Political Punch

We as a nation should be MAD AS HELL. We are allowing a small percentage of the wealthiest people in this nation to steal from hard-working average Americans. We need to stand up to these greedy narcissists and make them pay for what they owe.
Make over $250,000 a year? You're damn right you should owe more in taxes. There are people with three jobs that can't even put food on the table at times because they get paid at minimum wage and don't have the resources to climb the social ladder.

EVERYONE EMAIL YOUR SENATOR/CONGRESS REPS:

As part of bailout conditions:

1) All corporate profits to be paid to the government while the taxpayer is losing money on the toxic assets
2) Absolutely no bonuses to any employees, this is cash which goes back to the taxpayer until the losses on the toxic assets are recouped.
3) Shareholders of these toxic companies must be somehow punished. The bailout is increasing the value of these companies, so shareholders are gaining at the taxpayers expense. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!

Obama or McCain, it makes no difference. Don't you people get it yet? It is the illusion of choice. Wake up. 700Billion dollars stolen from us taxpayers given to executives and shareholders who lie, cheat and steal. McCain won't stop this. Obama won't stop it either. Don't be stupid. Vote 3rd party, any 3rd party. Otherwise its just going to happen over and over again.

Now is a good time to institute term limits in Congress. Congress has been instrumental in letting us down. Bush has only been here 8 years and messed up things as much as possible in that short time but many in Congress have been there for years, deregulating, changing bankruptcy laws, allowing monopolies, etc.,etc.. Time to start having new people in Washington on a regular basis. We've been sold down the river.

notafool: nationalizing an insurance giant, and ensuring that the federal government owns 80% of all mortgages IS socialism - as is corporate welfare. while bush slept, what percentage of morgan stanley do you think the chinese government came to own? who needs a cold war when you have the neocon idiots in office? they are the greatest gift to socialism or communism since stalin.

Amazing. Can we get the names?

NO! NO BAIL OUT!

LOCK UP! That's what we want! LOCK UP!

From vice-president up to & including The BOARD of Directors, of corporations seeking Bail Out, should be turned over to OUR Justice Dept. The SHAREHOLDERS elected them so, let the shareholders collect from THEM--not me!

The Lending Institutions' Players should have everything taken from them: houses, cars, pay, 401Ks, IRAs,
vacation homes--EVERY THING!

BUT--THEN--who would be left to give millions & millions to the two National Political PARTIES, so they can be elected and do this over again? Remmember the Savings & Loan bail out?
Well, yeh, Oprah, is she a lobbiest?

There is an option to the Dem. & Rep., but Ralph Nader is ignored by the Parties Media!

Billy Bob, Florida, Even when we vote the DNP denies our rights because they have PARTY Rules, which Obama supports, affirms, and approves as it helped him with his nomination.

PS Senators Kennedy, Kerry, McGovern, Biden, Edwards all supported Obama, WHO will be running his White House? Well, Oprah will have a room, but run the show? Naw-she's a girl.

Obama and McCain both accepted 500 Billions dollars from Hitler and the Devil.

New York Times:
McCain advisor who worked at Fannie Mae, recieved 35,000 dollars a month for doing nothing. Check it out. McCain is an inside man for a Corporate Country Take-Over. Oil Tycoons are paying McCain to be a Toadie. Anybody and everybody should double check the paper trails. They are still there.

QUICK MEMO:
John McCains Oil Advising Tycoons, are buying theri oun stocks, to raise prices. A fear tactic, to use higher gas prices, in McCains favor. Oil Tycoons are working for McCain. Be prepared for McCain to get a rise in political funding. Just WATHCH the money this week.

"during the height of the predatory lending crisis"

And dear sir, exactly why would all of these companies pursue policies that inevitably put them out of business?

The "predatory lending" of which you speak is government imposed (by the Democrats with a fair share of Republican idiots) loans by banks to people who did not possess the means to repay them.

The predation was on the banks. By its real name, it is called s o c i a l i s m.

The result, as are the results of all socialism experiments, is financial disaster.

This time, it was imposed by stealth, because Americans would never vote for such a blatantly obvious scam.

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks.

The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

"What a pointless/midleading discussion."

Not pointless/misleading if your goal is to depose Bush, elect Obama, and implement Socialism.

What a pointless/midleading discussion. What were the reported earnings of the companies in FY 2007? What was the YE impact on stock prices, shareholder equity, market cap? How were the 2007 bonuses spread across successful/unsuccessful divisions? Those answers would give some perspective , and even then on 2007 AND NOT on 2008.

Otherwise, it's as good as saying put Warren Buffett next to a homeless person, and saying their average net worth is $32 billion.

Tinat,

You are assuming something, that's not true. Obama has collected millions from executives, in some instances more than mccain in a given industry.

Wall Streeters are giving more to O than McCain, for example.

If you had a gun held to your head with the directive "make bad loans to people who can't pay them back", it would be rational behavior to make some money and get out of Dodge before the trigger got pulled.

Frankly, some of those execs should probably go to jail....AFTER Franklin Raines, Jim Johnson, Barney Franks, Chris Dodd, and every other smelly politician who promulgated the biggest financial crime in history.

Obamas money is coming from company workers, Mccains money is coming from company executives...now who do you think has more power, workers or executives???

Yep, and a dis proportionate amount of that bonus money is being donated to Obamas campaign by those very same people.

Nice research - I hope you continue to give this line of inquiry the attention that it deserves.

Danny,
BOTH campaigns are full of fannie lobbyists. That's what lobbyists do, run political campaigns. Shouldn't be a shocker to anybody.

The point is that this GSE has a 200 million dollar lobbying budget. That is the real crime here.

Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, protected Fannie & Freddie from regulation. He was President of their advocacy group.

Davis was paid 2 million over 5 years, according to the New York Times.

Historyforgotten,

Fact.

95% of the worlds oil reserves are owned by state run entities. If private companies like Exxon only can set prices on 5% of the worlds supply, how are these "Tycoons" doing it?

Big Evil Tycoon Exxon has to pay what the market price for oil is, and right now it's very high...so oil and gas are expensive.
The main reason oil is expensive is that a billion suddenly middle class Chinese and Indian people are buying cars.

Exxon has a 7% profit margin, lower than Microsoft's...does that make is Microsoft a "Tycoon"?

Exxon makes 7 cents on a gallon of gas. How dare they!

I think if you take off your conspiracy glasses, you might learn something.

McCain has voted against government SUBSIDIZING alternative energy, preferring to let market forces come up with a solution.
How's that ethanol thing working out?
Higher food prices, food shortages, and it costs more oil to produce than it saves...all financed and subsidized by the government.
By the way, it also increased the price of fuel at the pump. But I'm sure you can pin that on your Tycoons, somehow.

Wow. I knew it was bad, but that is obscene. The executives pay themselves with money based on valuations which (they know) will eventually be shown to be hyper-inflated, leaving us with the choice to either bail them out or allow an important sector of the U.S. economy to fail. Is it possible to sue them to recover some of those assets?

McCains Oil Tycoons started a corporate Country take-over, when they hired McCain to Deregulate companies back in 1998. Follow the paper trail, and who will benifit the most, when the Oil Companies buy every bodies morgages, if McCain becomes president. His advisors, are the same tycoon lobbiest, that started it all. Background check each of them. That is why, McCain is against Greener fuels. His advisors will lose money. Check each one out. Oil, Oil, Oil-Drill, Drill, Drill, is all the Mccamp screams. Well duh. Follow the trail. They just lost 48 oil rigs from Ike, they want their money back, and they are using McCain.

The McCain camp quoted a Washington Post article on Raines, and ran an ad with it.
At the time, it wasn't challenged by Raines, to my knowledge.

If you have a beef, call the Post, but the reporter sticks to his quote.

I would hardly take a criminal like Raines at his word, who was forced to hand back MILLIONS of dollars that he received as a bonus.

drjohn,

Why not get your facts right intead of playing to the gallery.

Frank Raines is and was never an Advisor to Obama or his Campaign.

The lies from the post has been debunked by Raines himself.

You prove my point, that he's accepted more money, and then you say that he's clean in this regard?

Logic, Melissa, logic.

How else, when he takes the fake position of not taking money from lobbyists (after gorging on lobbyist money on it in his other Senate and state senate races, remember)
is he supposed to take contributions?

His OWN STAFF has said its to avoid the "appearance" that he's taking lobbyist money.

But lobbyists are free to bundle money for him!!!!!!!!!

That's why he's number one in Wall Street dollars from individual corporate contributors.

Hippie Chucker,

Obama...Per OpenSecrets.org
$126,349 $6K from pacs the others from individuals
McCain
$21,550...all PAC no individuals. So Obama raises over $440 million dollars and you think the $120K from various individuals buys influence?

Jeez! You can do better than that!

The most surprising statistic I've learned in this election is that the majority of Americans are poor or middle class.

Obama wants to give tax cuts to 95% of families, those making under $250k.

I didn't realize that only 5% of taxpayers in our country make more than $250k.

Meanwhile, McCain wants to give a 4.4% tax cut to those making over $2.8k a year, you know, the fat cats.

It's really depressing.

The bonuses are outrageous when these companies were doing to poorly. That is what deregulation and no oversight with rules was done. John McCain claiming he has always been for regulations. Forget it!! I know better and can prove it. Ask John McCain why his campaign manger Davis worked five years to avoid deregulation of Wall Street companies??? John is very heavily connected to deregulation and all this causes this stock market crisis. But then John supports everyone who is rich, not 95% of the other Americans. John has always shown support for the CEO and executive to receive bonuses, payouts that are a disgrace - even when company is not doing well!!

We do not need Republicans in any more!! Eight years and here we are!! Brink of American financial meltdown. And now he says US TAXPAYERS PAY FOR REPUBLICAN MISTAKES!! NO MORE!! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH LIES!! WORDS ARE CHEAP!! ACTIONS PRESENT/PAST SPEAK LOUD AND CLEAR.

Hippie Chucker, You just want Jim Johnson info but have nothing to say about the multitude of advisers to McCain with these ties? Ok..Jim Johnson served briefly as part of the committee to select Obama's VP. Hardly as damning as what I outlined above.

Re: donations....I am compiling that now and will get back to you after work. I still don't know what difference that makes since individuals have to disclose their employers. Is McCain in the pocket of the oil and gas industry if the employees of Exxon gave more to him? What is your point here?

These bonuses are ridiculous and some disgorging ought to be taking place soon or extinguish the companies.

The WaPo said Franklin Raines was an advisor to Obama.

Raines, Johnson, Pritzker.

Key figures in the sub-prime mess and FNMA.

All Obama supporters and workers.

Again, Melissa, I could write a lengthy post detailing all the lobbyist connections that Obama has.

That's not the point.

My point, if you got it, was to say there are plenty of operatives on both sides, who play this game. Axelrod's company is famous for "astroturfing", for example. Google that, and then come back and we'll talk about Obama's "new politics".

Melissa, from the Post

"The commercial's main charge is based on an April story in The Washington Post that said Raines has "taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters." Reporter Anita Huslin says Raines told her that during an in-person interview...."

Like I said, we can play this game ad nauseum. Plenty of dirt on both sides.

Please, debunk Jim Johnson, if you don't believe Franklin Raines. I'll wait.

Please, provide a side by side comparison of who took money from Fannie and Freddie's lobbyists. I'll wait.

Obama is second only to Chris Dodd, the CHAIRMAN of the board that "oversees" them.

Is anybody talking about investigating these Companies? A Company doesn't just declare bankruptcy from the blues.

Is anybody asking questions about these Companies Financial Statements especially the five years financial summaries of the Companies?

Is anybody asking questions about the Auditors' Reports for the past five years?

Have they been window-dressing their Financial Statements in the last five years?

Is there collusion between the Boards of Directors and the Auditors?

Bankruptcy is a process and like all terminal diseases, it gives Symptoms, it manifests, it relapses, it degenerates before it gets the final blow.

This Process could take three years before a Company finally succumbs to insolvency or bankruptcy.

If these Companies paid bonuses as late as 2007, it means that the Company made good Profits that after Tax and all other Appropriation Items have been taken care of, they still had enough for bonuses - Except the Bonuses are charged to the Profit and Loss Account before the determination of Profit before Tax (PBT) (Which is illegal).

While the Government is talking of Bailout, which I see as a reward to the Directors of the Companies, those same People that greedily ran the Companies aground, Prosecutors and Forensic Accountants should be called in to dig out the dirts that have long gone unnoticed to the Investors of these Companies, which has now culminated into bankruptcy, Buy-outs and Bail-outs.

Hippie Chucker, Here you go! Some facts for you to wrap your hands around. Just doing my duty to informed the low information voter!

But McCain's own campaign staffers are those special interests, a fact that casts doubt on both McCain's hiring judgment and his ability to pursue tough reforms of Fannie and Freddie.

Aquiles Suarez, listed as an economic adviser to the McCain campaign in a July 2007 McCain press release, was formerly the director of government and industry relations for Fannie Mae. The Senate Lobbying Database says Suarez oversaw the lending giant's $47,510,000 lobbying campaign from 2003 to 2006.

And other current McCain campaign staffers were the lobbyists receiving shares of that money. According to the Senate Lobbying Database, the lobbying firm of Charlie Black, one of McCain's top aides, made at least $820,000 working for Freddie Mac from 1999 to 2004. The McCain campaign's vice-chair Wayne Berman and its congressional liaison John Green made $1.14 million working on behalf of Fannie Mae for lobbying firm Ogilvy Government Relations. Green made an additional $180,000 from Freddie Mac. Arther B. Culvahouse Jr., the VP vetter who helped John McCain select Sarah Palin, earned $80,000 from Fannie Mae in 2003 and 2004, while working for lobbying and law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In addition, Politico reports that at least 20 McCain fundraisers have lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pocketing at least $12.3 million over the last nine years.

For years McCain campaign manager Rick Davis was head of the Homeownership Alliance, a lobbying association that included Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, real estate agents, homebuilders, and non-profits. According to Politico, the organization opposed congressional attempts at regulation of Fannie and Freddie, along the lines of what John McCain is currently proposing. In his capacity of president of the group, Davis went on record in 2003 and insisted that no further reform of the lenders was necessary, in contradiction to his current boss's sentiments. "[Fannie and Freddie] are subject to an innovative and stringent risk-based capital stress test," Davis wrote. "The toughest in the financial services industry."

Hippie Chucker,

When you donate as an individual you have to disclose your employer. This argument is ridiculous (plus you have your numbers wrong for McCain anyway...)

Franklin Raines was never an adviser to Obama. Why can't you make your argument honestly! Oh..I see...you operate just like McCain's campaign!

Melissa...get YOUR facts straight. McCain has taken less than 15k from them over his ENTIRE senate career. Your Candidate, in his short senate career, has taken
$164,000.

Playing the "but so and so works for a candidate" is just as damning for Obama...ever hear of Jim Johnson or Franklin Raines?

Newsflash....doesn't matter at all who is in office, liberals. Wall Street always gets big bonuses.

By the way..guess who's donated more money to Obama this year than McCain??

WALL STREET!

People get your facts straight about influence. RICK DAVIS, MCcain's campaign manager was paid $30,000 per month for 5 years to lobby Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for access to McCain. McCain has a history of supporting deregulation and has fought against protections for the savings and loan industry (see Keating 5) and banking industry. He wants to bring the same deregulation mindset to healthcare.

How ironic. You have staunch Republicans complaining about CEOs paying themselves ridiculous bonuses. Surely you know that the men who pocketed these bonuses are ALSO Republicans and most likely signed off on the dotted line to make sure their "employees" didn't receive even decent pay raises. Meanwhile, the I don't earn $250K a year crowd continues to believe they have something in common with these men when they wouldn't even make it past the gate of their homes.

trettione writes, "why is it that obama as a senator has paid women 83 cents for every dollar he paid men?"
================================

The answer to your question lies within the what most intelligent folks refer to as a "job description". If you are seriously interested in gender bias why not ask the more intelligent question and that is whether he is paying men MORE than women to do the same job?

Is anybody talking about investigating these Companies? A Company doesn't just declare bankruptcy from the blues.

Is anybody asking questions about these Companies Financial Statements especially the five years financial summary of the Companies?

Is anybody asking questions about the Auditors' Reports for the past five years?

Have they been window-dressing their Financial Statements in the last five years?

Is there collusion between the Boards od Directors and the Auditors?

Bankruptcy is a process and like all terminal diseases, it gives Symptoms - it manifests, it relapses, it degenrates before it gets the final blow.

This Process could take three years before a Company finally succumbs to insolvency or bankruptcy.

If these Companies paid bonuses as late as 2007, it means that the Company made good Profits that after Tax and all other Appropriation Items have been taken care of, they still had enough for bonuses - Except the Bonuses are charged to the Profit and Loss Account before the determination of Profit before Tax (PBT) (Which is illegal).

While the Government is talking of Bailout, which I see as a reward to the Directors of the Companies, those same People that greedily ran the Companies aground, Prosecutors and Forensic Accountants should be called in to dig out the dirts that have long gone unnoticed to the Investors of these Companies, which has now culminated into bankruptcy, Buy-outs and Bail-outs.

why is it that obama as a senator has paid women 83 cents for every dollar he paid men?

angellight , since your so concerned about salaries, you might want to know that one of Obama's economic advisors received 25 million dollars from frannie mae,,, but then obama has received more contributions from frannie mae than any other senator..

and Biden has receive more $$ from the Credit Card companies than any human who has ever lived.

Amazing they pay themselves well and pat each other on the back? Then when they mess up they don't have to worry they always have Bush in the last remaining days of this election and his Presidency to scare the Public one last time to bail them out? Taxpayers bailing them out. This gets more surreal as McCain attempts to blame Obama for all this. Its McCain whos been in Washington too long over 30 years. The next administration should be able to handle this problem without the administration that helped cause this mess handicapping them for two years? But this won't happen? The legacy of Bush is a legacy of fear tactics right down to the last 39 downs of his Presidency. Like the fear tactics of the past 8 years Bush wins. Why? Voters look to the media to help us understand this mess.

I'm always amused at the responses by the "common folk" regarding bonuses paid to high corporate officers. (PS, I'm "common folk") Does anyone think a change in administration or party will change the practice of high compensation. People put themselves into situations to get this high compensation through their choices in life, (education, occupation selection, chosing to work for certain firms, etc.)
The class enjvy bit has become boring. As for taxing those with more, you know they'll find loopholes, or simply NOT pay their taxes. Right Mr. Rangel.

Agnellight,

How about this fact: Jim Johnson, an advisor to Barack Obama and friend who was planned to run his VP search committee before he was exposed, was the former head of Fannie Mae.

Hm, maybe Barack Obama's support of bailing out the wealthy was his concern for Jim Johnson's stock options.

Angellight,
Isn't it true that Obama's campaign manager has been paid a couple of million over the past couple of years? And Obama was paid $4 million last year? If you are going to point the finger at the McCain crew in fairness you should be pointing the finger at the Obama crew. How much did Jeremiah Wright get paid in "expenses" when he was on the Obama campaign?

The dangling of CEO salaries is a way to take the heat off of Congress and their pork. The CEOs make millions. The average Joe can't fathom what that really means, we just know its a lot more than the day-to-day we get by on. The companies that the CEOs run are divvying out additional millions to their top performers (i.e. the guys that sell the predatory mortgages). All the while Congress doles out many billions, to the lobbyists they do business with.

If I am going to point a finger though, I'll point it right at the taxpayers that elect the incumbents over and over and over and over. As Obama says we are the ones that we've been looking for. Now that we've found us, are we going to be responsible enough to know that we should not vote for Obama? Or even McCain? Neither will solve this dilemma. Unfortunately, Palin is about the only one that hasn't been tainted enough at this point.

Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations!

More McCain Hyprocrisy

Jake,

You might want to look at median rather than mean salary. Wall St is notorious for paying few people a ton of money, and the rest relatively little.

That and you need to factor in cost of living in Manhattan.

Nevertheless, your point is dead on. WE SHOULD NOT BE USING TAXPAYER MONEY TO BAIL OUT THE WEALTHY.

Barack Obama's support of this behavior betrays any claim he might make to be a man for the middle class average American.

I have to think that more and more Americans are learning more about the stock exchanges than they ever would from a college lecture. One has to write the number of a trillion just to fathom how many zeroes that really is.

I guess you cannot let the banks go into default. After all, they need those boats, and houses, and cars, and fat wallets, and whatever else they squeeze out of the back bone of America.

I think it has to go back to "We The People, in Order to Form a More Perfect Union"...The Main Street of America. I am hoping whoever one votes for will remember who really builds a nation.

And you can bet that all those that got bonuses were not the rank and file, and those that got bonuses could care less about the finanical meltdown they caused, because they're on the beach in Cancun slamming tequila and basking in the sun. Too bad the "little people" lost everything.

Personally, I say the government needs to go after them and get some of that money back as part of Paulson's plan.

Rick Davis, "Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say".
NYTimes

Frank and Jesse James anw Willie Sutton were evidently just ahead of their times.

Guess what, Paulson wants us to do this again since his last feat was so wonderful.

Bush + Cox + Paulson + Goldman Sachs (the pressure cooker) pushed three profitable companies down the tube deliberately. Short-selling has NOW been banned.

Today, Goldman Sachs took Lehman's former place as the 4th largest investment bank in the U.S. Goldman Sachs was not an investment bank until now. Bush/Paulson/Cox/Goldman Sachs = cronism at its worst and all at taxpayer expense.

Please, somebody, investigate this!

Obama/Biden 08!

I'm assuming that the money was not split evenly amongst all the employees, and that the Bond traders got more than the secretaries.

I think that the traders income is taxed as capital gains, with a maximum of 15%.

The rich, and especially the super rich, have enjoyed opportunities that I would never dream of having. The policies of the Republican Party - AND John McCain, as much as he denies it - boil down to "Reward the people that know how to make the most money."

And now, under John McCain's plan, those same people would get a tax cut.

The people who we are know bailing out to the tune of 1.4 TRILLION dollars, who have been paying a maximum of 15% on the millions or billions that they make in a year.

Would. Get. A. Tax. Cut.

Get angry, people....

A condition of the bailout is that any company saved must pay back the bonuses . . . they obviously weren't earned.

I know it won't happen because it is about us protecting the income and wealth of the free market capitalist leaders --- those who make the system work while the rest of us can only get help from "social programs" or "welfare". This makes me damn proud to be American.

I like Cindy have always been proud to be American.

Perhaps the fat cats could give me $2500 for a 52" Plasma HDTV. The 27" analog box that I bought back in 1995 just isn't "fancy" enough. But hey...at least it's paid for.

Can someone explain to me, after you have say $500M, a bunch of houses, a fleet of exotic cars and an island or two,...

Why do you need more? What can you do with it? Is the game of 'more-than-you' worth peoples lives?

Those are some tragic people.

I think you deserve the $10B for catching that error.

OOPS - guys & gals at the news desk:

"That's $10 billion LESS than the $29 billion loan taxpayers are making to J.P. Morgan to save Bear Stearns."

The bonuses were 39 billion -- so shouldn't it read '10 billion MORE', rather than '10 billion LESS'?

And most of it is probably in offshore accounts, how patriotic.

Kudus for the hard work, and the stunning report.

Because that's what I am.

Stunned.

Let's see if people on this board want 4 more years of the same...