Several talk show hosts (like Laura Ingraham) were exposing the faked Democratic ignorance of the AIG bonuses just like Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass did on Sunday:
What they're trying to drown out with all their screaming is that the Democrats knew all about the $165 million to the AIG suits. And the Obama White House knew all about it too.
In fact, it was a rather brave New York Democrat, Rep. Joseph Crowley, who asked Geithner about the AIG bonuses in a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee. Not yesterday, or a couple days ago, but on March 3.
"Just last month," Crowley told Geithner, "AIG paid 343 employees of AIG FP—their Financial Products division that created the financial hole that AIG is in, and in turn a multibillion-dollar bill for American taxpayers—$56 million in bonuses and are slated to pay an additional $162 million in bonuses to 393 participants in the coming weeks," Crowley said.
"And there's more," Crowley said. "Further bonus payments totaling approximately $230 million are due to 407 participants at AIG's Financial Products division in March 2010. This makes no sense to my constituency."
Kass wrote the AIG bonuses present a real problem for the party of Hate the Rich:
But all this false congressional outrage and shrieking and fingerpointing should be understood for what it really is: Political buttocks-covering by Democrats who are worried about the 2010 elections, and afraid of losing their greatest symbolic weapon: The Evil Rich Guy.
That's another cartoon, like Mr. Burns on "The Simpsons," who steps on the backs of the humble working man. Now, though, the Democrats aren't fighting Mr. Burns, they're giving him a boost so he can step on our necks with a pair of snazzy AIG loafers.
Kass poked at the Washington reporters with the "tingles up their legs" to stop being enthralled and start being appalled at the Democratic charade.
(Hat tip: Dave B.)
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
Den of Theives
March 22, 2009 - 06:59 ET by kilrodWashinton D.C. is little more than a den of theives, the House, the Senate, and the White House is infested whith crooks and scam/con artist. All this bailout/stimulous is the biggest fraud, scam, con in the history of the world. It is the elite ruling class stealing the working folks money and taxing them into submission al la socialism. Untill and unless the people have the guts to stand up and do something about it, to bad, you've gotten what you deserve. It's man up are shut up time.
kilrod
Remember, only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
I think it's Worse Than That
March 22, 2009 - 08:34 ET by rightwingidiotYou're exactly right but what makes it worse is that with a Den of Theives at least you would expect stealing, lying, contempt for the law and a total disregard for anyone but themselves.
With the Politicians (OBey included), they say everything possible to get your vote and claim on a minute by minute basis that they're doing the "good" work for the American People. Gag me. If I have to hear Barney Frank mush mouth his way through another self-serving grilling of another exec to cover up his dishonestly I think I will puke.
I'm sure it's been worse before but my gawd, what is going on up there? Are there any honest (or semi-honest) politicians left? What ever happened to "Say what You Mean and Mean What you Say"? Is the entire system so corrupt that we can't trust ANYTHING that they say or do?
This is simply just sad. The most powerful nation (well, maybe not any more with OBey in command) and our leaders (there's a tough one to swallow) are flailing around like the robot in Lost in Space. "Danger, danger, American public! AIG execs are getting bonuses that we approved of. Danger!"
The only real danger is that these dirtwads can't be unelected right NOW.
I'm a hoping that there be something a changing before they flush our broke ass down the toilet.
dittos
March 22, 2009 - 10:06 ET by 10ksnookerYou nailed it.
The Democrat's idea is the vast majority of the white people are too fat, dumb and happy to fight. Yes I said it, it's all about taking down the white folks, who the Democrats think won't fight, much less resist. The socialists believe they have finally whipped buba and now have it all within their grasp, ruling America for life.
Hey if it's rascist, kick me, but the truth is the truth. And yes I have actually heard with my own ears ranking elected Democrats say what I have written above.
All We Have to Do is Pay Attention
March 22, 2009 - 11:11 ET by rightwingidiotAll we have to do is pay attention to what OBey has written and said in the past and it's not uneasy to conclude that everything he proposes is about keeping the poor blacks poor and beholden to the Fed for their everyday survival. I also think there's a reparations undertone. Yeah, I said (wrote) it; there be some payback going on.
His wife is the same. Read her thesis and it becomes obvious that she has a real problem with educated blacks becoming assimilated into white culture, becoming successful and not staying in or coming back to the community from which they came to help other blacks. They just become like the rest of the whiteys.
Sorry, but I think it's more true than many want to admit.
THE PROTECTED LOOTERS
March 22, 2009 - 21:48 ET by reelman46THE PROTECTED LOOTERS
Mar 22, 7:29 AM (ET), By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) - A busload of activists representing working-
and middle-class families paid visits Saturday to the lavish homes of
American International Group executives to protest the tens of millions
of dollars in bonuses awarded by the struggling insurance company after
it received a massive federal bailout.
About 40 protesters sought to urge AIG executives who received a
portion of the $165 million in bonuses to do more to help families.
CRAWFISH NOTE: Will any “protesters” visit the
homes of Raines, Gorelick or Johnson? They are the
never-mentioned-cause-we-got-a pass democrats that looted
Fannie-Freddie for over $110 million of your tax money for platinum
parachute bonuses as those quasi-gov-meant institutions LOST billions.
Well, when is the congress going to do that? Ohhh, never…sue-prise,
sue-prize.
By the way, what any CEO makes is only the business of the
shareholders. The business of theft from gov-meant should be the
business of congress…but its NOT. More liberal demonizing of private
industry while our bloated ever-growing gov-meant gets zero scrutiny if
any democrat loots it. Same ole democrats.
Did I mention democrats wrote the CEOs’ “bonus okay” into the STIM bill then lied about that? Yep, same ole democrats.
Demonizing a CEO never created a job or helped your sick IRA…suckers
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)
Re: Protected Looters
March 22, 2009 - 23:16 ET by slickwillie2001I'm sure you recognize poster, how ridiculous the AP's characterization of the protesters as "a busload of activists representing working-and middle-class families" is.
From: http://littlegreenfootballs.com
"The Connecticut Working Families Party this weekend has organized a bus (tour) that will make stops at Wilton, Connecticut, AIG office as well as the security-patrolled homes of AIG execs who are fearing for their lives."
"The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. The party also has chapters in Connecticut, South Carolina, and Oregon, and is working towards establishing itself in Massachusetts and California. New York’s Working Families Party was first organized in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, ACORN and other community organizations, members of the now-inactive national New Party, and a variety of public interest groups."
In other words, Obama's ACORN thugs and some union goons. And to add insult to injury, you and I probably paid for the buses and an hourly wage for the paid protesters.
→ Not a chance reelman
March 22, 2009 - 23:24 ET by Cool ArrowEven thoughGoldman-Sachs and Lehman Bros. are proof the Administration was mindful of out of range payments to executives long before the Dodd Amendment was slipped in.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Atta Boy, John!
March 22, 2009 - 07:03 ET by GeneralAlJohn Kass is one of the few, if any, objective reporters left! Yes, hes a columnist, but he goes after corruption on all sides! He holds everyone's feet to the fire. He doesn't have many friends in the Chicago Daley Machine, the Madigan Machine, or the Obamagasm Machine! The Demicommies had better begin counting their votes! If theres one person who can inflict pain with his pen, its John Kass!
I have the solution!
March 22, 2009 - 07:05 ET by heldmywWhy not simply call them 'compensation adjustments'?
Or, how about 'retention stimulus'?
In an Obamanation, this should get the problem off the table with smiles all 'round.
The Bankos keep their better performers from migrating where the dough is greener, they recover faster, and we get them off the Federal books quicker!
Tell us more about the Bankos’ better performers.
March 22, 2009 - 16:46 ET by needleLet’s remember that these are the same people that steered their banks off a financial cliff.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
Now that they've adressed those AIG bonuses...
March 22, 2009 - 07:22 ET by JohnMcGrew...when is Congress going to pass legislation to get back all those phony bonuses paid to the Fannie & Freddie execs?
My guess it will be just after Dodd & Frank appear before the Financial Services Committee to be grilled by grandstanding Congressmen.
Raines and Gorelick
March 23, 2009 - 06:16 ET by Sergeant ROCKYou must be talking about the two Clintonistas that raked in millions (I believe the figure is 1/4 to a 1/3 of the AIG number between the two of them) while Barney Frank-puffer was slobbering on and on that there was nothing wrong with either Fannie or Freddie.
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Fascism
March 22, 2009 - 08:15 ET by nadadhimmiFascists, also known as National Socialists, or Nazi's, in Germany, were indeed socialists of a sort. The same sort as Obama because Hitler as well as Obama rewarded big business with bonuses to the directors of huge firms to gain control of them. In Germany in the 30's it was Krupps, Siemens, AG Farben, Mercedes Benz, etc. Now of course it's AIG, et al. It's a way to seize control of the economy by bribing business men and they always think they can control the "upstart". They never do and it ALWAYS leads to financial and social disaster. I pray to God that loyality to our Constitution will pull us thru.
Smoke Screen
March 22, 2009 - 08:17 ET by jgarciaAll this AIG smoke screen bothers me greatly……. What they are doing right now is taxing something they personally knew about and okay in the dead of the night…… They are yelling, jumping up and down and writing another tax LAW to fix this problem, but the bigger problem is…….. They are not limiting it to AIG or companies who took bail out money………. They are wording it (right in front of us) so they can TAX any bonuses they want! Plus, they want employee’s names called out in Public so the “public freaks” can go to their houses and make personal death threats to them and their families Barney Franks wants these private citizens harmed by his own actions…………. How can I see this any other way? Plus AG Holder wants to make sure they can’t defend themselves…… oh, my panties are in a bunch over this!
I have two solutions...
March 22, 2009 - 08:18 ET by BKeyser1. Since it was Congress that added the loophole, Congress should have to pay back the bonuses. Tax the negotiators of the loophole at 90%. Tax all who voted for the stimulus bill at 90%. Tax all who failed to stop it at 70%. Tax the signer at 90%. These taxes should be left in place until all funds have been returned to the Treasury. And given the outrage at these types of bonuses- do the same for Freddie and Fannie- backtracking into the last Administration and Congress if necessary.
-OR-
2. Consider this a done deal- a mistake that can't be undone but never to be repeated. Lets completely revamp the salary structure for all paid employess working in the US from an agreed-upon-salary or -wage to a performance based "repayment" structure. For example- a baseball player whose main talent is excellent fielding should be paid on his contribution to the team relative to his fielding prowess, with incentives thrown in for batting average, RBI's, games played, etc. Congressman and women should be paid for their contributions to a successful government, and penalized later for failed legislation or opposing proven successful legislation. Wal-mart checkers should be paid for their average customers per hour through the checkout lines. And media-types should be paid based on accuracy of reporting. The pay scales should be written into law with minimums and maximums so everyone knows exactly what their talents are worth to our society.
-Oh, I have one more-
3. OR- Congress can stop grandstanding and see that communism and socialism are proven-failed economic standards throughout history! Leave it alone you gas-bags! Work on the real problems the country is dealing with, most notably the shear fact that so many idoit regulators are running it into the ground! How about we save the tax payer's a little money by placing term limits on Senators and reducing the number of Congressman per state to a maximum of four? (scumbags...)
My Sunday morning rant has now ended- thank you for your patience. lol
Mr. Burns = George Soros?
March 22, 2009 - 08:26 ET by WorriedI am appalled at what is taking place with the AIG bonuses. The Democrats who have been faking indignition should be arrested, especially the 2 who received "bonuses" themselves: Obama and Dodd.
I want all the ACORN workers arrested as well that are making death threats and hassling the people who received bonuses.
The whole world is watching and Obama is making a bigger ass of himself everyday.
P.S. - I have a sign in my front door that reads "This is an Anti-Obama Household" so ACORN better not knock on my door today.
Anyone else have a close encounter?
Anyone not knowing that the
March 22, 2009 - 09:14 ET by MANstreammediaAnyone not knowing that the Democrat party is the party of the super rich is an idiot. That being said, most people do not know this.
Why get excited about $165
March 22, 2009 - 09:44 ET by robert108Why get excited about $165 million, when $173 billion is being wasted by this administration? The bonuses are only 0.1% of the total in wasted spending.
Of course, if you take the proper perspective, you can't demonize "the rich", can you?
The real "rich" party on wagyu steak with the thermostat set at "Hawaii", while Americans starve and freeze in the dark. Let's go after them.
The Democrats are Lost
March 22, 2009 - 09:46 ET by pbthinkerIt's really hard to govern and legislate. The Democrats haven't had to do this in a long time. It was really easy for them to blame Bush and the Republicans; but in this case they received a ton of money from this group and it was their legislation, or lack thereof, that caused these bonuses to go through. What all of this has done, for the Dems, is throw them off their game. Even the syncophant press had a hard time covering for them on this so they're just not used to being this visible.
They're beginning to figure out their leader may be in over his head. Just when they need decisions from the White House they see a White House that's lost. They can't demonize the Republicans if the White House doesn't give them something to demonize them about. Republicans, only have to point out that a plan isn't there. You can't call Republicans negative and just saying "no" if you haven't given them something to say "no" to.
It won't take long for them to get back in stride. They're only one Rahm Emanuel meeting with the boys away from a good plan to blame it all on Rush Limbaugh or the Republicans, and cover-up the truth that they have no clue.
Election 2008-God's way of showing us that elections count.
Here's an example of the
March 22, 2009 - 09:57 ET by celatorHere's an example of the lunacy, shamelessness and hypocricy of the Congressional left. Last Wed, Chellie Pingree, 1st Congressional District (Maine) left wing nutjob, was screaming (through her public statements in Maine) that the AIG bonuses were CRIMINAL! They were AWFUL!
By then it was already known that Dodd had added the AIG bonus exemption in the stimulus bill at the insistence of the Obama goons.
And, of course, Pingree, the democrat twit, voted enthusiastically for the said same stimulus bill. Loser.
"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded." Obama describing his tactic to punish those who dissent from his programs.
Jessie R.
March 22, 2009 - 10:01 ET by jessieHJessie R. Hamby Send these comments to congress. Send tea bags. Send the dumbasses to jail. Get rid of the whole lot & start over. We have to stop this, somehow. Good job, Kass!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm completely disgusted
March 22, 2009 - 10:05 ET by MeowMeowObama scares the sh!t out of me. He's the worst thing that's ever happened to this country, and we can thank air-headed college kids, gullible sheep who garner world news from watching The Daily Show, and general have-nots for putting his sorry ass into office.
Now it's our job to get him out. We start with 2010 and march on through to 2012.
The very IDEA that private individuals -- whose only crime was working hard for a living -- are having their addresses and names publicly released with the intent that angry have-nots can go harrass them is absolutely inexcusable.
For every minute he sits on his pedestal in the White House, we lose that much more of our country.
Obama: A glittering jewel of colossal ignorance. --RL
Obama Socialized Psychopath or Sociopath
March 22, 2009 - 10:17 ET by Retired GeekMost American Citizens wonder why Barack Obama has selected and placed, weak and incompetent people to positions of power.
The most obvious are Joe Biden and Tim Geithner.
Both of these men crave influence, respect, and power, but they lack the necessary competencies to achieve their desires.
These incompetent 'Morons' do NOT understand, that Barack Obama has chosen them specifically because they are incompetent and must depend on Barack Obama for their positions.
The consequent dependency, on this Sociopath - Barack Obama - makes them permanent manipulatees, expendable pawns to absorb the harassment that should be directed towards Barack Obama.
Barack Obama knows he is unable to expound his thoughts without a Teleprompter, so he picks a human 'Gaffe Machine' like Joe Biden who is even worse than he, that would replace him should he fail.
Barack Obama wants the American Economic System destroyed, so that he can replace Capitalism with Socialism, so he picks an absolutely incompetent 'Rube' Tim Geithner, to head up the Treasury and then announces great confidence in Geithner.
It is no accident that both of these 'Rubes' are white.
its is amazing
March 22, 2009 - 12:11 ET by katainkentthey managed to take a dime someone else got and make it more important than a $100 bill they just stuffed in their own pocket.
con artists. the whole lot of em.
Heavy taxation...
March 22, 2009 - 15:41 ET by Mother...to get those tax dollars back.
Oxymoronic illogical logic much?
Maybe I'm not thinking clearly but this hot mess screams "straw man" distraction.
The dems in crmgress and in
March 22, 2009 - 16:02 ET by ConservativeRexThe dems in congress and in the white house aren't fooling anyone except those blind to the facts. This is, and has been, one huge scam. The dems that make all the calls in congress were well aware of every single bonus that AIG gave out. Knew about it, and just to make sure they got the bonuses, they put an amendment into the bail out bill to make sure they got them.
Then it got known. The dems threw AIG execs under the bus quicker than Obama threw his grandmother under the bus!
But one thing these dems did not count on. When the melt down is complete, these very same dems will be at each others throats, because we are coming after them. We are coming after them, the commentaters that provided cover for them, the so-called comedians that poked everyone else in the eye for questioning their butt kissing of their feral leader. And we are coming after their feral leader. We will use the courts, we will use the votes, and we will use the media that serves us best, the internet.
We have done a good job so far in running a few MSM outlets out of business. We have more work to do. We must run some of the weekly magazines out of business this year. there is a couple that are on weak knees at the moment, we need to finish those off. It'll take some time, but it has to be done.
At every opportunity it needs to be pointed out when a news weekly is outright lying or not reporting what actually happened. Hold them up to the light. Make sure everyone knows.
CRex.... Oh yes...let the
March 22, 2009 - 16:13 ET by bigtimerCRex....
Oh yes...let the sun shine in!
Fight on we must!!!!!
obama breaks the law
March 22, 2009 - 18:57 ET by TN MomFriday, March 20, 2009
BARACK OBAMA
No Meetings of Financial Stability Oversight Board Under Obama Administration
Ed Morrissey finds yet another glaring piece of evidence that the Obama administration has completely dropped the ball when it comes to oversight of TARP funds.