To NY Times Op-Ed writer:
Give me a break. You really don't understand how the mere mortals live, do you? I too didn't do anything wrong, have little debt except an underwater mortgage, and will be alright as long as Wall Street doesn't bring down the entire country. But so many others are not alright through no fault of their own. Most don't have the luxury of giving their employers the five finger salute. Many already had that done to them, and others are holding on by their fingernails to house, feed and clothe their families. In what other universe does a company that loses $60B in one quarter pay huge bonuses negotiated when it was clear the company was going down. Thanks to the U.S. taxpayers, which will be paying for this debacle for many years, AIG is still a company instead of a bankrupt shell and you still have your stocks and they may someday be worth something, unlike Lehmann employees. I'm glad you will still be able to get another job at another firm that will pay what you think you are worth. Perhaps one of those unemployed traders in the other firms that have collapsed or cut back can be hired to do your now vacant job.
Unfortunately, thanks to your company and others, many people can't even get a job that pays the rent, others pay their rent and still get evicted because the banks foreclosed on someone else. Other people, too, are working 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week to pull us out of this mess and aren't getting paid $700K to do it. They seem to think its their duty to their country or their colleagues to do the right thing. Others are taking pay cuts so their colleagues won't get laid off. Others are losing their life savings in businesses they have poured their hearts and treasure into, only to have the bank call the credit line because of all the bad investment decisions their bank made.
I'm sure whatever charities you donate your "bonus" to will be able to put it to good use, since donations are down, while need has skyrocketed for social service agencies. However, I doubt you would be donating your bonus if scorn had not been heaped upon AIG. This isn't personal to you or me - its a terrible economic crisis that has lots of losers, most of whom had nothing to do with its cause. Life isn't fair - I can't cry crocodile tears that this unfairness caught up with you this one time. I don't think many others will either.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wakefulness
I seem only driven to blog when I wake early thinking about the state of the world. I just need to get the stuff off my mind so I can go back to living in my world. The finance debacle woke me this morning. I just can't get over the failure of the supposed systems that were in place supposedly to prevent the financial rape that has occurred. Where were the mutual funds and pension funds, the biggest stockholders of these companies when the Boards of Directors and senior executives were plundering their companies and the savings of America.
A story about AIG's Board of Directors was the precipitating factor in my wakefulness. These people voted themselves $240,000 each per year while allowing the CEO and other executives to run the company into the ground and with it the American economy. Is their any price to be paid? Apparently not, since they continue to receive their stipends and go on as though nothing happened. Where were they when the bonuses were paid? Didn't any of them see how this would be perceived and raise an alarm. Guess not, since they didn't see how these payments would be perceived. They were too busy taking their own payments for 9 days work last year. CNN says we won't know how much they were paid until the SEC filings in April, but doesn't the government have access to this information. This will fall on the "rescue" effort just as the righteous and deserved anger over these bonuses begins to dissipate. Are they out in front of this or is their concern only after it becomes public.
Citigroup and the CEO's $38M bonus didn't seem to get the traction that AIG did. Perhaps its because we only own 36% and guarantee only $300B of their bad debt. It's time for some wholesale housecleaning. No one is indispensible. Perhaps the former banker on the front page of the NY Times who has been reduced to begging for a job on Craigslist could be hired to replace a couple of those bonus babies. But then, he probably can't teach the Chairman of the Board bridge, so he may not qualify, since this is apparently how some Executives were chosen, according to the author of House of Cards.
All this news is so disheartening. Other than watching my networth collapse I'm not really affected by this mess day to day. Unless the country goes bankrupt I'll be okay, but it doesn't help me sleep. It's all so unfair to all the people who go to work everyday, try and raise kids or live a decent life, not causing harm to the country and their community. I know life isn't fair, but this is out of sight. We can't continue to allow this rape and pillage to continue. We need to break up the companies which are too big to fail. We need to bring back real stockholder suits that can hold executives and Boards of Directors accountable for breaches of their fiduciary duty; we need to bring back serious taxation to the rich [not this asinine use of the tax code to punish AIG, but real taxation for those "earning" over $1M]; we need to beef up the anti-trust unit of DOJ and give them a backbone; we need to hold Congress's feet to the fire. When real anger reaches the halls of power they can move so quickly, albeit thoughtlessly. We need to keep the pressure on them when it comes to the legislation to really address these ills - no let them quietly serve the masters who pay their campaign bills.
The anger we feel towards AIG for the bonuses should also be directed towards the campaign contributions to the very Senators and Congressmen who will be writing the legislation trying to fix the system. The anger towards companies for their lavish parties and conferences should be directed toward the tax system and the people who write it that make these efforts so worthwhile to their bottom lines. We need to demand real reform, not the faux reform of the last week, trying to slake the fallout from the AIG bonus mess. We need to let them know we are watching their legislative response not just their words.
A story about AIG's Board of Directors was the precipitating factor in my wakefulness. These people voted themselves $240,000 each per year while allowing the CEO and other executives to run the company into the ground and with it the American economy. Is their any price to be paid? Apparently not, since they continue to receive their stipends and go on as though nothing happened. Where were they when the bonuses were paid? Didn't any of them see how this would be perceived and raise an alarm. Guess not, since they didn't see how these payments would be perceived. They were too busy taking their own payments for 9 days work last year. CNN says we won't know how much they were paid until the SEC filings in April, but doesn't the government have access to this information. This will fall on the "rescue" effort just as the righteous and deserved anger over these bonuses begins to dissipate. Are they out in front of this or is their concern only after it becomes public.
Citigroup and the CEO's $38M bonus didn't seem to get the traction that AIG did. Perhaps its because we only own 36% and guarantee only $300B of their bad debt. It's time for some wholesale housecleaning. No one is indispensible. Perhaps the former banker on the front page of the NY Times who has been reduced to begging for a job on Craigslist could be hired to replace a couple of those bonus babies. But then, he probably can't teach the Chairman of the Board bridge, so he may not qualify, since this is apparently how some Executives were chosen, according to the author of House of Cards.
All this news is so disheartening. Other than watching my networth collapse I'm not really affected by this mess day to day. Unless the country goes bankrupt I'll be okay, but it doesn't help me sleep. It's all so unfair to all the people who go to work everyday, try and raise kids or live a decent life, not causing harm to the country and their community. I know life isn't fair, but this is out of sight. We can't continue to allow this rape and pillage to continue. We need to break up the companies which are too big to fail. We need to bring back real stockholder suits that can hold executives and Boards of Directors accountable for breaches of their fiduciary duty; we need to bring back serious taxation to the rich [not this asinine use of the tax code to punish AIG, but real taxation for those "earning" over $1M]; we need to beef up the anti-trust unit of DOJ and give them a backbone; we need to hold Congress's feet to the fire. When real anger reaches the halls of power they can move so quickly, albeit thoughtlessly. We need to keep the pressure on them when it comes to the legislation to really address these ills - no let them quietly serve the masters who pay their campaign bills.
The anger we feel towards AIG for the bonuses should also be directed towards the campaign contributions to the very Senators and Congressmen who will be writing the legislation trying to fix the system. The anger towards companies for their lavish parties and conferences should be directed toward the tax system and the people who write it that make these efforts so worthwhile to their bottom lines. We need to demand real reform, not the faux reform of the last week, trying to slake the fallout from the AIG bonus mess. We need to let them know we are watching their legislative response not just their words.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a portion of a McCain town hall meeting. Several people expressed fear of an Obama presidency. For once McCain reverted to his honorable self and said there was nothing to fear from an Obama presidency. I see now that his campaign and the Republican 527 groups have returned to the fear message. Obama has not resorted to this tactic; however that perspective has not trickled down to many of his supporters. A recent Daily Show piece from both campaigns talked about fear and world destruction with the success of the opponent candidate. I confess that I'm one of those people who fear a McCain presidency. I'm embarrassed that it sounds so lame on TV, especially when my fear is compared to the McCain supporters screaming about the end of the world.
I, in my elite self-exploration mode wonder if I'm not being as narrow minded as those I have identified on McCain/Palin's side. They express what I consider are tarnished and bigoted reasons for fearing Obama: he's a Muslim, an Arab, a terrorist, a socialist, a baby killer. These fears are often hyped by McCain/Palin and their official supporters, especially as we get closer to the election. These fears seem to lead to hostile acts and ugly aggression from some. How will this division end - in another assassination or other unrest.
I do fear a McCain/Palin administration because of his jingoistic calls to attack the "terrorists", defining them broadly, the call to stay in Iraq, perhaps attack Iran, to reignite the cold war with Russia, his Bush-like dismissal of the advantages of talking to our enemies, his economic policies so similar to Bush, his erratic temperament in addressing the economic meltdown during the campaign, his seeming reversal of principles on so many issues; and the possibility that he will die in office. Once I thought he was honorable, but that honor seems to have been overtaken by blind ambition. You know he wants to be President oh so very badly that he has decided that he will say anything, do anything that might stick or work.
I remember a time when you voted for or against the other guy because you didn't like the policies he was proposing, but you generally forgot the rancor of the campaign and got back to life after the election. The one time I remember that didn't work this way was under Nixon, who was despised by half the country because of the war in Vietnam. That war split the country in ways that still reverberate. This election seems to be highlighting those splits in the country again. I love this country but I don't want to be a part of a country that does the things this government has done over the last 8 years. I don't want to be a part of a country that can't put the common good before the individual good. And the other side fears being a part of country that could elect a black man, that could be okay with gay marriage, that allow the "killing" of the unborn, who might control guns so that an 8 year old doesn't get killed by an Uzi he is shooting. I can't help feeling part of the problem preventing a unified country because of my fear, but my fear just won't go away unless McCain loses. Will their fear be as lasting or can Obama appeal to their better selves?
This is a long way of saying that I'm afraid of another Bush four years and I'm glad that Obama is appealing to our better selves, and I just wish I had a better self when it comes to the possibility of McCain winning. I only hope I don't find out, because I really don't think I can continue to live in a McCain/Palin country that Rove/Bush/Cheney have begot.
I, in my elite self-exploration mode wonder if I'm not being as narrow minded as those I have identified on McCain/Palin's side. They express what I consider are tarnished and bigoted reasons for fearing Obama: he's a Muslim, an Arab, a terrorist, a socialist, a baby killer. These fears are often hyped by McCain/Palin and their official supporters, especially as we get closer to the election. These fears seem to lead to hostile acts and ugly aggression from some. How will this division end - in another assassination or other unrest.
I do fear a McCain/Palin administration because of his jingoistic calls to attack the "terrorists", defining them broadly, the call to stay in Iraq, perhaps attack Iran, to reignite the cold war with Russia, his Bush-like dismissal of the advantages of talking to our enemies, his economic policies so similar to Bush, his erratic temperament in addressing the economic meltdown during the campaign, his seeming reversal of principles on so many issues; and the possibility that he will die in office. Once I thought he was honorable, but that honor seems to have been overtaken by blind ambition. You know he wants to be President oh so very badly that he has decided that he will say anything, do anything that might stick or work.
I remember a time when you voted for or against the other guy because you didn't like the policies he was proposing, but you generally forgot the rancor of the campaign and got back to life after the election. The one time I remember that didn't work this way was under Nixon, who was despised by half the country because of the war in Vietnam. That war split the country in ways that still reverberate. This election seems to be highlighting those splits in the country again. I love this country but I don't want to be a part of a country that does the things this government has done over the last 8 years. I don't want to be a part of a country that can't put the common good before the individual good. And the other side fears being a part of country that could elect a black man, that could be okay with gay marriage, that allow the "killing" of the unborn, who might control guns so that an 8 year old doesn't get killed by an Uzi he is shooting. I can't help feeling part of the problem preventing a unified country because of my fear, but my fear just won't go away unless McCain loses. Will their fear be as lasting or can Obama appeal to their better selves?
This is a long way of saying that I'm afraid of another Bush four years and I'm glad that Obama is appealing to our better selves, and I just wish I had a better self when it comes to the possibility of McCain winning. I only hope I don't find out, because I really don't think I can continue to live in a McCain/Palin country that Rove/Bush/Cheney have begot.
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