I looked up the word "inappropriate" in my dictionary and found a photograph of Barney Frank, the poster-boy for inappropriateness.

As far as THE OUTRAGE in Washington goes, let me provide a translation for you.

WE GOTTA COVER OUR FREAKING ASSES ON THIS ONE!!!!

The arrogance of these people is astounding. THEY chose to give AIG this money. THEY chose to do it without guidelines.

AIG Bailout #1: September 16, 2008 ($85 billion) - The Fed
AIG Bailout #2: October 9, 2008 ($37.8 billion) - The Fed
AIG Bailout #3: November 10, 2008 ($40 billion) - TARP

Now tell us again, who chose to give AIG this money? Who chose to do it without guidelines?

mantis - "Now tell us again, who chose to give AIG this money? Who chose to do it without guidelines?"

Here's a short list: Bush and each and every member of Congress, regardless of party affiliation.

However the one that tops that list was tax cheat Geithner:

At the same time there is a growing chorus of criticism over the management of the government's $700 billion financial industry bailout in which Geithner played a key role.

Geithner was one of the first Cabinet-level officials nominated by Obama in November and his confirmation initially was expected to be easy, considering his strong qualifications and close involvement with efforts to halt the financial industry meltdown.

Mantis,

Who is in charge now? Can't claim ignorance or indifference on this one.

Both houses of congress were under the dictatorship of the democrats, btw.

Shawn, here's some more outrageous behavior via asshat John Conyers.

Make sure you read Rep. Steve King's follow-up in the comment section.

Mantis

"Now tell us again, who chose to give AIG this money? Who chose to do it without guidelines?"

Oh you must be talking about Barney Frank whose committee authoried all three pieces of legislation and the democrats who voted overwhelmingly for it and who also voted no oversight on it.

Now, now. Don't pick on Mantis. Obama walks in the light. HE makes no error. Obama speaks truth to power. HIS mere presence calms the oceans and cleanses the air. And if that doesn't work, repeat after me, 3 times,
"It's all the fault of the Republicans, Neo-cons, Bush, Cheney, Haliburton, etc etc".
The sad part is, we'll be hearing the same mantra TWO YEARS from now.

Mantis

"Now tell us again, who chose to give AIG this money? Who chose to do it without guidelines?"

"AIG Bailout #3: November 10, 2008 ($40 billion) - TARP"
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/hr384.pdf

"Mr Frank of Massachuesetts introducted this bill."

Fixing the banking and credit system is a profoundly necessary challenge, for sure, but what good is a dandy credit system if millions-more Americans are by then out of work, hence out of the credit market? These "conservatives" are only interested in ensuring that the middle class doesn't regain the power they have lost to the corporate world.
The idiom about choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea is certainly appropriate as Republicans are facing the dilemma of choosing between two equally undesirable alternatives that both result in Republican impotence in mainstream American politics. They are suffering the consequences of their treachery. Their irresponsible propping up of George W. Bush cost them their credibility, and their disgraceful and shameless licking of Rush Limbaugh's storm trooper boots is costing them their viability.

Your fat chain-smoking doctor may give you good advice, but will you heed it? So it is with Republicans. They're right about Obama's fiscal stimulus plan: it won't do much to help the economy and will drive the deficit even higher. But no one's listening. Most of the people who are complaining about Obama's fiscal irresponsibility today uttered not a peep of complaint about Bush. The Republican Party, obsessed with gay marriage and flag burning and school prayer, was always an irrelevant distraction. Now everyone knows.

It is truly a sad day when a major party that is bereft of any cogent strategy for self-improvement relies on tearing down its opposition rather than offering a better alternative. Of course, as they have ceded any sense of honor, credibility and even responsibility, and are being "led by the nose" by that very "highly principled" and great intellectual Rush Limbaugh, what else can one expect? The same people who were chanting "COUNTRY FIRST" in October, and now the same people who say they want the president to fail... and they don't care about fixing the problems in the country.

So if Obama is pissed at AIG over this 165 million in bonuses and blocks the next 30 billion bailout, which causes AIG to go under, what happens to the 162 billion the taxpayers have already given AIG? It looks like for every dollar Obama is pissed off about there are 1,000 taxpayers dollars at risk. It seems too late to be outraged by AIG behavior. Do what's necessary for the economy and to protect taxpayers.

JC
"It is truly a sad day when a major party that is bereft of any cogent strategy for self-improvement relies on tearing down its opposition rather than offering a better alternative"

Perfect description of the democrats for the past 8 years.

Wasnt it Nancy Pelosi who said something like "We are in the minority, we dont have to offer solutions?"

Or was that Harry Reid? Maybe Barney Frank?

And noone has said that they want Obama to fail if it means that it will be bad for country. You deliberately leave out the fact that we feel that if his policies suceed it will be bad for the country. And you dont mention anything about people like Carville who went on record as saying they wanted Bush to fail. Whats up with that?

Hypocrit thy name is JC and liberal.

Barney Frankfurter is a greasy NAMBLA type sleazeball who should frankly have His assets seized and share a cell with Bernie Madeoff.

Bush and each and every member of Congress, regardless of party affiliation.

Actually, most of it came from the Fed, and they don't need to ask permission. On the TARP, you're right. But who does Shawn not mention as responsible for the bailout? Bush and Paulson. But Frank (sure), Geithner (iffy), and Summers (???) are?

Oh you must be talking about Barney Frank whose committee authoried all three pieces of legislation and the democrats who voted overwhelmingly for it and who also voted no oversight on it.

What three pieces of legislation?

"AIG Bailout #3: November 10, 2008 ($40 billion) - TARP" http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/hr384.pdf

"Mr Frank of Massachuesetts introducted this bill."

Bet you were real excited about finding that pdf, eh retired? Too bad it's a bill Frank introduced (and the House passed) to increase oversight of the TARP funds, provisions that President Bush would not have signed. You seem to be implying that Frank wrote the TARP, or something. You don't explain.

------------

Anyway, I wonder if anyone has considered whether the government could have done anything to prevent these bonuses. There are rules on executive pay, but they don't really apply here, and those bonuses were awarded per the employees contracts. The legislature cannot just nullify those contracts (and didn't try, in any case). A judge could, if AIG had gone into bankruptcy, but that would have been disastrous. And please decide whether you are for the government imposing compensation guidelines on TARP recipients, or against it. I can't keep track.

Mantis

I missed that. Thanks for the Clarification.

Here is the actual TARP BIll
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1424

SPonsor - Rep. Patrick Kennedy [D-RI]
ANd 274 cosponsors of which about 30 were republican).
So whereas this bill could have passed without republican help it did have some.

However, it was OVERWHELMINGLY democrat.

BTW

A. I am against govt setting limits on bonuses.
b. I am against govt bailing out AIG, GM, Ford, Chrysler, etc
c. I am against govt bailing people out of their mortgages as well.

"Most of the people who are complaining about Obama's fiscal irresponsibility today uttered not a peep of complaint about Bush."

Most? Someone has a very short memory. Which probably explains why Obama gets to change what he says, 3 minutes after he said it.

"It is truly a sad day when a major party that is bereft of any cogent strategy for self-improvement relies on tearing down its opposition rather than offering a better alternative"

Oh, like the Dems for the last 8 years? And forget all that Congressional input to Her Majesty Pelosi and His Exalted Highness Obama,
remember, "We Won".

Nice try though.

I get particularly pissed off at members of Congress who see fit to voice their "outrage" after voting to accept their automatic pay raise. If there is any group of people on the planet who deserve a major cut in pay for non-performance it's Congress.

Hey, Timmy Geithner ever heard of a term called "DD or due diligence?" Before you buy a company (with our money) you should verify the conditions of the company including future obligations such as bonus agreements.

Personally, I think the corporate compensation system is far too generous but I am not sure of the best way to fix it. Boards of Directors are not serving their shareholders and there is nothing in place to get them to do so.

See this is why bailouts are bad and Bankruptcy is good.

In Chapter 11, all labor contracts would have been reviewed. Profitable business might have been restructured or sold off.

Congress:
How about firing everyone at FM/FM they had government oversight and their leaders received large bonus and we know they cooked the books and were at the root of this crisis.

Congress why not talk to the city and state governments and work on reducing property taxes instead of trying to renegotiate principal on mortgage loans.

That would be the appropriate and responsible course of action.
LEX REX

AIG insures the Congressional Retirement Trust.

jc hammer - "Most of the people who are complaining about Obama's fiscal irresponsibility today uttered not a peep of complaint about Bush."

Said by a johnny-come-lately to wizbang, I'd suggest you run thru the archives here.

There's plenty of criticism for both Bush and the Rep party to be had over fiscal policy.

They same can be said of most if not all the top rated conservative blog/websites.

But you don't give a shit about reality, you're more interested in long-winded diatribes, facts be damned.

"It is truly a sad day when a major party that is bereft of any cogent strategy for self-improvement relies on tearing down its opposition"

That's damn funny stuff considering it comes just before you claim the Republican party "was always an irrelevant distraction."

Asswipe.

Damn jc...It must be hard to be so brainless while at the same time being so clueless.

Geithner was with the NY Fed, which had jurisdiction over Citicorp and other major financial institutions which got into tons of trouble with their bad lending policies and dubious investments.

Geithner had an obligation as part of his well-compensated job, to keep Citi and the others from making disasterous decisions and using the power of the Fed to force them to adhere to good safety and soundness practices, and for him to perform due diligence regarding underperforming or badly performing institutions under his jurisdiction.

Yet the man who was supposedly the only one in the world Obama could find to run the Treasury Department; the smartest man in America (other than the One); couldn't administer TARP and still can't come up with a plan regarding the banking crisis.

Marc:

"Most?"

Yeah, most. I have only anecdotal evidence, but almost the only time I heard republicans bitching about spending was in response to this question: "Can you name ONE THING you disagree with Bush about?"

THEN, and only then, did they whine about spending, usually excusing it because "9/11 changed everything."

I'm too lazy to go through Wizbang's entire archive. Perhaps you will, and post a link to an article that was critical of Bush's (and the GOP Congress of 01-07) spending. Or one that questioned why he NEVER ONCE vetoed a spending bill in those years.

One more thing, Marc. I've noticed that you rarely comment without calling someone an "asswipe" or an "asshat." What is it with you and your obsession with the scatological?

What about the Fannie Mae bonuses? They were based on phony profit statements. Worse than Enron.

Barney Frank said there was nothing wrong with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, so there is nothing wrong with those bonuses.

Ooops, I just realized I conflated Garandfan's comment and Marc's.

My apologies to both men.

But my points are still good.

bh - "One more thing, Marc. I've noticed that you rarely comment without calling someone an "asswipe" or an "asshat." What is it with you and your obsession with the scatological?"

And as is your norm, you ignore history, in this case mine that chronicles about 5 years posting here.

If you had you would note those terms are reserved for those that have used similar terms my direction or have a consistent "policy" of posting off-topic, non-factual rants of little consequence other than to point at themselves and scream, "look at me, I'm important to!"

Relax, Marc.

Some of these are jokes. Is this thing on?

Why so angry all the time?