Comments on: Live from Capitol Hill: The AIG Hearing

By: timbo

timbo — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:26:28 +0000

May it do some good. At least those questions aree more than most of the Congress or the Administration are willing or likely to ask…

By: reader

reader — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:29:24 +0000

Thanks to Jane & everyone at FDL. That is such an awesome set of questions and I almost understand them all which is even more awesome. I’m sure I wouldn’t understand a word of this without my visits to FDL.

I signed the petition and I am glad I did.

My interest is getting to the bottom of this bailout crap and challenging the double standards about money, contracts, and our laws. Everything else is windowdressing. Even complaining about Obama. This is bigger than Obama. I just hope he is still listening to what is really going on.

Because of those questions I understand what ”getting to the bottom” of this really means. I will not consider the matter resolved until those questions are answered, regardless of what Congress says or {cough, cough} does.

We own AIG. And tell me how Goldman Sachs is not running our economy now and pulling strings everywhere. There are no ”firewalls” in social dynamics. There should be investigations top to bottom, just because it’s our money and we need assurances that all is well (but it’s not, clearly). It’s not anger: it’s honesty, fairness, and common-sense. Make the rules for everyone or RE-write the rules for the little people.

Oh, and fellas, yeah, you Wall Street guys, playing some shell game with the bonus money won’t work. It’s about more than the bonuses and the people are coming, the people are seeing the truth.

Thanks again, Jane. Awesome.

By: BooRadley

BooRadley — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:20:53 +0000

Seconded.

By: JoeBuck

JoeBuck — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:29:32 +0000

I did not sign Jane’s petition, because it says that there must be no more money until regulations are in place. Getting good regulations in place, given how obstructionist the Senate Republicans and Blue Dogs are, could take a year, and it might be necessary to bail someone else out before then. So there’s going to have to be money in the short term, even before new regulations are finalized.

We should focus instead on getting trustworthy people (that is, not Geithner) in charge of dispensing any new money. Geithner needs to spend more time with his family. I’d like to see Summers go as well, but he has a less important role than the Secretary of the Treasury in handling the funds; he mainly just gives (bad) advice. Seeing him out would be a bonus.

One reason I favored Obama over Clinton in the primaries, besides foreign policy issues, was that I expected Clinton to bring back her husband’s financial people (Summers, Rubin, etc.) and I thought that the Clintonites shared responsibility with the Bushies for creating our financial mess. But Obama brought them back anyway. It’s not too late, though; he can salvage his presidency by canning them.

By: JamesJoyce

JamesJoyce — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:27:37 +0000

It will be part of language submitted by a lobbyist that the pols failed to read!

By: JamesJoyce

JamesJoyce — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:15:22 +0000

Now good loans where “cut” with bad loans, them packaged as investments rated by raters who did not have data to make proper ratings, then marketed same all over the world. “CDS” Then hedge funds bet that these investments would fail. They did and the hedge funds where paid. Because of the regulatory failure to insure these CDS as was required AIG got caught holding the bag and now AIG’s bailout because of fear of World Wide financial collapse is used as a tactic to make the US taxpayer the sucker, holding the brown paper bag, empty wet and shredded in one corner as the evenings dinner, a “roast” is now covered with dirt maggots, ants and bacteria festering the decomposition process. Then while looking at your meal faint with starvation, you ponder how we got here?

By: marchan1940

marchan1940 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:10:27 +0000

This is all way beyond me, but I salute those for whom it is not.

I would call your attention to the following at Raw Story. (SHOCKER: SENATE STRIPPED MEASURE THAT WOULD HAVE RESTRICTED BONUSES FROM BAILOUT;
Hedge fund ‘vultures’ could reap billions from AIG)

“Tim” knew, “everyone” at WH knew. Prohibitions against the bonuses were stripped from the enabling legislation during conference; interesting to know who stripped the big no. Bet it was Reid, but who knows, someone does; wonder if the truth will out.

Blessings to all

By: sdrDusty

sdrDusty — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:08:42 +0000

This is excellent work. I think they’ve seriously “misunderestimated” public response to this.

By: goldpearl

goldpearl — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:59:25 +0000

from the aig agreement w/ cassano - march 11, 2008:

You will provide consulting services to the Company as reasonably
requested by the Company for a period of nine months, commencing on April l, 2008 and the Company will pay you a consulting fee of one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) per month. You will be solely responsible for making all payments required to be made to any taxing authority with respect to the payments described in this paragraph. The Company may terminate the consulting agreement if the General Counsel and I (or my successor) both determine, in good faith, that you are not satisfactorily performing your duties under the consulting agreement or have breached your duties under this agreement.

By: ShotoJamf

ShotoJamf — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:54:18 +0000

Good Morning:

Late to the party. Got my pointy hat and party favors and I’m ready to watch the show.

Great list of questions, Jane! Very good. I hope the gasbags on the panel will use them.