Neil Barofsky is being nicknamed the “bailout cop“. His job is to oversee the $700 billion in TARP funds being used to prop up failing companies. I can understand some regulation of TARP funds as we have already seen some instances of abuse such as AIG throwing lavish parties immediately after receiving TARP funds. So [...]
Today there are TEA parties occurring across the nation. People are upset about bailouts, taxes, and socialism. TEA stands for “Taxed Enough Already”. Only one problem with this criticism: Obama just cut taxes. My last paycheck put an extra $50 in my pocket, and I didn’t get a raise. Republicans have again distorted the facts to instill anger to their supporters. This is not a strictly Republican tactic, Democrats do it as well, but this is a great example of why people need to do their own homework and stop listening to 10-second soundbytes on mass media.
President Obama has to make a choice. Nationalize these companies that are “too big to fail” or keep his hands out of their business. By ousting Rick Wagoner, the CEO of GM today, the current administration is showing its inability to handle the current economic crisis. You can’t have it both ways, trying to keep [...]
This is somewhat of a local issue for me, but I’m sure it translates to many other major cities. NYC has received $24.6 billion in stimulus money, but for some reason the budget proposal passed yesterday is severely increasing our mass transit system. Apparently the $24.6 billion figure was $3 billion more than what was [...]
CNN has reported that about $50 million of AIG bonuses have been returned. This is about the smartest thing these guys could have done, considering the death threats they have been receiving. Hopefully more AIG bonus recipients will follow suit and this money will be returned to AIG. As I have mentioned before, I don’t think we should have legally taken back the bonuses, but I do believe they are doing the right thing by returning these bonuses on their own free will.
As was expected, the US Treasury has released detailed plans to inject $500 billion in to toxic assets. At least $75-$100 billion will come from TARP, a.k.a. your tax money. This is supposed to allow banks to get rid of their “toxic” assets which include the now worthless insurance derivitaves sold by AIG. If you ask me, the guy in this video had a better plan than the government does. Bottom up economics people!
As everyone is jumping on the anti-AIG bandwagon, the White House is showing some down to earth common sense. President Obama’s top economic advisors are refusing to endorse a bill levying a 90% tax on bonuses already paid by AIG to its employees. Their reasoning:
Newsweek has reported here that some politicians are receiving, get this, TARP funds for their campaigns. Better yet, some of these congressmen are on the comittees overseeing the payout of TARP funds! However, I think the following takes the cake:
According to several reports, AIG has given more than the widely reported $165 million in retention bonuses to its employees. The new total is $218 million, a miniscule $53 million more than we were expecting. Do I hear $300 million? I don’t imagine this is the final number of paid bonuses we will be hearing about. The bonuses have spurred 20 states to initiate legal investigations in to the embattled company. What they are hoping to accomplish I have yet to figure out.