You can win in a court of law and still get attacked in the court of public opinion. That's what former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Dick Grasso would have learned from MSNBC's "Morning Joe" July 2.
Host Mika Brzezinski called Grasso a "poster child for Wall Street excess" in reporting a New York State Supreme Court ruling allowing Grasso to keep his $187.5 million pension payout.
"There you go, a little justice there," Brzezinski said. "Jack Welch calls it justice; I call it a very large pay package. It's a lot of money, Jack."
Former General Electric (NYSE: GE) Chairman Jack Welch came to Grasso's defense. "It's a lot of money, but it was well earned and it was given to him by the board of directors and he took it," Welch said. "I haven't seen any CEOs in my lifetime who said, ‘please, please keep it.'"
In a later segment, guest host Pat Buchanan piled on Grasso as well. "A 190-million-bucks going away present after 9-11? You don't see the problem there? We got a problem in middle America," he said to CNBC's Larry Kudlow, a guest on the show.
But Kudlow joined Welch in defending his "friend," Grasso.
"Middle America does not want to take from the rich, Mr. Obama," Kudlow told Buchanan. "You sound like Obama on this for God's sake. Middle America doesn't want to take from the rich; middle America wants people to do their jobs and open up opportunity."
—Paul Detrick is a Research Analyst at the Business and Media Institute.
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"Mika is the poster child
July 2, 2008 - 16:27 ET by SickofLibs"Mika is the poster child for ___________."
Bless Welch...he makes a
July 2, 2008 - 16:44 ET by bigtimerBless Welch...he makes a total fool out of Mika every single time he is on the show with her...he does it with ease and class too.
I wished he would be a regular on the show.
I caught this early this morning, I also caught the other show with her a bit back when Welch just walked all over her stupidity.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
I'll bet bt
July 2, 2008 - 17:10 ET by DEVILDOCMOMthat if I saw mika's salary I would feel it is excessive for her skills. LOL
Afternoon DDC... Now you
July 2, 2008 - 17:16 ET by bigtimerAfternoon DDC...
Now you have me cracking up laughing....excessive...as far as I am concerned anything above a hundred pennies a show is 99 too many.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
I am
July 2, 2008 - 17:20 ET by DEVILDOCMOMwith you to the penny on that point. LOL
Larry Kudlow is the BEST!
July 2, 2008 - 17:19 ET by Missouri Conservative"women and minorities hardest hit"
MC... I couldn't agree
July 2, 2008 - 17:33 ET by bigtimerMC...
I couldn't agree more...I used to watch his show all the time on CNBC...
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
He is maybe the lone voice of reason working for NBC these days.
July 2, 2008 - 17:49 ET by Missouri Conservative"women and minorities hardest hit"
Can you say envy?
July 2, 2008 - 17:35 ET by bradbenj5952These folks in the MSM have a serious envy problem. Would they themselves turn down $100M or $200M or the $400M+ Rush just signed for? Absolutely not. Their real problem is that it was not they themselves that were on the receiving end of these deals.
"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive." - C.S. Lewis
"Jack Welch calls it
July 2, 2008 - 17:55 ET by fitzfong"Jack Welch calls it justice; I call it a very large pay package. It's a lot of money, Jack."
Bubbles Brzezinkski calls her gig a job. I call it an undeserved political payoff to her failure of a father. The less said about that windbag Buchanan, the better.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitz... Bubbles B.... I
July 2, 2008 - 17:58 ET by bigtimerfitz...
Bubbles B....
I love it...
LOL!
As to Buchanan...sometimes I just cringe watching what he has become at times.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
You put liberals and
July 2, 2008 - 18:12 ET by Chris NormanYou put liberals and populists together and this is what you get. Let's get O'Reilly in there to see what he thinks. BTW, I wonder if Buchanan turns down "excessive" royalties from his books.
"... middle America wants
July 2, 2008 - 18:29 ET by Biff McCain"... middle America wants people to do their jobs and open up opportunity." -- Kool-Aid Kudlow
Sure we do, let me be the first one to say we should all chip in and
pay Grasso's tax on his windfall. Whoops, I forgot, he'll hire CPA's
and end up paying peanuts on it. As for "open up opportunity," he means
in Columbia.
"Burn that mother down." -- Jimmy Ellis
...ignoring... "Nuke 'em
July 2, 2008 - 19:45 ET by Rukus...ignoring...
"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"
Fine for Grasso - but here's the poster for Clinton
July 2, 2008 - 18:43 ET by Gary HallFine for Grasso - but here's the poster for Clinton:
Imagine what would happen if any mainsream journalist presented a tee shirt to Bill Clinton with his own record on it.
The Trustees are the ones who should be excoriated, not Grasso
July 2, 2008 - 20:49 ET by needlePersonally, I am glad the courts did not take the money away from Grasso simply because it is a lot of money, or an excessive amount of money. At least the court attended to the law, which is something that you cannot count on nowadays.
The crime to the extent that there was a crime, at least in the figurative sense if not the literal sense, was committed by the Board of Trustee in handing out a $187.5 million pension payout. I do not care who you are; such a pension payout excessive by orders of magnitude. Does anyone seriously think he "earned" it?
Trustees are SUPPOSED to be stewards of an institution’s wherewithal. In handing out such a retirement package they behaved in a ridiculously, and possibly criminally, irresponsible manner.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.