What’s my pay, Mr. Czar?
The Obama Administration has appointed a compensation czar to determine pay for top executives at Government Motors, Chrysler, Bank of America, American International Group, Citigroup, Chrysler Financial and GMAC. The czar, Washington attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg, will also have authority to set compensation levels for executives at scores of other companies that have received taxpayer money.
Without question, many of the salaries and bonuses being collected by top executives are outrageous. As we’ve seen in the financial sector, especially, the out-sized bonuses tempted creative minds to take greater and greater risks to generate short-term “profits.” They got and kept bonuses even when the longer-term consequence was that high-risk subprime mortgages poisoned the sounder ones when they were packaged together and sold. But for those involved, there was little penalty. They kept the cash.
The financial acommunity clearly needed to revise compensation systems to shift incentives for executives, managers, traders and others from one-year to longer term. And just as clearly, it needed to curtail salaries and golden parachutes that bore no realistic connection to executive value-added.
But that’s not government’s role.
Entertainers and athletes make too much, too. But that’s not the government’s business, either.
In the case of companies that are now on the federal dole, it’s hard to argue that they shouldn’t be treated any differently than people on welfare. You take the public money, you take the bureaucrats’ and the politicians’ rules.
These are dark days for capitalism. I don’t want government running businesses and I don’t want businesses lining up for government handouts. Bankruptcy, straight-up, has to be better for companies and, ultimately, for the American consumer and taxpayer.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
130 comments Add your comment
Churchill's MOM
June 11th, 2009
8:39 am
The Norther Liberal press is after our next President again. This time they are using a traitor woman.
By Kathleen Parker
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and GOP “It” girl, can warm up the Republican base like a hot toddy in a duck blind. But further inside the party organization, the air is a little nippy.
Everyone seems to have a Sarah Palin story of ignored calls, mishandled invitations or unanswered e-mail. Disorganized is how one might charitably describe the Palin operation.
“Basically, it’s just rude,” says one political operative who is a Palin fan. “They’ve been running the great snub machine. That’s the reason the boys in the Republican Party are unhappy with her.”
That unhappiness has been building gradually in the past seven months, and it was on full display this week as the party faithful gathered for a fundraising dinner at which Palin originally was invited to speak. She was later uninvited, and Newt Gingrich took her place.
Watching the dinner-speaker spectacle develop, then unravel, then redevelop (Will she or won’t she speak/attend?) felt like watching a middle-school romance in which a friend tells another friend that so-and-so has a crush on you-know-who, but don’t tell anybody. A little silly, in other words. And embarrassing.
The “tick-tock” of what happened is a byzantine exercise in blame-shifting. Briefly, someone in Palin’s “organization” accepted the original invitation in March, whereupon the dinner hosts issued a press release announcing that Palin would be the keynote speaker.
Yay!
But then, no, Palin had not accepted. In fact, the press release was the first she’d heard of it. The official story suddenly became that SarahPAC had jumped the gun and that Palin wasn’t sure she could make the event. Enter Newt Gingrich. Then last week, so-and-so said she’d like to come, but you-know-who said, “We like someone else now.”
There’s more — and stories vary — but a common theme emerges: Seven months after the election, Palin still can’t shoot straight. Unless something changes dramatically and soon, “Missed Opportunity” should be the title of her memoir.
By the time Palin returned to Alaska last fall, her popularity and fundraising ability were second only to Barack Obama’s. Instantly, she was drowning in speaking requests. Boxes and boxes of invitations stacked up — and went unprocessed.
Without any effort on her part, 75,000 to 80,000 fans around the country organized pro-Palin groups. Said a frustrated Palin promoter: “All she had to do for those 75,000 people was hold an electronic town hall, and she couldn’t get around to it.”
Of course, it’s not that Palin has nothing else to do. But her problem is the same as it was a year ago. She isn’t ready. For whatever reason — skittishness, distrust or, quite possibly, executive weakness — Palin has been unable to make the transition from Alaska politics to the Big Game Hunt of the national arena.
Plenty of experienced people have tried to help. Veteran operatives created SarahPAC to raise money for staff to at least open mail and return phone calls. It was a Kevin Costner field of dreams: Create the Web site, and they came, all right. The PAC raised $400,000 in its first month without so much as asking.
What happened next?
Nothing.
“We couldn’t get them to decide on office space,” says my source. “You couldn’t get them to be professional.”
Palin’s fiercely independent streak is part of her charm but also may be her undoing. It’s one thing to campaign on an anti-inside-the-Beltway platform. But to play in the big leagues, you need people who know what they’re doing.
You don’t flirt and say “yes,” and then say “no,” and then say “maybe,” and then show up expecting a bouquet. The tease is a risky business. Palin did get to walk across the stage with Gingrich — to appreciative applause and a few whistles — but she wasn’t allowed to talk. Something about upstaging Gingrich.
Palin also managed to get in a few words during an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, which aired Monday night during the fundraising dinner. But anyone listening to both Gingrich and Palin would find preemption concerns ludicrous. Palin may be more fun to watch, but Gingrich dominates on the battlefield of ideas.
Whether Palin can rally her resources by 2012 remains in serious doubt, even among her fans. Said yet another Palin admirer: “The problem is, she has had months to get it together and they haven’t. They could have had an excellent national team and state team working seamlessly.”
But they didn’t.
*********Handel 2010*******Palin Mccain 2012********
Tricky D
June 11th, 2009
8:55 am
Mr. Wooten, the childish namecalling of ‘Government Motors’ does nothing to forward an honest conversation, which is what I thought was the purpose of this blog. I don’t recall you using the term ‘United States of Iraq’ or ‘Bush of America’ when TARP funds were distributed. And being the fiscal hawk that we know you are, I thought you would be in agreement that employees of companies that received taxpayer money should have their salaries capped. I guess stringent handouts, in your mind, is only for low-income folks on TANF or something like that.
These are dark days for capitalism because a small few took advantage of the ‘free enterprise’ system, knowing that the government would clean up the mess. The issue I have with you Wooten is that instead of placing blame on those who caused the mess, you’re blaming the one trying to clean it up. Typical tax-cut and spend ‘conservative’.
Copyleft
June 11th, 2009
9:10 am
Interesting… Woote actually ADMITS that the CEO looters’ salaries and bonuses are outrageous, their behavior unacceptable and detrimental to America, and that a link between performance and pay was needed.
But, he continues, the government (i.e., the people) shouldn’t have any involvement in fixing that!
What’s your recommendation, Wooten? Should we sit back and let the “invisible hand of the free, unreglated market” correct all this? Hint: It was the “free market” that CREATED this situation! A deregulated, unaccountable corporate culture is what let these looters get away with their crimes, to the cost of the entire country.
So what’s your third way, Wooten? The market blatantly cannot “regulate itself,” and only Ayn Rand-style fanatics still pretend otherwise. But you don’t want government (i.e., the people) to get involved either. Should we just wish and hope that the looter CEOs get a visitation from the Ghost of Christmas Future or Jiminy Cricket, and spontaneously develop a conscience?
Given that I’m affected by their greed and incompetence because I’m part of the economy too, I’m not willing to wait for that to happen.
clyde
June 11th, 2009
9:11 am
I doubt that the Czar will get down to you ,Jim.
I don’t agree with a pay Czar,but I do believe that anyone that ruins a publicly held company and then walks off with a fortune should be jailed.
Redneck Convert
June 11th, 2009
9:11 am
Well, people just don’t understand how the big boys at cos. get paid. They think that people get bonuses and big salaries for making money for the co. They don’t understand that the pay and bonuses are for not loosing more co. money than they already did. Sure, this old head of GM lost about $20 billion a year. He should of got a bonus and a big pay raise for not loosing $50 billion a year. Instead of getting fired by this Obama. This is why the public and stockholders shouldn’t have nothing to do with setting the pay of the big mgrs. They just don’t understand how things are suppose to work.
Me, I got no problem with my co. boss making about 1000 times what I make. If I make $20,000 a year he ought to make about $20 million. Easy. Plus the stock options and other stuff. He’s got to wear those high-price suits and fly the co. jets all the time. Me, all I got to do is drive this beer truck and drop off the beer that places order. And I can do it just wearing coveralls with Budweiser on the shirt pocket.
Anyhow, I’m with Wooten. Keep the guvmint out of how cos. pay their people. What we have has worked pretty good so far. If you get the stockholders and the guvmint involved, American business will be ruint and they’ll all need to take money from the guvmint just to keep going.
Have a good day everybody.
Ga Values
June 11th, 2009
9:21 am
Sen. Johnny Isakson(Socialist, Ga.) has introduced legislation to expand the maximum amount of the home buyer credit from $8,000 to $15,000 and make all home buyers — not just first-time purchasers — eligible. The legislation also would eliminate the income caps. I have known Johnny for 30+years and he is not a crook like Saxby but he has seriously lost his way in an effort to give more away than the Democrats. If this throw way of taxpayer’s money passes, I’ll sell our house our daughter, owner finance it and let her have the $15,000 tax free.
What has happened to the Conservatives in the Republican party?
1984
June 11th, 2009
9:22 am
Churchill’s MOM is scared to death of Sarah Palin. So are the rest of the pansy libs.
Reality Check
June 11th, 2009
9:23 am
Hey Jim,
My dear departed mom used to say ” If you don’t handle your business, You loose your right to complain when someone else does it for you.” In this case Common theives in expensive suites conspired to and the executed the largest robbery in the history of this country and got away with it. They no Big business gave up the right to complain when they fail to effectively handle their own business. When we as tax payers got the bill, we also got the right o call the shots.
sane jane
June 11th, 2009
9:32 am
Scared because Palin is incompetent. Not because she is formidable.
Jake
June 11th, 2009
9:49 am
Ga Values – I think that ‘news’ is about 4 months old and has already been rejected by congress, but perhaps he has brought it up again. BTW, it’s a great idea that would certainly get the housing market moving again.
Adam
June 11th, 2009
10:02 am
Copyleft: Of course the free market should regulate themselves. The government has done such a great job of fixing their own messes, so they should regulate the market as well. What you are saying is you want the blind leading the blind.
The free market is there for a reason. The strong businesses will succeed and those that make short-sighted bone headed decisions will fail. I understand that I might be affected by those dumb bone headed decisions but it is still better than allowing the government to come in and fix things. The government would have been better serviced to provide everyone money instead of the businesses that wasted the money. The “economic stimulus plan” is not going to create the jobs promised, nor will it correct the issues caused. The market would have corrected itself over time instead of people being short-sighted and now everyone having to pay now and in the future.
Howard
June 11th, 2009
10:03 am
Jim…Obamanation and its head dictator, the all-merciful one Barack Hussein, don’t mess with pro athletes and Hollywood and music types making obscene salaries because many of those types are big Democrat voters and contributors!!!! America is down the tubes…compare where we are to 1939…look out for 2011 or 2012. We will be in an emergency situation eerily similar to WW II. The enemies are comparable, the current leadership and makeup of our country is the same, and the economic situation is very similar!!! Who will be our enemies??? Take a choice!!
MoHoward
June 11th, 2009
10:10 am
Simple explanation for that. Pro athletes, rock stars and movie stars draw huge salaries yes. However they are paid by employers that aren’t asking for government handouts (with the exception of the Yankees lol) If you take public cash to save your incompetent ass the public (in this case our elected representatives) get to call shots until you’re solvent and able to repay the debt. DON”T LIKE IT THEN F”NING QUIT AND GO ELSEWHERE!
Munch
June 11th, 2009
10:12 am
I’ll go ahead and shock the crowd…I agree with Wooten that the position of Salary Czar is a bad approach. Too many little details to attend; it is simply unmanageable.
On the other hand, a serious ratcheting up of the marginal income tax rates on amounts over certain triggers (for argument, 35% of all earning over 500k, and then up to 45% of all income over 1 million) serves the same purpose as governing salary levels for the banksters, while increasing revenues to pay for Bush’s debt and the current costs of unshytting the bed after 28 years of Reagnaut mis-government. It also takes care of those pampered entertainers and sportsmen that so bother the Wooten.
And welcome to Adam and Howard…it is refreshing to have a new pair of voices spouting the discredited Randian Obamahate. Same wine, new bottles
Munch
June 11th, 2009
10:14 am
Correction Mo…EVERY sports franchise in the country is taking government handouts, whether in the form of tax forgiveness, public financing of arenas, and especially in increased government services every time they hold an event. You think those APD traffic guys are working pro bono?
MoHoward
June 11th, 2009
10:19 am
Lol true Munch but those are mostly at the local level and exempt from this argument. I don’t agree with it either to be honest but try to fight city hall…
@@
June 11th, 2009
10:36 am
So what are WE THE PEOPLE paying the czars, Jim? Are they working from the kindness of their hearts?
Up to the end of the 19th century, Russia was an autocratic country. It was ruled by an autocratic Czar. He ruled as he liked. His will was the sole source of law, of taxation and justice. He controlled the army and all the officials. Through his special position on the Holy Synod, he controlled even religious affairs. His autocratic rule was supported by the privileged nobles, who possessed land and serfs, and held all the chief offices in the Czar’s administration.
The mass of people were serfs. Serfs were ’slaves’. They worked on the estates of the nobles. They could be punished in any form by the nobles. They could even be sold as chattels by the nobles. Besides the serfs, there was a very small middle class in the towns. They were discontented with the backwardness of Russia.
The main theme of the Russian history in the 19th century is that the non-noble classes asked for an improvement in their wretched and poor conditions of life. When the Czarist government failed to do so, they revolted for the first time in 1905 and then for the second time in 1917, by which Czardom was finally overthrown.
Hopefully the middle class in America will wake up before 2010.
The leftists? I’ve lost all hope that they’ll ever wake up from their brain-dead coma.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
10:36 am
Just reminding everyone…I’m waiting to see how long it takes the wingnut brigade to concede that the DHS report on right-wing domestic terrorism was actually accurate and correct. Apology arriving, any time now,,,,,,
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ crickets }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Yep, that’s what I thought.
Wingnut America…objectively pro-terrorist traitors.
Michelle
June 11th, 2009
10:37 am
Regarding entertainers salaries, what about the uber pro Obama NBC network, owned by GE which received money? How much does bowing Brian Williams Make? Chris “Thrill up my leg” Matthews? Keith ‘Worst person in the World” Olberman? Every sports team that gets tax breaks from local or state taxes got handouts to pay the high salaries. The Fannie/Freddie fiasco which nobody talks about because it is a Democrat enterprise, Jamie Gorelick and Franklin Raines walked away with many millions for their GREAT work which certainly played a part in the housing crisis. Where is the uproar over that? Franklin Raines was an Obama ” unpaid ” economic adviser on the campaign. Obama found a way to pay him all right, typically with tax payer money.
BDAtlanta
June 11th, 2009
10:38 am
Is this where the Wingnutters congregate to plot out their next abortion clinic bombing and federal building bombing?
We are only 5 months into a 4-year administration and we’ve already had two of you sick twists commiting acts of terrorism here at home.
It’s going to be an ugly 4 years.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
10:39 am
@@-
the socalled salary czar, Kenneth Feinberg, accepted the position with the understanding that there would be no compensation. Working for free. I still think it is the wrong approach, but I give the man props for putting country first.
Jake
June 11th, 2009
10:41 am
Adam – There’s no evidence of the market correcting itself over time, as this has never been allowed to happen. It’s just a macro theory that seems to work better for slight adjustments than large ones. Eighty years later there are still a wide variety of theories for the cause of the Great Depression. Bottom line, macroeconomics is far from an exact science. Personally I think Karl Marx was correct in his belief that free market capitalism inevitably will lead to periodic recession/depression; that’s what happened over the last few years as the cumulative effect of de-regulation policies started by Reagan. The other, main point you seem to be missing is that no one, least of all government officials that hope to one day be re-elected, is willing to chance another Great Depression or even worse to see if and how the markets would correct themselves!
Munch
June 11th, 2009
10:43 am
Ah, add Michelle to the mix of tinfoil hat nutters….
Yes, ultra liberal MSNBC, that great conspiracy put in place by Jack Welch, that notorious hippie who ran parent company GE. And never mind that 3 hours of Morning Joe wingnut gabfest…that proves nothing.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
10:48 am
Jake, good post
Remember, Marx derived his economic theories as a direct extension of Adam Smith’s work. (This was the guy who invented the phrase “invisible hand”, and he is something of a Conservative deity.) Leaving aside his political proscriptions, Marx’s economic theory is so uncontroversial that it is hard not to see how widespread its acceptance has become. The WSJ daily prints articles that are steeped in Marxian assumptions, primarily because he developed logical extensions of the Adam Smith model. It is actually kind of amusing.
booger
June 11th, 2009
10:51 am
Czar number fourteen is not about regulating pay, it’s about control and power. We have a president who wants to micromanage everything in sight, and he doesn’t know what he is doing.
I cannot believe Congress sits idly by and lets Obama appoint czars in areas where we already have congressional oversight committees. I can’t believe the Judicial branch allows Obama to usurp the courts in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcy cases.
Obama is using his self proclaimed crises to centralize power in the executive branch at a dizzing rate and anyone who thinks this will slow as his term continues is mistaken.
Also, anyone who thinks the salary czar will be limited to bailed out companies, just watch. Obama, who has never worked in private business, surrounded by his minions who have never worked in the private world will take control of all compensation if congress doesn’t come to their senses.
Anyone who is not afraid of what is happening is not paying attention.
Lukas
June 11th, 2009
10:53 am
Ga Values,
So it this passes, I would be able to purchase more rental property and have the government share in the aquisition and remodeling costs? I like this already!
Steven Daedalus
June 11th, 2009
10:55 am
The Sarah Palin con reminds me too much of the Ronald Reagan con, I hope it never happens.
Jake
June 11th, 2009
11:01 am
Lukas – The proposal was for ‘first time buyers’ primary residence, defined as haven’t purchased a home in the last 2 years and live in this one at least 2 years, not as a handout to investors who are partly to blame for the housing bubble.
Michelle
June 11th, 2009
11:54 am
Yeah Munch, Jack Welch may have started it but what control does he have now? Typical of the left, insult me because you cannot argue the facts. Morning Joe and Mika ( two of the lightest weights on television) as proof of the non-bias of NBC isn’t exactly an explanation of why the Democrats at Fannie/Freddie were able to walk away with millions after the disaster their leadership proved to be. Still doesn’t answer the question, why don’t we get a say in their salaries? If it was my decision none of the talking heads on Morning Joe would have a job. If sound business practice was the deciding factor, neither would the low rated evening lineup either.
ncgreybr
June 11th, 2009
12:05 pm
Jim, What’s the difference between the government handing out money in the form of money to corporations or handing out money in the form of tax cuts to corporations? You don’t seem to have any problem with them getting their tax cut money. It still costs the government the same amount…except in this case we “might” get some of it back.
david wayne osedach
June 11th, 2009
12:15 pm
I am sure that corporate CEOs have no love lost for Feinberg. They picked the right man for the job.
Ga Values
June 11th, 2009
12:25 pm
From this morning’s Augusta paper. I understand why big spending liberals like to throw money away, it’s just that Johnny calls himself a republican not a socialist or republican.
“Ga. senator unveils homebuyer tax credit
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has introduced legislation to expand the first-time homebuyer tax credit.
The bill would boost the maximum amount of the credit from $8,000 to $15,000 and make all home buyers — not just first-time purchasers — eligible. The legislation also would eliminate the income caps.
Isakson, formerly an Atlanta real estate executive, said the bill would help invigorate the housing market. He said there is a recession not in first-time home buyers but in the “move up market.”
Isakson is up for re-election to a second term in 2010. So far, he doesn’t have a Democratic challenger.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.”
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:28 pm
sane jane, then why all the attacks from left wingers?
If you guys/gals weren’t scared of her you would not talk about her so much.
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:30 pm
Munch, explain how that guy was a right winger?
Right wingers don’t hate Jews. Obama and his racist preacher hate the Jews.
Just yesterday the Reeeeeeeeev Wright made Anti-Jew remarks and you said nothing about it.
Face it, left wingers like you hate Jews. You hate Israel and have more in common with Castro, Chavez and Stalin.
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:31 pm
The Rev. Wright: Jew Hater and left wing racist
“Them Jews ain’t going to let him talk to me,” Wright said. “I told my baby daughter that he’ll talk to me in five years when he’s a lame duck, or in eight years when he’s out of office. …
“They will not let him to talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is. … I said from the beginning: He’s a politician; I’m a pastor. He’s got to do what politicians do.”
Wright also said Obama should have sent a U.S. delegation to the World Conference on Racism held recently in Geneva, Switzerland, but that the president did not for fear of offending Jews and Israel. He specifically cited the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israel lobbying group.
“Ethnic cleansing is going on in Gaza. Ethnic cleansing (by) the Zionist is a sin and a crime against humanity, and they don’t want Barack talking like that because that’s anti-Israel,” Wright said.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:32 pm
With the touch of pen to paper and a simple wire transfer, Chrysler
completed its deal with Fiat on Wednesday morning, largely ending its
quick trip through bankruptcy.
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:33 pm
Well, here goes the economy. I guess Obama Hussein IS a one term president after all. I mean, can someone explain how the dems will stay in power if no one has a job?
US government seeks to rein in executive pay
Democrats want to push administration on US corporate pay strategies
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is taking a half-step toward taming U.S. executive pay. Some lawmakers prefer a fuller stride.
Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee said Thursday the administration’s efforts to hector the private sector into reining in executive pay might not go far enough.
The administration contends that excessive compensation contributed to the U.S. financial crisis, but rejects direct intervention in corporate pay decisions.
Instead, the administration plans to seek legislation that would try to rein in compensation at publicly traded companies through nonbinding shareholder votes and less management influence on pay decisions.
“I do differ with the administration in that hope springs eternal and their position seems to be that if we strengthen the compensation committees we will do better,” said the committee chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat.
Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat, said that instead of giving shareholders a nonbinding voice on pay, their votes should be binding on boards of directors.
Democrats and administration officials agreed that companies across the private sector need to adjust compensation practices to avoid damaging the economy.
Gene Sperling, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said administration guidelines call on all publicly held companies to link compensation to long-term performance, not short-term gains.
“We believe that compensation practices must be better aligned with long-term value and prudent risk management at all firms, and not just for the financial services industry,” Sperling said.
The committee also heard from officials from the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the administration has approached the issue with caution, a top Republican said the plans amounted to “incessant government intervention.”
“The president cannot continue his heavy-handed meddling in the private sector and expect it to function, much less flourish,” said Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the committee, added: “We need to get government out of businesses.”
The administration has drawn a sharp line between the overall corporate world and those institutions that have tapped the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
On Wednesday, it set pay limits on companies that receive TARP assistance, with the toughest restrictions aimed at seven recipients of “exceptional assistance.” They are Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, American International Group Inc., GMAC LLC and Chrysler Financial.
The regulations limit top executives of companies that receive TARP funds to bonuses of no more than one-third of their annual salaries.
The administration named Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who oversaw payments to families of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack victims, as a “special master” with power to reject pay plans he deems excessive at the seven companies with the biggest injections of public money. Feinberg also would have authority to review compensation for the top 100 salaried employees at those companies.
Michelle
June 11th, 2009
12:33 pm
Hey BDAtlanta, the sick twist that committed the Holocaust murder is a Christian hating socialist 9-11 “truther”. So you guys get credit for the second one, the first being the Muslim that opened fire on the recruiting station. Long four years indeed.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:34 pm
Beijing Automotive Industry Holding is interested in buying Ford
Motor’s Volvo unit, The Wall Street Journal reported.
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:34 pm
What is really interesting is all the hateful talk from Obama on Israel. I think that Obama and the democrat party has more in common with the Jew hater who shot up the Holocaust Museum than ANY right winger would. Especially since right wingers LOVE ISRAEL!
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:36 pm
BDAtlanta scum sucking lying sack of $hit, PROVE THAT THESE TWO IDIOTS ARE RIGHT WINGERS.
YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF OF THIS.
THIS GUY WHO SHOT UP THE MUSEUM HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH YOU SINCE YOU HATE ISRAEL.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:36 pm
American International Group is to move out of its New York
headquarters after it sells the building to a Korean bank and a U.S.
developer for more than $100 million. A.I.G. also completed a $1.14
billion stock offering of its Transatlantic Holdings unit.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:37 pm
A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday ordered Delphi to open its
sales process to other possible bidders, paving the way for
alternatives to a deal struck last week with Platinum Equity.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:38 pm
E-mail messages sent among Federal Reserve staff members show the
pressure regulators put on Bank of America to complete its deal for
Merrill Lynch.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:39 pm
Citigroup on Wednesday began a $58 billion conversion of preferred
stock into common, a long-awaited move that will bolster its capital
cushion and give the government a larger stake in the company.
Jake
June 11th, 2009
12:40 pm
Michelle – It’s not quite the same thing. Fannie/Freddie were required by the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 to support affordable housing, and in November of 2000 HUD told Fannie it would soon require them to make 50% of their loans with moderate and low income lenders. So blame Frank and Dodd. Who required Bear Stearns to begin securitizing those loans in 1997? Who required the banks to enter the mortgage bond markets? Who invented ninja’s and interest-only ARM’s? Greedy executives at Bear and the banks did that stuff all by themselves.
1984
June 11th, 2009
12:40 pm
Dave Letterman calls Sarah Palin a slut and says Arod knocked up her daughter.
Now he backtracks and says she can’t take a joke.
Hey ladies on the blog, if I were to call you a slut and all sorts of names I GUARANTEE YOU THAT EVERY ONE OF YOU WOULD BE SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER.
NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE HYPOCRISY FROM LEFT WING MORONS.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:41 pm
Lehman Brothers Holdings is being sued by two former clients for more
than $190 million, alleging the failed bank deceived them about the
market for auction-rate debt.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:42 pm
Matthew Weitzman, a U.S. money manager who ran a financial planning
firm, has been arrested on charges of defrauding clients of more than
$6 million by stealing from their accounts, authorities said on
Wednesday.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 11th, 2009
12:44 pm
Sorry to be late but had a little fender bender on the way to work this morning..
Michelle
June 11th, 2009
12:53 pm
Jake, I do understand and I blame Frank and Dodd who now are able to deflect criticism to Bush and deny any culpability. The hand picked Clinton holdovers ran Fannie and Freddie and still got millions. Didn’t our boy Rahm sit on a board too? Of course it is not exactly the same but also of course Democrats are able to make policies, profit from them and then cover up and not take any of the blame when their policies implode. Jamie Gorelick was on the 9-11 commission and also THERE in Clinton’s White House when the policies put into place were being examined. No conflict of interest there.
Jake
June 11th, 2009
1:23 pm
Michelle – I have no party allegiance. I agree, there are a lot of fat cat rats on both sides that should be held accountable for this mess. John Dugan, Bernenke and Greenspan are three we haven’t even mentioned. They were responsible for the oversight but just ignored the risks. Anyone that thinks O is an altruistic lover of fairness and justice is a fool. He’s just paying his consistituents, the UAW instead of Wall Street, subsidies for the poor instead of tax cuts for the rich, contracts for the eco friendly greens instead of Haliburton, health care and ambulance chasers instead of AIG, etc.
Tricky D
June 11th, 2009
1:38 pm
While Wooten has his panties in a bunch over the government regulating the pay of corporations that take government money, I wonder how he would feel about the Fed Chairman and Treasury Secretary forcing a company into a merger. Specifically, Bernanke and Paulson forcing Bank of America into completing the purchase of Merrill Lynch. I guess you can rename it Bush of America now.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23618.html
Michelle
June 11th, 2009
1:46 pm
Jake, I agree totally. I have nothing else to add to your reasoned response.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
2:18 pm
Wow, Michelle, what an insight. Because nothing says “liberal” quite like a lifetime of White Supremacism mixed with Federal Reserve Bank conspiracy theories.
Damn, woman, do you even try to think, or is it just too much to attempt? And no, spouting, Hannity/Limbaugh talking points is no substitute for thinking. Try it sometime, you might like it.
Billy Bob
June 11th, 2009
2:20 pm
Dave Letterman calls Sarah Palin a slut and says Arod knocked up her daughter.
1984
Letterman implied that ARod knocked-up Gov. Palin’s fourteen year-old daughter, Willow. That’s not just a poor joke but reflects the lengths that many celebrities will go to for a little press. Letterman later apologized but his actions clearly identify him as the ‘ho’, chumming for viewers.
Jefferson
June 11th, 2009
2:30 pm
New sheriff in town.l
independent chick
June 11th, 2009
2:36 pm
About the mortgage crisis. Has anyone ever heard of personal responsibility on this blog. Let’s place the blame on everyone else. The problem is that people bought homes they couldn’t afford and they were not dupped into these loans they didn’t bother to read the terms of the contract. Hello!!! Wait I forgot no one takes responsibility anymore.
1984
June 11th, 2009
2:42 pm
independent chick, libs dont care about personal responsibility. They just want the government to do everything for them.
deegee
June 11th, 2009
2:43 pm
Would the independent chick care to take a stab at explaining why human nature took such a dramatic turn between the years 2002 – 2006?
independent chick
June 11th, 2009
3:02 pm
Libs are scared sh_tless about Gov. Palin. Churchill’s (transvestite) MOM is obessessed about her. She’s a powerful, charismatic, REPUBLICAN and that makes her the liberal’s public enemy number one!
Everywhere she appears the crowds number in the thousands. When she asked for
Billy Bob
June 11th, 2009
3:04 pm
Liberalism leads to an abdication of personal responsibility leads to Socialism leads to economic failure.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
3:07 pm
I’m as afraid of Sarah Plain as I am of Carrie Prejean or Joe the Plumber. None of these aS$clowns will ever have any real impact or power. They are useful as a clown show, nothing more. Except to people like the so-called “independent” chick, who thinks they are something other than reality-sitcom characters. Please, girlfriend.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
3:09 pm
Did anyone else notice the lack of coverage of the DC Holocaust Shooting Museum last night on Fox News????? I watched Hannity and O’Reilley and neither one led off with the story, whereas every other major network had that as the lead story. I wouldn’t be surprised even if that wacko who shot the guard in DC probably was a regular on Sean Hannity’s blog. LOL @ Hannity and O’Reilly trying to downplay that story when they know that the shooter was probably an avid listener and watcher.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
3:11 pm
*EDIT*- Did anyone else notice the lack of coverage of the DC Holocaust Museum Shooting last night on Fox News????? I watched Hannity and O’Reilley and neither one led off with the story, whereas every other major network had that as the lead story. I wouldn’t be surprised even if that wacko who shot the guard in DC probably was a regular on Sean Hannity’s blog. LOL @ Hannity and O’Reilly trying to downplay that story when they know that the shooter was probably an avid listener and watcher
Copyleft
June 11th, 2009
3:12 pm
Billy Bob: Letterman apologized for the mistake. He thought Sarah was with her OTHER daughter, the 18-year old ho who got knocked up.
You know, the “poster child for abstinence education?” Bristol?
Ahh, conservatism… obsessed over entertainment trivia and then blithely ignoring one of your own running amok in a racist shooting spree–AGAIN.
Priorities. A word that conservatives can’t even spell, let alone understand.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
3:12 pm
From a note found in the car belonging to the Holocaust Museum murderer:
“You want my weapons — this is how you’ll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America’s money. Jews control the mass media.”
What a liberal hippie commie.
Munch
June 11th, 2009
3:14 pm
O’Reilly said that the Holocaust Museum shooting was “not newsworthy”. He then proceeded to clutch his pearls and fall on the fainting couch because Letterman said mean things about Sarah Plain and her slut-ho daughter.
Why do the wingnuts hate America?
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:19 pm
Munch has no family nor anyone who loves her. Poor Munch. It must suck to be you.
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:21 pm
Maybe the Jew hating racist Obama Hussein preacher can help you Munch. Maybe Hillarys slut ho daughter Chelsey can lend you a tampon. Ya know, since it IS that time of the month for you.
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:22 pm
Copyleft, prove that the racist white guy was a conservative. Remember, it’s left wingers who hate Jews. Not right wingers.
See above comments from your left wing hero, Jerimiah Wright. I’m sure that will make your day.
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:25 pm
Munch, I watched O’Reilly last night. He didn’t say that and it proves just how stupid you are. People like you have to lie to make yourselves seem relevant.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
3:29 pm
@ 1984
Nice spin, but that wack job belongs on your side of the aisle and you know it. Racist old white man + flag waving nut job= conservative
Billy Bob
June 11th, 2009
3:33 pm
Personally, if Letterman had said that ARoid knocked-up one of Obama’s daughters, I’d understand why there was no outrage. Clearly, the Republicans must be ‘off their rockers’ to think the celeb-utard Letterman’s comments about Gov. Palin or either of her daughters was
anything but an outrage.
The ONLY thing a libtard loves more than implying the rape of a fourteen year-old is calling you a racist.
Liberalism leads to an abdication of personal responsibility leads to Socialism leads to economic failure.
Richard
June 11th, 2009
3:33 pm
“But that’s not goverment’s role.”
Correct Jim. Determining salary is the role of the company owner. Who exactly owns the aforementioned companies?
GM asked for the money to buy them out, and they got it. Along with everything that goes with it.
fearless fosdick
June 11th, 2009
3:35 pm
Billy Bob …. And, you were outraged when El Pigbo (Limbaugh) called Chelsea Clinton the “White House dog” ? Or when John McCain joked…”Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.” .
Thought it was prettty funny then didn’t you Billy Bob? Hypocrite!!!!
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:42 pm
Dark Knight, I have never said one racist thing and you know it. People like you are trashy scum bags who go around name calling without having one intelligent shred of evidence to back up your false claims.
This racist jew hater has more in common with your party and current president. The current president hates Israel and is doing everything he can to undermine them. His pastor of 20 years is a racist jew hater.
I HAVE ALL THE PROOF IN THE WORLD THAT JEREMIAH WRIGHT IS A RACIST JEW HATER.
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:44 pm
fearless fosdick, there is no need on either side to bring up kids of government officials UNLESS they make themselves a target. Meghan Mccain made herself a target when she became politically involved. Rush nor Mccain made comments about her sex life. Letterman made sexual comments about a 14 year old.
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:46 pm
Dark Knight, name one conservative who flies a rebel flag and belongs to the klan. ONE!
GUESS WHAT RETARD, ROBERT BYRD, DEMOCRAT FROM WEST VIGINA, IS A MEMBER OF THE KKK!
According to Byrd, a Klan official told him, “You have a talent for leadership, Bob… The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation.” Byrd later recalled, “suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did.”[6] Byrd held the titles Kleagle (recruiter) and Exalted Cyclops.[6]
In 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo:[9]
“ I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side… Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. ”
— Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944,
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:47 pm
Facts are facts, the democrats are racist nazi appeasers who hate America.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
3:49 pm
@1984
WOW, my mom used to always say a hit dog will holler. Why on earth would you start off with “Dark Knight, I have never said one racist thing and you know it?” I never said you did, and frankly I don’t care because I don’t know you, and never will. All I was saying is that typically racist white men = conservatives. You may very well be a conservative and not be a racist, but usually white supremacists are conservative. I don’t need links or fact to back that up, the simple nature of being conservative and not being open to new things and change goes hand in hand with white supremacy, not to mention that Hannity’s and O’Reilly’s silence on the issue underlines the fact that they know the shooter is of their ilk.
Billy Bob
June 11th, 2009
3:50 pm
fearless fosdick,
I’d never heard the first comment you mention although the second I’d heard. Whether I think the comments are funny or not, YOU apparently did! And, neither comment, however insulting, contemplates the rape of a fourteen year-old.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
3:57 pm
@ 1984
And Jerimiah Wright obviously hates Jews, ok what else is new. He doesn’t speak for me nor others who think like me. Obama was brilliant in that he used Rev. Wright’s church to infiltrate Chicago’s black community by attending the church, he doesn’t share the same views, and he was just smart enough to use that particular church as a vehicle to advance his political agenda. But with that said I don’t agree with Rev. Wright views on everything. And why would you assume that Obama is of my party, quite honestly I find all Dems and Repubs to be crooks, I claim neither one as my party.
1984
June 11th, 2009
3:58 pm
Dark Knight, no, you wrote: Nice spin, but that wack job belongs on your side of the aisle and you know it. Racist old white man + flag waving nut job= conservative
So yes, you did indeed imply that I was a racist. I am conservative and I take offense at idiots like you who go around grouping people together like that.
You throw out names like Hannity and O’Reilly yet NEITHER of them have ever said a racist thing. If they had, not one black person would appear on their shows. Both men have black guests frequent their shows. Juan Williams and Lamont Hill are on there just about every night of the week. Neither one of them have ever said that either guy is racist.
What it boils down to is that the democrat party is full of anti-jewish racist bigots who HAVE belonged to the KKK.
Copyleft
June 11th, 2009
3:58 pm
Facts are facts, Commie-Maniac-1984-Che: And the FACT is, Von Brunn is a right-wing Jew-hating violence-loving government-hating CONSERVATIVE lunatic.
Most of which is redundant, of course. Remember, the GOP is the party of angry white hate. Fact.
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:00 pm
Dark Knight, BARRACK HUSSEIN OBAMA SAT IN HIS CHURCH FOR 20 YEARS!
If anyone went to a racist church for 20 years, guess what? IT MEANS THEY ARE RACISTS THEMSELVES!
Get a clue, moron.
fearless fosdick
June 11th, 2009
4:00 pm
1984 or is that CHE or then again Commie AJC…or whatever you go by at any given time. You give yourself away everytime you post….You just can’t help yourself. “Obama Hussein”…”Retard”…”stupid”…”trashy scum bags”…like I say You’re so predictable!
By the way 1984 my comment at 3:35 was directed at Billy Bob….Not you….So butt out!
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:01 pm
Copyleft Fosdick AmVet GOD HATES TRASH BOOKMAN, PROVE THAT HE IS A CONSERVATIVE!
PROVE IT!
FACTS ARE FACTS, MORON! YOUR PARTY HATES JEWS AND ISRAEL. THE CURRENT PRESIDENTS OWN PASTOR HATES JEWS.
DEMOCRAT PARTY IS THE PARTY OF COMMUNIST JEW HATERS.
Billy Bob
June 11th, 2009
4:02 pm
A TEN SECOND PLAY
The Dark Knight’s mom was unusually gifted and insightful and felt it was her duty to pass on her hard-earned wisdom to her favorite and only child
DARK KNIGHT’S MOM: [speaking to DK] A tired dog will sleep. A flea-ridden dog will scratch. A pregnant dog will have a litter. A scared dog will growl. A barking dog will keep you awake at night. An overweight dog will cost you money. A brown dog don’t show dirt as easily as a light colored one. A fast dog can win you money at the track.
DARK KNIGHT: [to Dark Knight's Mom]: Gee, thanks, Mom.
DARK KNIGHT’S MOM: Oh, and a hit dog will holler.
THE END
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:04 pm
fearless fosdick or is it Copyleft or is it God Hates Trash or Dark Knight, you girls are all the same. Paranoid little losers who can’t decipher fantasy from reality. Always going around race baiting and blaming other people for your problems. You’re so predictable!
Idiot
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
4:05 pm
@1984
Robert Byrd!?!?!? Are you serious???? You are going to use Robert Byrd as an example of how Democrats are racists?? Please, Sen. Byrd is so old; my father was still in diapers during his first term. As a member of neither party and as a person who an objective view point in regards to this issue, there is no way you can try to make Conservatives look like socially progressive in regards to race, or any other issue that may change their precious way of life as they know it.
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:06 pm
Copyleft, that Jew hater was a 911 truther loser. SO, that makes him a leftist hack like you.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
4:07 pm
@1984
Yeah we’re almost as predictable as Repubs calling others race baiters and “persons looking for handouts”, when they have no more ammo to spew forth from their mouths. If I hear that tired talking point one more time from you all my head will explode
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:08 pm
Dark Knight, yeah, just like you idiots like to throw Strom Thurmond in our face. At least I am throwing out a LIVING HUMAN BEING WHO IS A KNOWN KLANNER IN YOUR PARTY.
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:09 pm
Dark Knight, it’s because your party IS the party of handouts. Hello welfare and social security. Hello Socialized medicine.
What a tool, you can’t even recognize the hypocrisy in your own rants.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
4:11 pm
@ Billy Bob
Thanks for that Jimbo, your childish attempt at Broadway theatre writing just let me know that you have nothing else of value to say to me in regards to the issue at hand. Maybe one day you can get a real job as a playwright in NYC, but we all know that Broadway has to many “undesirables” ie. blacks, gays, jews, etc. and just to many people who dont look like you in general for you to ever contemplate leaving that hillside shack you call a house.
Dark Knight
June 11th, 2009
4:14 pm
@1984
So when Bush was giving bailouts with no oversight whatsoever to Wall Street fat cats he was called a “fiscal conservative”. Now when others do it they are “socialist” and “giving out handouts.” The hypocrisy at work here is beyond comedy.
fearless fosdick
June 11th, 2009
4:14 pm
Dark Knight ..Robert Byrd is ol 1984’s standard whipping boy. When he really gets desperate he’ll pull Bull Conor and George Wallace’s names from his little bag of toys. Like I said above 1984 aka commie AJC aka Che is so predictable!
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:16 pm
Dark Knight, I’m still waiting on PROOF of how Republicans are racists. I’ve read that Hannity and O’Reilly are racists but no one has written any proof of it. Where’s the proof?
Your party has an active member who was a KKK member. HA!
1984
June 11th, 2009
4:23 pm
fearless fosdick God Hates Trash, not my whipping boy. All three men are democrats. Whenever you idiots like to throw racist names at conservatives we can easily point out just how racist the democrat party is.
Suck on that!