Enough already on the AIG bonuses
Buy some stocks!
On a recent edition of “Meet the Press,” host David Gregory continued to rail on Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner about the nation’s financial
situation and the Economic Stimulus Package put forth to solve it by the Obama Administration. He cited a quote from New York Times Economist and
Columnist, Paul Krugman, who suggested that the Stimulus Package amounts to little more than “cash” for “trash.” The plan calls for the purchasing of toxic bank
assets that the government is going to offer to investors with huge subsidies and guarantees to get them off of the books and to get credit moving again. Geithner
and the Obama Administration have also been under attack by the Republican leadership, Rush Limbaugh and all of the right wing pundits. It is interesting that
those who have much to criticize said little or nothing when Treasury Secretary Paulson and the Bush Administration drove the financial situation into the
ground creating a $1.3 Trillion deficit, while giving away billions via TARP I without any accountability. With little more than two months in office, it is
hypocritical to criticize just for the sake of being negative. It is irresponsible to criticize without suggesting any viable alternatives.
Gregory also continued to press Geithner on the issue of when he and the Obama Administration were aware of the huge retention bonuses that were
promised to several A.I.G. executives. He asked Senator John McCain if the public outrage was overdone or justified. To his credit, McCain opined that he
shared the anger, but felt that going back to tax those who received the bonuses out of anger was not justified.
The fact that the media continues to dredge-up and hammer away at this issue is sad and not warranted. It is always too easy to play ‘aha, got ya’ and be
critical. The “bonuses” were actually committed as “retention” packages —funds committed to keep good or promising employees from taking more external
attractive job offers. They represent only a minuscule percentage of the funds at stake. The media frenzy, boarding of yellow journalism, pitched the anger level
so high that the lives of these individuals were put in jeopardy. One Republican member of Congress said that these individuals should return the funds or
commit suicide.
This so-called “critique” is outrageous and grossly hypocritical because these are the same Republicans who have been in the hip pockets of all of the
bankers, CEOs and executives greasing the skids for them. They cried wolf on the A.I.G. executive compensation while they have been the ones who have
promoted the growth of huge profits by lowering corporate taxes, lowering the taxes on capital gains, and reducing or eliminating regulatory policies that are
responsible for getting the nation into the economic mess that it faces today. They have also been the largest recipients of political contributions from this
sector; and they have had more than their share of “free” junkets, golf trips on corporate jets, etc. paid for by the likes of Abramhoff and all of their other corporate
friends.
The shelf-life of the AIG phony outrage issue has gone long beyond its expiration date. Given the dire straits that the nation faces in these difficult times, it is
time for the media and the politicians to move on to finding solutions to problems that matter. More patience and optimism is needed. The Obama
Administration has been in office for less than three months and it appears that things are beginning to improve with the economy. The banks are beginning to
lend more money. Housing stats are beginning to increase. Mortgage rates have come down close to a record 4 percent. The stock market has surged 20 percent
in the last few weeks. The best advice that could be given, even for those with very modest means, is to do what President Obama has suggested, and that is to
invest in the stock market given how cheap it is to buy good stocks these days.
On a recent edition of “Meet the Press,” host David Gregory continued to rail on Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner about the nation’s financial
situation and the Economic Stimulus Package put forth to solve it by the Obama Administration. He cited a quote from New York Times Economist and
Columnist, Paul Krugman, who suggested that the Stimulus Package amounts to little more than “cash” for “trash.” The plan calls for the purchasing of toxic bank
assets that the government is going to offer to investors with huge subsidies and guarantees to get them off of the books and to get credit moving again. Geithner
and the Obama Administration have also been under attack by the Republican leadership, Rush Limbaugh and all of the right wing pundits. It is interesting that
those who have much to criticize said little or nothing when Treasury Secretary Paulson and the Bush Administration drove the financial situation into the
ground creating a $1.3 Trillion deficit, while giving away billions via TARP I without any accountability. With little more than two months in office, it is
hypocritical to criticize just for the sake of being negative. It is irresponsible to criticize without suggesting any viable alternatives.
Gregory also continued to press Geithner on the issue of when he and the Obama Administration were aware of the huge retention bonuses that were
promised to several A.I.G. executives. He asked Senator John McCain if the public outrage was overdone or justified. To his credit, McCain opined that he
shared the anger, but felt that going back to tax those who received the bonuses out of anger was not justified.
The fact that the media continues to dredge-up and hammer away at this issue is sad and not warranted. It is always too easy to play ‘aha, got ya’ and be
critical. The “bonuses” were actually committed as “retention” packages —funds committed to keep good or promising employees from taking more external
attractive job offers. They represent only a minuscule percentage of the funds at stake. The media frenzy, boarding of yellow journalism, pitched the anger level
so high that the lives of these individuals were put in jeopardy. One Republican member of Congress said that these individuals should return the funds or
commit suicide.
This so-called “critique” is outrageous and grossly hypocritical because these are the same Republicans who have been in the hip pockets of all of the
bankers, CEOs and executives greasing the skids for them. They cried wolf on the A.I.G. executive compensation while they have been the ones who have
promoted the growth of huge profits by lowering corporate taxes, lowering the taxes on capital gains, and reducing or eliminating regulatory policies that are
responsible for getting the nation into the economic mess that it faces today. They have also been the largest recipients of political contributions from this
sector; and they have had more than their share of “free” junkets, golf trips on corporate jets, etc. paid for by the likes of Abramhoff and all of their other corporate
friends.
The shelf-life of the AIG phony outrage issue has gone long beyond its expiration date. Given the dire straits that the nation faces in these difficult times, it is
time for the media and the politicians to move on to finding solutions to problems that matter. More patience and optimism is needed. The Obama
Administration has been in office for less than three months and it appears that things are beginning to improve with the economy. The banks are beginning to
lend more money. Housing stats are beginning to increase. Mortgage rates have come down close to a record 4 percent. The stock market has surged 20 percent
in the last few weeks. The best advice that could be given, even for those with very modest means, is to do what President Obama has suggested, and that is to
invest in the stock market given how cheap it is to buy good stocks these days.