In a sane world Tim Geithner’s tax troubles would have kept him from being confirmed as Treasury Secretary. Unfortunately, we don’t live sane and those tax troubles pale in comparison to what we’re learning about the Geithner led Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s role in the AIG bailout: The Federal Reserve Bank of New […]
AIG
WSJ: Geithner Under Fire Amid Frustration on Economy
Normally I’d say the calls for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s resignation were just hot air but given the recent disclosures about his role in AIG bailout while President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, I suspect this is more than just normal political blustering: Snowballing frustration about the economy burst into a political fracas […]
Is More Spending the Answer to Our Economic Problems?
I mentioned last week that the Government and Federal Reserve had spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, here’s video from stopspendingourfuture.org that helps put that in perspective: In short, we have spent more bailouts than we did on World War 2!
Let the Exodus Begin…
Jake DeSantis may have been the most public buts he’s not the only one at AIG Finacial Products who’s cleaning out his desk: NEW YORK (Reuters) – Several more employees are leaving the controversial financial products unit that brought American International Group Inc to its knees last year, according to a person with knowledge of […]
NYT: Dear A.I.G., I Quit!
I hope Barack Obama, Timothy Geithner, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Chris Dood, Andrew Cuomo, Richard Blumenthal and all the pundits who have lead the AIG lynch mob are happy now: The following is a letter sent on Tuesday by Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, to Edward […]
Chris Dodd’s Wife Paid by AIG Subsidiary???
Chris Dodd had an Op Ed in “Dodd: Setting the record straight” in this morning’s News Times… Unfortunately, the piece doesn’t seem to be on their web site so I can’t link to it… Regardless the timing couldn’t have been worse since Sen. Dodd is likely to face new questions about his wife’s involvement with […]
Unintended Consequences: AIG Bonus Tax Could Have Painful Side Effects
Haste makes waste my grandmother used to say… When it comes to legislation haste often leads to unintended consequences. Take for example congresses rush to pass a 90 percent tax on the retention bonuses paid to executives at AIG (emphasis mine): Lawmakers bellowed with outrage last week following revelations that AIG was paying millions in […]
The last Grownup: John Kyl Puts the Breaks on Rush to Tax AIG Bonuses
We got into this mess because Congress and the administration rushed through the Stimulus bill without sufficient time for legislators to review and debate the bill. Now Congress is trying to compound one set of mistakes with another by rushing through a bill to tax the retention bonuses paid to AIG employees. Fortunately there’s at […]
Damn the Constitution, Full Speed Ahead!
This is beyond priceless: WASHINGTON — The House gave strong approval to legislation intended to recoup bonuses paid by American International Group Inc. and other recipients of federal aid, after a sharp-edged debate that dramatized populist outrage over the government’s sweeping efforts to prop up the nation’s financial system. The legislation was rushed to the […]
Congressman McCotter Slams Stimulus “Yes” Voters for Protecting AIG Executive Bonuses
I’m about ready to make Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan my adopted Congressman: “Facts are hard things to disprove. Every single Democrat in this House that voted for that bill voted to approve and protect those AIG bonuses. Every single Democrat in the Senate that voted for that stimulus bill, along with three Republican senators, […]
Chris Dodd Was Against AIG’s Bonuses Before He Was For Them???
It’s getting so you can’t follow the twist and turns in the AIG retantion bonus kerfufle without a map… It now looks like Chris Dodd was against the bonuses before he was for them but now he’s against them: For a while, the disappearance of an executive bonus restriction from last month’s economic stimulus looked […]
The Hits Keep Coming: Chris Dodd Was For AIG Bonuses Before He Was Against Them
From Fox Business (emphasis mine): Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Monday night floated the idea of taxing American International Group (AIG: 0.9194, 0.1393, 17.86%) bonus recipients so the government could recoup some or all of the $450 million the company is paying to employees in its financial products unit. Within hours, the idea spread to […]
Bloody Monday…
The dust is starting to settle on what has been very ugly day on Wall Street. It’s not over by any stretch of the imagination… It’s going to take several days if not weeks for the markets and Main Street to fully digest the implications of Merrill Lynch’s shotgun marriage to Bank of America, Lehman […]