Sometimes it’s hard to come up with a new angle on a story. When I left for work this morning I was all about doing a post tonight re: the AIG bonus mess. During the past eleven hours, just about every blog in the country has had either a post or a comment about the bonuses, and who knew what when, and how outraged and SHOCKED, I tell you SHOCKED! everybody is.
For those of you who are still in the work force here’s the Readers’ Digest version: AIG disclosed the contracts covering the retention bonuses at the time of the TARP bailout last year – which was written by none other than that financial genius, Turbo Tax Tim Geithner. No secrets. Everything right there for all to see. One of the people who saw was the famous Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who just happens to be the number one beneficiary of AIG’s political largesse (slightly ahead of the President himself). Now, far be it for me to cast aspersions about possible pay-back, but the good Senator seems to have activated his ESP last month and figured that some loud-mouthed taxpayers might find out about these bonuses and get their knickers in a knot and try to cancel the bonuses. So bless his pea-pickin’ little heart, Chris stuck a little clause in last month’s stimulus bill which, as we all know passed and was signed into law by O’Bama himself with all due haste:
“(iii) The prohibition required under clause (i) shall not be construed to prohibit any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract executed on or before February 11, 2009, as such valid employment contracts are determined by the Secretary or the designee of the Secretary.”
So now, not only are the bonuses contractual obligations of the United States government, but they are statutorily mandated and protected. And all that hang-wringing, frustration, and anger on display in the Halls of Congress and the West Wing? I guess there’s only one thing The One can do now: Somebody’s gonna have to pay.
Quoth the designated hatchet-man:
“President Obama is standing behind his treasury secretary and his job is safe,” White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday, despite the outrage in Washington and across the country over bonuses AIG is giving its executives.
Yeah, sure.
Sometimes a new angle just can’t be ignored…
Move over guys – here comes Timmy!
UPDATE
Today we learn that our Congressional delegation is also outraged about the AIG bonuses. Perhaps if they would have READ the damn bill they wouldn’t have to be so “outraged”! This is pure unadulterated bull-pucky. And all this righteous indignation is nothing more than theatre of the absurd. They’ll yell and scream for effect until the spotlight focuses somewhere else and then everything stays exactly the same. Horse feathers!
Maybe it’s time for the U.S. military to stage an uprising – arrest all the elected officials on capitol hill and the white house and hold them for public trial. The charge, incompetence, ineptness, stupidity, greed, and an overall goal of insuring re-election no matter what. Once convicted, and convicted the lot will be, then confiscate all their assests and deport them – then let’s start all over again. A new crop of newbies couldn’t do any worse than what we’ve got.
It’s time for term limits for Congress people (notice the political correctness) as well as a constitutional amendment which forces the federal government to live within its means.
Does anybody else wonder if this isn’t all some act so they (D) can convince the public they are outraged while at the same time nationalizing the banking system and impressing the media with their compassion?
jlw ~
I think that’s exactly the kind of tactic this is. These guys are total phonies!
Just noticed a difference between the protests in the AIG mess and the tea parties. The tea parties have homemade signs, in many cases painfully cheap looking but are ofen very clever, the AIG protesters are all printed and professional looking. Uhhmmm like a union protest… Up front I will confess to being a huge conspiracy buff, but you tell me if there isn’t more to this than meets the eye. Are the AORN people involved using the power and money afforded to them by our president to target AIG employees