If you support this - your part of the problem!!

[Klash]

TweetHouse passes bill taxing AIG and other bonuses

[Here we have the Federal government not justifying a tax increase for more revenue but to PUNISH American citizens Retro-actively.]

[jamescb77]

Tweetreall this bill isn't going o effect the average person. It's only taxing people that make more than 250k in companies that accepted over 5mil in bailout money. The way i look at it is these people ould just be out of jobs so if the gov wants to tax them more then so be it. Also if you make more than 250k then you shouldn't really be worried about a bonus i think you are fairly compensated as is especially since you work for a failing company. Im all against higher taxes but im for this one.

[Klash]

TweetO.k. so now our legislators are our justice system; we can just go with the whims of the mob mentality. The dumb masses can be baited and lead by the progressives and the mainstream media and then when the mob gets pissed the politicians go into action come up with a law that works retroactively to punish something that was LEGAL but because the MOB wants blood - the politicians give it to them. Kind of like the story of ponches pilot. AIG did nothing wrong but get on the wrong side of a mob. Getting mad at Aig is like getting mad at the Whino for buying alcohol with your money that a theif stole from you.

We live in a society that is now superseding constitution law with precedence and we're potentially giving politicians the ability to go back and judge whether legal actions you have already committed should be punished. They didn't break any tax laws; they didn't do anything but piss off people that don't get pissed off when the government blows money.

...and if 165 million dollars being blown pisses you off. Your being distracted and focusing too much on something insignificant in comparison to what the government blows routinely now. Why the double standard? 165 million\ vs. 1.6TRILLION

[jamescb77]

TweetIt's as simple as i's a government owned company at this point. Whether you want to believe that or not it i. the government owns more of that company than does anyone else. If they wanna pass laws that only directly effect the companies that they own so be it. At this point it is to be ran the way they want it to be ran because AIG could not run themselves well enough to stay alive. I think we should have just let AIG drown personally. The government has and always will spend tons and tons of money. Do i like it no. As i pointed out earlier I am against increased taxes and big government. However if im running a company and i decide to implement a plan and you don't like it i don't care it's my company. The government now runs this company and when, the people don't like what is happening in a gov ran company usually nothing happens because well for the most part the people don't have much power in the gov. This time the people got mad and the government reacted so now you are going to slam them for that. You can't bash them for everything they do. I understand from most your post you are antigovernment all the way, but be real here this country is never going to not have a medium at smallest sized county. If you don't like that you can try another country. But you are still here for some reason, complaining about everything that the government does. One last thing in a true direct democracy this is the power chain. People own Government, government owns things. People therefor own things without complete direct control. All that happened was the people spoke out on something they owned and it happened.

[FUZO]

TweetThis is disturbing klash to see doemocrats do this. First of all its going to cost more then the 165 million in bonuses for legal fee's for laywers now. We need to be looking towrds how bad dick heads is affecting our country and our deficit. 2nd This contract was in place before the new ceo took over which is only getting a $1 for salary so this guy is getting crucified by the scum bag democrats in office. A contract is a binding agreement I think so for them to say give it back is worthless . I hope they give it back but alot wont. And the dems want to tax 90% now on copanies who we bailed out and they make more then 250,000 a year there the ones that made this mess in the first place.Anyone that voted for this scum bag is now seeing they made a big mistake.I agree with ya klash something needs to happen to stop this mess.

James did you vote for the dick head

[Klash]

Tweet

It's as simple as i's a government owned company at this point. Whether you want to believe that or not it i. the government owns more of that company than does anyone else. If they wanna pass laws that only directly effect the companies that they own so be it.

Good points but this is precisely why government should not nationalize any company because private citizens will do what is good for their company - politicians will follow the current flow of the mob, even if it undermines the success of the company and don't you think this will undermine this companies success. What people, that have options are going to want to work at AIG, get death threats, answer to the government's ridiculous, irrational and ****-ackward ideas and then get paid $hit compared to working at a competitor.

At this point it is to be ran the way they want it to be ran because AIG could not run themselves well enough to stay alive. I think we should have just let AIG drown personally. The government has and always will spend tons and tons of money. Do i like it no. As i pointed out earlier I am against increased taxes and big government. However if im running a company and i decide to implement a plan and you don't like it i don't care it's my company. The government now runs this company and when, the people don't like what is happening in a gov ran company usually nothing happens because well for the most part the people don't have much power in the gov. This time the people got mad and the government reacted so now you are going to slam them for that.

AIG's failure (and many of the financial companies) to thrive is partially due to government legislation tying their hands and forcing them to make 42% of the mortgages they made to be subprime.

So government bleeds these companies, until their on their deathbeds and then comes in pumps them full of blood (but now owns them) and acts like if it wasn't for them they would have died. Government is the phucking problem!!!!!

You can't bash them for everything they do. I understand from most your post you are antigovernment all the way, but be real here this country is never going to not have a medium at smallest sized county.

I'm not anti-government. I'm anti-people-infringing-other-peoples-rights-just-because-they-have-some-government-title.

If you don't like that you can try another country. But you are still here for some reason, complaining about everything that the government does. One last thing in a true direct democracy this is the power chain. People own Government, government owns things. People therefor own things without complete direct control. All that happened was the people spoke out on something they owned and it happened.

This country was founded on the ideals of natural rights with the intent of protecting us from a "true democracy" but this is another thing our progressive society will misinform you on; our leaders act as if "democracy" and "freedom" are synonymous to each other, they are not! A true or pure democracy is in conflict with freedom making the minorities rights dependent on the mob's whims.

[Klash]

Tweet

This is disturbing klash to see doemocrats do this. First of all its going to cost more then the 165 million in bonuses for legal fee's for laywers now. We need to be looking towrds how bad dick heads is affecting our country and our deficit. 2nd This contract was in place before the new ceo took over which is only getting a $1 for salary so this guy is getting crucified by the scum bag democrats in office. A contract is a binding agreement I think so for them to say give it back is worthless . I hope they give it back but alot wont. And the dems want to tax 90% now on copanies who we bailed out and they make more then 250,000 a year there the ones that made this mess in the first place.Anyone that voted for this scum bag is now seeing they made a big mistake.I agree with ya klash something needs to happen to stop this mess.

James did you vote for the dick head

I read the other day that in the state of Connecticut, if AIG would have denied the bonuses and if then they were taken to court, Connecticut has a law that if AIG would have lost they would have had to pay double what they originally owed the employees, plus lawyer fees - making it close to 400million of tax payers money.

Now if the dems pass this legislation more than likely the courts will find it unconstitutional and they will get to keep the bonuses and the federal government just wasted even more of our money on a trivial, irrelevant, distracting ruse.

[Klash]

TweetWill we see the same outrage that resulted from the $165 million that AIG paid out in bonuses, with Freddie and Fannie paying out $210 million?


Article:

In a compensation program that has drawn angry protests from lawmakers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expect to pay about $210 million in retention bonuses to 7,600 employees over 18 months, according to a letter from the mortgage companies' regulator.

The maximum retention bonus for any individual executive under the plan will total $1.5 million during the 18 months ending in early 2010, according to the letter to Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, which provides previously undisclosed details about the bonuses.


The regulator, James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said in the letter that about $51 million of the payouts were made in late 2008 and the rest are to be made this year and early in 2010.

In the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Lockhart defends the bonuses as vital to retaining talent at the two companies, the main providers of funding for U.S. home mortgages. Fannie and Freddie, which reported combined losses of about $108 billion for 2008, are being propped up by capital infusions from the U.S. Treasury.

The retention-bonus plan has stirred controversy in Washington since it was highlighted in a March 18 Wall Street Journal article.

Freddie's retention-bonus program involves 4,057 employees, or about 80% of the total head count, while Fannie is making the payments to 3,545 employees, or 61%.

During 2009, 92 Freddie employees are due to receive retention bonuses of $100,000 or more and one, who wasn't identified, will receive more than $675,000, the letter said. At Fannie, 121 employees will get bonuses of $100,000 or more this year and the maximum payout will be $705,000.

Freddie hasn't yet made disclosures about bonus payments to its highest-paid executives. Fannie has disclosed that retention bonuses over the 18 months are expected to total $1.3 million for Michael Williams, the company's chief operating officer; $1.1 million for David Hisey; and $1 million apiece for Thomas Lund and Kenneth Bacon. Messrs. Hisey, Lund and Bacon are executive vice presidents. The final level of those payments is contingent on the executives' remaining in their posts and on attaining certain performance goals.

In a statement Friday, Sen. Grassley said: "It's hard to see any common sense in management decisions that award hundreds of millions in bonuses when their organizations lost more than $100 billion in a year. And, it's an insult that the bonuses were made with an infusion of cash from taxpayers."

Congress is considering legislation that would deter bonuses paid by firms that are major recipients of federal bailout money, including Fannie and Freddie.

Their regulator initiated the retention program last year in an effort to avoid departures of people considered critical to the companies, whose stock prices have collapsed, rendering stock options worthless, and whose regular bonus plans have been canceled.

"It is not realistic to expect that experienced and highly skilled employees will indefinitely continue to work as hard as they have if we do not provide reasonable incentives to perform," Mr. Lockhart wrote. He argued that the companies need "skilled and experienced staff" to manage safely their more than $5 trillion in debt and guarantees of mortgage securities.

"For personal privacy and safety reasons," Mr. Lockhart said, it wouldn't be appropriate to release the names of all those receiving bonuses of $100,000 or more.

[daved150]

Tweeti dont think the government has the right to take the bonuses. retro active tax? wtf is that? it's like prosecuting a sports figure for doing a substance that wasnt illegal when he did...oh wait...they do that too!!
they (the fed.) needs to stay the fuk out of biz. they cant run the country and people think they can run a biz? those dum****'s that passed the bailout programs should've thaought about reworking everyones payplan at the beginning...you didnt think of that? tuff shyt! think of it now. renegotiate where you can, and where you cant, let them know it "just aint working out" and cut them loose! no dept. head of a failing dept gets a bonus! you cant punish the ones that THEIR dept. was doing fine!! and now....they want to "release the names" of folks getting bonuses...ok...thats great...now we got our government throwing our citizens to the mob!!! just put a hit on their fukin head and get it over with!! wtf???!!
this whole thng is fuked up and can be directly traced to the idiots FORCING subprime loans down the throats of the lenders.

[Klash]

Tweet

i dont think the government has the right to take the bonuses. retro active tax? wtf is that? it's like prosecuting a sports figure for doing a substance that wasnt illegal when he did...oh wait...they do that too!!
they (the fed.) needs to stay the fuk out of biz. they cant run the country and people think they can run a biz? those dum****'s that passed the bailout programs should've thaought about reworking everyones payplan at the beginning...you didnt think of that? tuff shyt! think of it now. renegotiate where you can, and where you cant, let them know it "just aint working out" and cut them loose! no dept. head of a failing dept gets a bonus! you cant punish the ones that THEIR dept. was doing fine!! and now....they want to "release the names" of folks getting bonuses...ok...thats great...now we got our government throwing our citizens to the mob!!! just put a hit on their fukin head and get it over with!! wtf???!!
this whole thng is fuked up and can be directly traced to the idiots FORCING subprime loans down the throats of the lenders.

Nice...