Big Dogs House

Obama Supporters Deserve The Money

Feb 12, 2010 Political

Barack Obama and his Democrats took over where George Bush left off and bailed out banks and other financial institutions to the tune of billions of dollars. These entities were “too big to fail” and were spared the consequences of their bad decisions, decisions fueled by greed. Fueled by greed and knowledge that they would be bailed out if they made bad mistakes.

The financial giants reap huge rewards when they make investments and then get taxpayer money to save them when they gamble and lose. Ann Coulter has a great piece this week laying this all out. In it she describes what happened with regard to Goldman Sachs and other institutions that packaged bad loans and then insured them through AIG which could not cover the losses. Taxpayers bailed out AIG which was the same as bailing out Goldman.

During all of this, Obama went on the blame the bankers tour and discussed the greedy guys and how their salaries needed to be capped. There were tours by the homes of AIG executives, Congress worked on legislation taxing bonuses at 90% and the citizens of America were worked into a frenzy over the greedy bankers.

But these people helped put Obama in office. Obama received huge sums of money from the financial industry and they have been friends of the Democrats for a long time (as Coulter points out, Clinton bailed them out during his presidency). So it came as no surprise this week that Obama said he did not begrudge the bonuses of savvy bankers (particularly the ones who are his supporters):

Whatever Obama has in mind for punishing the financial industry, I promise you, he won’t punish his friends. After JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon took a $17 million bonus this week, and Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein got a $9 million bonus, Obama said he didn’t begrudge them their bonuses, saying, “I know both those guys.” Ann Coulter Human Events

What happened to people not getting huge bonuses? What happened to Barney Frank and his desire to cap salaries and bonuses of all of them even if they took no TARP money? What happened to the outrage generated by Obama and his minions over these greedy bankers?

I have no problem with bankers (or any private business people) making huge sums of money for doing a good job and I have no problem with huge bonuses. I did not have trouble with the AIG bonuses particularly because the Obama administration knew about them and people worked for a dollar a year in salary on the promise of the bonuses (which the administration then reneged on). I also have no problem with a business failing if it can’t make money and that includes financial giants and auto makers. If they can’t cut it then they can fail.

However, I am not the one who ran around whipping the country into a frenzy over greedy bankers. How dare Obama call these people greedy and rail against them last year and then step up to defend their huge bonuses this year? How can he do this and remain consistent?

He can’t, but he does not have to. If he says it is good his base will blindly follow. They will ignore Obama’s words and deeds of the past and focus on what the messiah says now. They will not draw the connection between Obama and the campaign dollars he gets from these people.

When Obama said he knows these people he meant the bankers but it could apply to his base.

Interestingly, David Reilly at Bloomberg has a piece that basically says Obama needs to man up and knock a few heads to show people who is in charge (note to Reilly, coequal means that he is not in charge of Congress). He writes about several issues which are better saved for another time but he does address financial regulation. Reilly spells out a number of tactics that Obama can use to threaten the banking industry into submission. The tactics look like something one would expect from Tony Soprano and not the leader of the US but Reilly is encouraging the kinds of tactics the left would scream fascist or Nazi over if a Republican did them.

The government owes the private sector about 7 trillion dollars. Suppose the banks called those markers all at once? Suppose the banks stopped lending for a week. I imagine if they tried hard they could send the economy in the Great Depression range so perhaps the mafia style tactics would be a poor idea.

Then again, Reilly is like typical supporters who decry strong-arm politics when Republicans use them but espouse them in order to push the Democrat agenda. This is typical of the left and we see it in Congress whenever they are in charge. We can’t knock heads of terrorists or it is torture but we can do what we want to those who oppose us…

I think the hypocrisy of Obma has been exposed in the past and it is very clear in his latest support of the huge bonuses. I also think we have a number of leftists in the media calling for him to get tough because they are worried about a Palin presidency.

Whether she will run or not or could even win is not the point.

Just the idea of that drives liberals and the progressives nuts.

And that is a joy to see.

Tags: aig, ann coulter, bailout, bonuses, goldman, hypocrisy, Obama, savvy

Taxpayers Will Get Screwed On Auto Maker Loans

May 19, 2009 Political

Just Like I said they would

I wrote before that the bailout of the major auto makers was only going to delay the inevitable and that they would eventually file for bankruptcy. I also wrote that when they filed for bankruptcy the bailout money they received would be lost forever because they would not have to pay it back. This was one of my arguments against bailing out any of them. It would appear as if I was right on the money.

GM is filing for bankruptcy and it hopes to sell off part of the company to a company that was owned, for a brief time, by the government. The plan will call for GM to give stakes in the new company to the union and the bondholders.

When a company files for bankruptcy it is supposed to reorganize and figure a way to restructure debt in order to pay creditors. Some of GM’s assets will stay in bankruptcy in order to satisfy any outstanding claims, except those of the US taxpayer. GM will not have to pay back most of the 15.4 BILLION dollars in loans it received from taxpayers because the government will forgive the loans. The US government is awfully generous with OUR money.

In addition, the government would extend a credit line to the new company and forgive the bulk of the $15.4 billion in emergency loans that the U.S. has already provided to GM, the source said. al-Reuters

In addition to forgiving the loans the government will extend a line of credit to GM. How nice, we will let them spend more of our money on credit. How long will it be before that is forgiven as well?

The government is supposed to be good stewards with our money. The taxpayer was forced to hand money over to GM and we should be protected. Those in private industry who invested in GM should take a hit before taxpayers because they had a choice and invested in order to make money. Their gamble did not pay off.

The government had no right to spend OUR money on a private company to begin with. They did so under the guise of it being a loan that would be repaid. Now the government is kissing that money goodbye. We have no chance now of ever getting it back, just as I stated. The Socialist government gave the unions and bondholders a 15.4 BILLION dollar gift because they get part of the company but will not be saddled with the debt the company incurred.

This should disgust everyone. I would like to see all incumbents voted out of office but at the very least every person who voted for the bailouts should be sent packing. People, this is 15.4 BILLION dollars of your money that the government decided to “forgive.” Do you suppose they will forgive your tax bill when it comes due?

As for GM, I will NEVER buy a GM product. I had stated before that I would not buy from a company that received bailout money and I will never buy from one that is owned by the union. I will certainly not buy from any company that raped the US taxpayer. Boycott GM and put them out of business.

Ford did not take bailout money. It pains me that Chrysler did because I own a Jeep and had planned on buying another in a few years (assuming you can still get them after the CAFE and global warming stupidity is added on) but now I will need to find another SUV.

Maybe someone will buy Jeep from Chrysler…

Tags: bailout, forgiven debt, gm, taxpayer

Chains You Can Believe In

Apr 5, 2009 Political

There is no doubt among those of us with brains that Barack Obama is moving us toward Socialism. As part of that effort he is working toward government having a hand in business so that government can tell business what to do, how much to pay, and who needs to be fired. We have seen ALL of this already.

I have made it clear that government has no business getting involved in business but there is a little problem and that is the bailout money. Obama and the Congress are setting conditions that were not in place when bailout funds were distributed. They failed to have restrictions or conditions when the money went out so they added them later. This is a violation of the Constitution and needs to be stopped.

One other problem is that some financial institutions took bailout money because they were forced to by the government. There were plenty that wanted nothing to do with it but they were FORCED by the US government. Now they are stuck with the same rules that those who wanted the money must endure.

Well why don’t they just pay the money back?

That is the problem. Stuart Varney is reporting that the Obama administration is refusing to take back TARP money and Varney asks and answers this question; “So why no cheering as the cash comes back?”

Varney reports that financial institutions that want to pay back the TARP money are not being allowed to do so. That’s right folks, those who took the money (many who were forced) are not being allowed to pay it back. Why would the government not want the money to come back in? The answer is very simple and Varney nails it:

My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell ‘em what to do. Control. Direct. Command. Wall Street Journal

The government wants control. It is that simple and it is a necessary element in order to have Socialism. The government wants control. Say it over and over until you understand it. The government wants control.

The government is using the manufactured crisis in order to gain control over larger parts of our society and it is giving up our sovereignty to the rest of the world. Obama bows to Kings and Obama has allowed foreign countries to decide executive pay of US companies to oversee “Corporate Social Responsibility.” According to Dick Morris our Declaration of Independence was repealed on 2 April 2009 by Barack Obama at the G-20.

Corporations have no social responsibility. They have a responsibility to their stockholders. It is not up to companies to ensure people can afford products or that they are available to everyone. Companies are in business to MAKE MONEY, not run welfare clinics. Companies who took TARP money (or had it forced upon them) have obligations so long as they hold the money. The US is refusing to take it back so that it can continue to exercise control over those companies.

It is time for the companies to contact the government and tell Obama that the money is ready to be repaid and if it is not accepted by the government the debt will be considered forgiven and the company no longer accountable for it. Then the companies should do what they want and tell the federal government to piss off.

The idea that there is some social responsibility is what drives Obama and his Socialist buddies. They believe that the producers are responsible for providing to the looters. There is no doubt that this mentality was ingrained long ago when he was a dope smoking teen in whatever nation his parents decided he belonged. Obama was the beneficiary of affirmative action, of handouts, of his hatred of whites and the exploitation by them (read his book). It is only natural that he would think that he is the one to make the achievers give to the looters. Who is John Galt?

Obama wants everyone under the thumb of oppression. He wants everyone to be sunject to the whims of the federal government at all times. He wants people unable to do anything without the government mandating it and he wants those who achieve to pay for it.

What will happen if all the companies just stop? The ILLEGALS get together once a year and riot, uh, protest their conditions and they do it on May Day, which is a Communist holiday. They think they can shut down the country by not working for a day.

The true achievers could. If we all decided not to work or shop for one day the revenues would stop. If businesses decide to stop dealing in the US then it will get worse. At some point we will have more looters than providers. As Margaret Thatcher once said; “Socialism is great until the other guy’s money runs out.”

Then what happens?

In any event, Obama and the US government are not taking back the TARP funds because they want to keep their hooks in the financial institutions. They want to make more rules that are burdensome and require some sort of social responsibility, the same kind that started this mess (regardless what the lefties say).

Rahm Emanuel said not to let a crisis go to waste (even a manufactured one). It would appear that this is the case in their financial dealings as well. It is well known that Democrats got rich driving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the ground. It is well known that Democrats benefit from Wall Street political donations and it is well known that some of those hedge funds were run by Democrats (Chelsea Clinton got a job at one as a favor). They all became rich driving companies into the ground.

Now there is word that some of the Obama minions have become wealthy as a result of dealings with TARP recipients. Never let a good crisis go to waste especially when you manufactured it or caused it, take you pick.

The Democrats, with King Hussein at the helm, are looking to take over and rule the country under Socialism. They are following Alinsky’s rules to take over and people are sitting back and letting them. Pretty soon we will all be completely under the thumb of oppression.

Chains you can believe in. (Thanks Angel for that title)

Certainly chains that will be hard to unshackle.

Related:
Axelrod makes millions

Tags: bailout, crimes, Obama, oppression, socialist, stuart varney, take over, TARP

Bailout Companies Pull A Geithner

Mar 20, 2009 Political

At least thirteen firms receiving bailout money from the US taxpayer have not paid their taxes following the stellar example set by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said Thursday.

Rep. John Lewis, chairman of a House subcommittee overseeing the federal bailout, said two firms owe more than $100 million apiece.

“This is shameful. It is a disgrace,” said Lewis, D-Ga. “We are going to get to the bottom of what is going on here.”

The House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight discovered the delinquent taxes in a review of tax records from 23 of the firms receiving the most money, Lewis said as he opened a hearing on the issue.

“If we looked at all 470 recipients, how much would they owe?” Lewis asked. AP

These companies were required to sign paperwork indicating they had no unpaid taxes but their tax records were never requested by the government. Now we are learning that they owe hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.

I have no sympathy for those who fail to pay their taxes and neither does the government, unless of course the entity not paying them is a Democrat or “the smartest person in the room.”

I am perturbed however, that the Congress gins up anger over this issue when the target is a company in the US. I certainly believe the anger is warranted but where was all the anger when Tim Geithner was being confirmed. This guy deliberately did not pay his taxes and only ponied up the money (no interest or penalties) when he was selected to serve in the Obama administration.

Where is the indignation from the ethics committee investigating Charlie Rangel’s failure to pay taxes? Where was the indignation over Daschle not paying his taxes?

It seems to me that the government is selective in its anger over those who fail to pay taxes. There should be one standard for everyone. If these companies have not paid their taxes then they need to be held accountable and the taxes should be collected.

The same is also true for any entity that did not pay taxes. All these Democrats are running around pointing fingers but they don’t seem to be too interested in looking in a mirror.

How ironic is it that the government agency that Geithner is in charge of will be going after these unpaid taxes?

The bad thing is these companies will probably pay their taxes with the bailout money. They will use our taxes to pay theirs.

This is what happens when the government gets involved in private business.

Tags: bailout, geithner, Obama, taxes

Obama And Dodd Are To Blame For AIG Mess

Mar 18, 2009 Political

There is a big uproar about the retention bonuses that were paid to AIG employees after the company received over 170 billion dollars of bailout money. There are a lot of players involved but Barack Obama and Christopher Dodd are the primary culprits in this mess. More on that later.

The idea of bailing out AIG or any other company did not appeal to me and I was against it from the start. There are many people who felt that we had to bail the companies out to keep the economic foundation from collapsing. To you folks who wanted this, you got what you deserved.

The government, that is the taxpayer, should not be bailing out companies. They make it on their own or they fail and someone else takes over. By allowing government intervention we have opened a Pandora’s Box. All that happens as a result of the government sticking its nose where it does not belong is that things get even more screwed up. Very few of the people in Congress have any experience actually running a business so this, coupled with the speed with which the first bailout was passed, was a recipe for disaster and a disaster it was. The people in Congress (along with the Bush administration) who wrote the bailout bill failed to provide oversight and they failed to ensure that there were strict guidelines as to how the money could be spent.

The Obama administration took over and he asked for more money to be released. He also, with reckless abandon, pushed a bill through that he dubbed a stimulus plan. That plan was absolutely needed and if it was not passed the world would come to an end, or at least this is how Obama presented it.

This is where Obama and Dodd assumed the liability for the mess. AIG employees were not paid bonuses because the issue was not addressed. They were paid bonuses because it was addressed and Dodd made sure they could get paid. Dodd added an amendment to the stimulus bill that specifically allowed the bonuses to be paid. The members of Congress were well aware of the bonuses that were due and they were aware last year when all this was being worked on. They ignored that issue until Dodd put these words in the bill:

Crack down on bonuses, retention awards and incentive compensation:
Bonuses can only be paid in the form of long-term restricted stock, equal to no greater than 1/3 of total annual compensation, and will vest only when taxpayer funds are repaid. There is an exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009.

For institutions that received assistance totaling less than $25 million, the bonus restriction applies to the highest compensated employee; $25 million to $250 million, applies to the top five employees; $250 million to $500 million, applies to the senior executive officers and the next top 10 employees; and more than $500 million applies to the senior executive officers and the next top 20 employees (or such higher number as the Secretary determines is in the public interest). Fox Business (includes graphs showing who AIG donated money to. Now you know why Dodd added the amendment) [emphasis mine]

Dodd’s amendment allowed the bonuses to be paid. Let me write that again; Dodd added an amendment that allowed the bonuses to be paid.

Certainly the amendment had to be voted on so there is no excuse for people not to know that the bonuses were going to be paid. Obama pushed this bill through at light worker speed. The bill was over a thousand pages long and no one had time to read it before it was voted upon. Obama did not read it before he signed it. So what we have is a trail of incompetence.

Senator Dodd is now trying to get the money back. He suggested heavily taxing the money and that moron Chuck Schumer stated today that the new CEO of AIG had better convince the employees to return the bonuses or Congress was going to tax nearly 100% of it to ensure it got back to where it belongs “in the hands of the taxpayer.”

First of all, it will never get to our hands. Congress will spend it on something else. Second of all, why all this phony concern for taxpayers now? They had no concern for us when they passed the trillion dollar, pork laden, spending bill and they had no concern for us when they passed the omnibus and its 9000 items of pork. Why the righteous indignation now? And who does Dodd think he is to vocally oppose this when he added the amendment that allowed it to happen?

Obama and Dodd as well as all the other screamers (like Barney Frank and Chuck Schumer) are trying to cover up the fact that they screwed this up royally. They are now using the power of Congress to punish people who only got that to which they were entitled by virtue of a contract and a bill signed into law by Obama.

I don’t like the idea that AIG got the money and I don’t like the idea that these issues were not addressed when the original bailout was written and that they were not addressed correctly when the pork filled stimulus was crafted. But, the fact is, under the law, the people who received bonuses are entitled to them.

Another fact is that Obama, Dodd and the others are trying to put this on AIG when these morons knew this was going to happen. When the news broke and people started complaining these so called leaders all of the sudden acted like this was a shock to them. They acted like it was irresponsible and an affront to taxpayers when they all knew about it and they codified it; Dodd with the amendment, members for voting on it, and Obama for signing it.

Another thing to address is whether Congress can make a law that specifically taxes specific employees in one particular company. Does Congress have the authority to write a law that says that a certain group of people in a certain company must pay 90 or 100% tax on a specific bonus? I would imagine that this would be an issue for the Supreme Court to decide under the issue of equal protection.

If Congress can do this then what would stop them from deciding that that a certain job class or certain workers in other companies made too much money and then pass laws taking as much of that income as they wanted? This is a very important issue and it gets at the heart of just how much power Congress actually has.

If they screw these workers out of their bonuses (sorry folks but no matter how you feel about it, they are entitled to them) then they could be asking for trouble. Congress sunk 170 billion dollars in AIG because if AIG fails then the economy will follow it, at least according to those who pushed the bailout. What would stop AIG from saying screw it and closing its doors. What would stop them from just shutting down and causing turmoil? The government owns about 80% of the company now but the government can’t run it.

Speaking of owning 80% of the company, the entire issue shows just how wrong it was to bail them out in the first place. Government said they were buying up shares in companies in order to help them get back on their feet. We were told they had no interest in nationalizing these companies (at least no more than short term) and that government had no interest in controlling them.

Today Barney Frank said that we [the government] own 80% of the company and that it was time to exercise ownership and stop the bonuses from happening. This is nothing more than a push closer to socialism. Government tells you how much you can make and how much you have to give back. Government takes control of companies and decides what employees can or cannot do regardless of contractual obligations. Government erodes the freedoms that people enjoy and soon instead of building wealth government ensures that all of us are equally poor.

Those who voted for Obama, this is what you voted for. Those who wanted the bailouts, this is what you asked for. You have no right to complain and you have no right to be upset about what is taking place because you wanted this to happen.

As for those of you that are threatening the lives of AIG workers and directing your anger at them; you are wrong. Your anger should be directed at Obama and Dodd and everyone else who voted for the stumulus package. Dodd added the wording and Obama signed it into law. THEY KNEW ALL ABOUT IT FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND THEY ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN.

Direct your anger at Congress and at Obama. They deserve your wrath.

As an aside, this is the second time not reading a bill has caused embarrassment. Obama issued an EO allowing federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and then signed the omnibus which specifically forbade using federal money to pay for it. He also signed the stimulus allowing the AIG employees to receive their bonuses.

One final point. If there are other companies with employees who had contracts for bonuses then they will be entitled as well. Dodd’s amendment was not specific to any company.

This is what happens when inexperienced, incompetent, self serving people run things. They gave us the financial meltdown and now this.

We need a do over. Let’s get rid of everyone in Congress and the Administration and replace them with competent folks.

**The Obama administration is claiming that it only found out about the bonuses a month ago despite media claims to the contrary. The bonus issue was known for quite some time by members of COngress and probably Geithner. Dodd certainly knew. He would have to know so he could take care of those who have contributed so much money to his campaign.

***Obama received 100 thousand dollars in donations from AIG

Also:
NewsMax

Tags: aig, bailout, barney frank, contract, dodd, law, Obama, schumer, taxes