?)

Fallout: Dems in disarray over AIG
Politico on Yahoo ^ | 3/17/09 | Lisa Lerer, Victoria McGrane
FR Posted 03/17/2009 by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2208790/posts

Congressional Democrats careened between the circular firing squad and the three-ring circus Tuesday as they struggled with their new reality: playing defense on the economy. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) blamed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for letting bailed-out insurance giant American International Group pay $165 million in bonuses to its employees, saying he wrote a letter to Geithner two weeks ago warning him of just such a possibility.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), tagged by Republican aides for sponsoring an amendment to the stimulus bill that allowed the bonuses, shifted the blame to the Treasury Department and “the bill conferees,” saying he had no idea that the AIG bonuses were coming.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), joined by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), introduced a bill that would impose a 70 percent tax on “excessive” compensation paid to employees of all bailed-out companies. President Barack Obama has said the White House would use all legal means possible to get the bonuses back, but House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged that there were “some questions” as to whether Congress could do anything at all.

And while Hoyer begged AIG execs to give up the money voluntarily, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) just tried to change the subject. Asked about Geithner’s role in failing to stop the bonuses, Reid said: “Let’s talk about what we have accomplished this Congress.” Nice try. (Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

[Liz]

I hear Barney and Dodd are going into the FBI’s witness protection program.......with new identities.

As Mr & Mrs Kachinga Cheatchusuckahs.

[mike-zed]

How long before Obama’s teleprompter throws Geithner under the bus?

[sneakers]

I heard, this morning, that Dodd and Obama both received huge campaign donations from AIG.

[Wuli]

See my comment, #35 at:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2209086/posts