Way to go Congress

A few news stories were published that say that Obama is exploring every legal avenue to block the bonuses. I have issues with a few of Obama's economic ideas however in this case I say "Go Obama." It's good to see that he's not letting these criminals run off with our money.

This is part of a smoke screen to distract people and shield the actions of the govt, which is the largest contributor to why we are having these problems. More than $90 billion of TARP $ went to AIG and was used to satisfy derivative contracts to Goldman and various international banks at par upon settlement, rather than forcing them to take any loss. You won't hear much fury from politicians about that because it was their policies that enabled that flow of funds. (I do agree, however, with the argument that a messy settlement of derivative contracts of that magnitude would/could cause additional dislocation for the financial system - I'm just trying to make a point). The politicians cart up these banking CEOs up for hearings and shit on them all afternoon in front of the cameras for not lending enough of the TARP money to make themselves look good in front of the public (when in reality, they did increase lending) The truth is, behind closed doors, these politicians made it clear it was fine for the banks to use the TARP funds to acquire other banks, etc. rather than lend it out - they can basically use the $ however they see fit. These same asshole politicians are the ones who were trying to cram the TARP program through the house and senate in a state of panic and didn't put any real controls on how the TARP money was spent - there are no requirements on how the TARP money is supposed to be used. So really, the banks are not doing anything illegal with the money (our money). Thanks again Washington! The fact is, the govt's actions of the past and the policies that have been made by the fucking idiots in the congress and senate are the biggest cause of the problems we are having. They created policies to influence the exact behavior that led to bad loans being made, housing prices being inflated, mortgages being packaged into securities that are not as "safe" as their credit rating indicates, etc., etc. How is it the govt and these politicians getting a free pass on this clusterfuck while everyone else in the food chain is the devil incarnate? One way is to act completely outraged by bonuses being paid by AIG, an amount which fails in comparison to the amount of tax payer money they waste every year in their pork spending bills and bad policies to curry votes and political favors. They also do a great job making all financial corporations and their managers and employees the devils in all of this. Yes, there is certainly a lot of blame correctly laid on the financial sector. But you'll never see an independent commission created to examine the role government (and the various house and senate banking and financial committees and individual politicians) played in creating this mess. Why the fuck is Barney Frank, Charles Schumer, Charlie Wrangle, Maxine Waters and many other politicians who are members of and in some cases chairing the various banking and finance committees that created the policies that caused these problems, still running and participating on these committees? There are countless hours of video footage of committee hearings with all of them making comments and shaping policies that are the direct cause for the problems we have today. The foxes are running the hen house, and nobody is holding them accountable for their role in this debacle. They need to go as much or more than many of these faceless "evil corporate executives" that are easy to throw all the blame on. That is what pisses me off the most about all of this. That, and the fact that people like me who have worked their ass off, made good decisions through life, live within my means, take risk by starting companies that create jobs, pay way more taxes than benefits utilized, pay my mortgage, etc., are apparently the bad guys and are responsible for bailing out all the asshats. God forbid we hold people responsible for their actions.

1) Barney Frank should be in jail. 2) AIG is a piece 'o crap. 3) Somethings are better off failing..Split off AIG, there are very profitable sections (i.e. Sun America) that would flourish w/o the spectre of AIG hanging over them. 4) I never understood why someone should get a bonus for managing a company to the brink of bankruptcy.

I haven't seen most of Keanus movies, but that sums him up...lol

@ladies...thank you. You are absolutely right that it is a smoke screen to cover the Congressional meddling that put us in the shitter.

What really gets my goat is the White Collar vs. Blue Collar rules. White Collar gets a free pass when Blue Collar has to bow down and make concessions. I hope Obama stays true to his word on doing as much as he can to stop the payouts. This is just getting fucking ridiculous. How can these asshats live with themselves by demanding a payout knowing damn well that there actions are what put us in this mess to begin with. Greedy fucks need to find a light pole at 80 mph with no seat belt. Just saying.