Orange Tan Man, once again makes a total fool out of himself. (Cue the drum roll for Worst Person in the World, or at least Most Hypocritical Person in the World).
Boehner had the nerve to say that the Unions of our nation (including his own home state of Ohio) are holding a Machine Gun to the heads of those in our government who are taking advantage of the economic collapse and catastrophe, in order to destroy the Unions of our nation.
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) weighed in on the labor protests rocking the Midwest on Sunday, saying that the current system of collective bargaining is too tilted in favor of labor unions.
"In some of these states, you've got collective bargaining laws that are so weighted in favor of the public employees that there's almost no bargaining," Boehner said in an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network. "We've given them a machine gun and put it right at the heads of the local officials and they really have their hands tied. And I think what you're seeing in these states is they're trying to bring some balance to these negotiations that when you look at the pay of public employees today and you look at their retirement benefits they are way out of line with many other working Americans."
Boehner placed part of the blame for the current situation on the Obama administration, who, along with the Democratic-controlled 111th Congress, "bailed out the states where they could avoid making the tough decisions," he said. "Well, there are no more bailouts coming from Washington," Boehner said. "We're broke. We're broke! We don't have money to dish out to the states, so all these governors are trying to find ways to balance their budgets, which they're required to do."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Excuse me, Mr. Boehner, but how did 'we' get where we are today?
It's a very simple question, because as I recall, each and every single 'contract,' for the bonuses that AIG received (after the bailouts), had to be honored, and according to both Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers: Those Contracts, were somehow sacred, and much more important than honoring the existing contracts for our Unions. Please enthrall us with your acumen, and tell us the difference between the two? BTW, here's a box of tissues, as you explain those differences to the 'philistines,' who pay your salary.
But before you began, your sad story sir, I just want to remind you that the only people in our nation, that have had a 'virtual gun' held to their heads, was Congress during the great Heist of 2008, when Hank Paulson threatened Congress with martial law, if they refused to, 'hand over the loot,' for the same Wall St/Bankstas who destroyed our national and international economies.
And as another reminder, the AIG 'Sacred Contracts,' included the following:
You've probably heard by now: AIG (NYSE: AIG) -- fresh off of $170 billion of bailouts -- will be paying $450 million in bonuses to certain employees. Lucky them. We've been here before, and we typically get nowhere. Bonus brouhaha has stumbled over the notion that those not involved in a firm's undoing -- such as a municipal bond underwriter at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) or a wealth advisor at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) -- shouldn't be penalized for their wayward coworkers' adventures.
And the money must be paid, story goes, because they're legal, contractual obligations that have to be met, lest lawsuits argue otherwise. Larry Summers -- President Obama's top economic advisor -- chimed in, saying, "We are a country of law. There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts."
Fair enough. But I can't be the only one fascinated that the same people with the authority to commit $10.16 trillion of taxpayer funds don't have the authority to alter an employment contract. The Treasury can flip a company's capital structure on its head, ring-fence guarantee any asset it wants, and give a blank check to whomever it deems fit. But holding back bonuses at a company it owns 80% of? Whoa … way out of its pay grade.
http://www.fool.com/...
Now, you would think that a totally bankrupt company that the taxpayers of this nation supposed 'own,' (cough, cough), would be ensuring that our government would have stopped this insane 'bonus' fever, but noooooooooooooooooooooooooo. AIG employees, will be receiving 'more bonuses.'
NEW YORK — American International Group Inc. is set to pay out about $100 million in a fresh round of bonuses to employees of its financial products division, the unit whose risky bets helped sink the company leading to a $180 billion government bailout, according to reports published Tuesday. AIG agreed to cut the retention bonuses by $20 million but will still hand out $100 million Wednesday, The New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The Washington Post, also citing people familiar with the situation, said the retention payments are for employees at the division who agreed to accept 10 to 20 percent less than AIG had initially promised them two years ago. In return, they are getting their money more than a month ahead of schedule. AIG is still due to pay out tens of millions of dollars more in March, mostly to former employees who did not agree to the concessions, the Post reported. A message was left with an AIG spokesman seeking comment.
New York-based AIG faced intense public and Congressional criticism last March when it paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in retention bonuses to employees months after receiving the government bailout. When the credit crisis hit in the fall of 2008, the U.S. government rescued AIG from the brink of collapse in exchange for an 80 percent stake in the insurer. AIG's near collapse was not due to its traditional insurance operations, but instead risky derivatives contracts written by the financial products division.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
So here we are folks, sitting and watching the Unions of our nation being systematically destroyed, while we the people, the taxpayers are about to pay off an additional one hundred million in our hard earned taxpayer money, that is again: $100 million dollars in new bonuses this year, for AIG employees in a company that is totally bankrupt, that we own, and that we bailed out.
As the saying goes: If this does not outrage your sensibilities, then you must be on life support.
So tell us all again, Mr. Boehner, what is the difference between this so called, 'scared contract,' that we are taxpayers have with the AIG, and the contracts that you and others of your ilk are seeking to destroy with the Unions of our nation?
Oh, right I forgot, 'Wall St./the Bankers,' have one set of laws, and we, the 'peasants,' have another set of laws.
I know this much, when the Unions go down, 'we,' all go down, and I for one will not let that happen.
But let's just remember, Mr. Boehner who it was that actually was really holding a virtual gun to the head of whom in our nation, and when that occurred, and what the consequences of those actions have been. The Great Heist of 2008, as perpetuated by George W. Bush and Hank Paulson, and then continued by the present administration, is exactly the reason we as a nation have fallen into a banana republic.
It is becoming crystal clear, that we are a nation of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street.
Take a look at this chart below to understand where we have come to:
http://www.truth-out.org/...
And finally, for a most excellent article, please see this:
Guest Post: “The Financial Industry Has Become So Politically Powerful That It Is Able To Inhibit the Normal Process of Justice And Law Enforcement”
→ Washington’s Blog
In his acceptance speech for winner for best documentary at the Oscars, director Craig Ferguson said:
Three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that’s wrong.
But none of the mainstream, corporate networks covered it. Not CBS, ABC, NBC or MSNBC.
Ferguson told Reuters:
“The biggest surprise to me personally and biggest disappointment was that nobody in the Obama administration would speak with me even off the record — including people that I’ve known for many, many years,” Ferguson said backstage. He believes Americans, who lost homes and jobs in the millions because of shady mortgage lending and bank collapses, are disappointed that “nothing has been done.” “Unfortunately, I think that the reason is predominantly that the financial industry has become so politically powerful that it is able to inhibit the normal process of justice and law enforcement,” said Ferguson.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/....
Just wanted to set the record straight, people. I get a huge hair across my ass when people like John Boehner comes out and has the nerve to tell the Unions of this nation that somehow their 'contracts,' are meaningless, when we the people are posed to pay off an additional $100 million dollars in bonuses to AIG, a company that is not only bankrupt, by that supposedly we own.
Here's an additional box of tissues and a bottle of cheap Scotch, Mr. Boehner. Don't go away mad, just go away.
Thanks as always,
Ms. B.