Thomas Friedman On Bank Bailout: "Fairness Has Left The Building"

CBS News:

On CBS' Face The Nation this morning, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman weighed in on the financial crisis and the administration's plans to fight it, and said people should expect that whatever comes from the bailout of financial institutions, fairness will not be part of it.

"On the one hand fairness isn't on the menu anymore. Fairness has left the building," Friedman told host Bob Schieffer in regard to how the administration is handling AIG and today's news that the company has recently paid out $165 million in bonuses.. "From their point of view all that matters is avoiding systemic risks."

Read the whole story: CBS News

Comments

[research]

AIG sold insurance on risky investment, but kept ZERO RESERVE to pay for it.

see my profile.

[mergina]

America needs to get DOWNRIGHT FRENCH on those robbing billions and destroying economies. Bring back Madame Guillotine. After a few head have rolled, WATCH HOW FAST IT ALL STOPS AND THINGS IMPROVE.

[TJCole]

"Fairness", Tom; left the building, January 20th 1980...

[MinasTirith]

What's sadder is the banks will just sit with this property on their books. It won't cost them a dime more if the people stayed in it or if they got evicted. In fact, the banks will lose money on the property, only now in greater sums because they are devaluing the properties in the entire neighborhood by leaving them empty... making the toxicity of the asset, and their actions, even more poignant and appalling. Talk about poisoning your own well...

[NWBrunette]

My goodness, Tom as usual is just so illuminating and insightful and right on top of things. What a clueless pinhead.

[dashboard]

Fairness may have left the building but your clueless is still hanging around and has no plans to leave. Apart fromn the Bush Admin, regulators, and Wall Street bankers, I blame the media for not being more vigiilant on this whole mess. For Crissakes NYTimes is in walking distance from this fiasco. Now their doing there best rear view mirror reporting.....what a huge miss by all the media.

[sixx]

If there is a God, Thomas Friedman should be GW Bush Library administrator.

[cavegal]

I am no financial expert, but I have known enough to keep my money in a local bank rather than an over hyped international giant that merely views you as a number. I recently saw a list of the 100 most solvent banks in the US here on the huffpo and was delighted to find that institution I bank with made the top 25.

Anyone on here complaining about these guys while banking with them should have their heads examined and keep their opinions to themselves. If you do not like what these people are doing then stop using their services. We can put them out of business by boycotting them and show our incredibly lazy congress that there is no such thing as too large to fail when it comes to mismanagement. It should send the message that they are next!

[carnelld]

I am not a financial expert, but when the government is giving money to the banks something
is very wrong. I came along during the time banks had the money.

There is something very wrong with giving the banks taxpayers monies. It's like capitalism in reverse.
The banks make the profits, if they lose money, the taxpayers give them their loses back. The tax payers do not benefit , if they make money.

The whole thing is crazy.

[texastrixie]

The concept that Thomas Friedman cares about "fairness" in regards to anything American is a joke. This man has tried to singlehandedly destroy the idea of the middle class. The entire basis for his economic plan is to outsource enough jobs, and bring in enough foreign low-cost workers, that wages worldwide end up at a subsistence level, period. America becomes a nation of a few extremely rich individuals (Friedman included OF COURSE), while the rest of the population lives in 1-bedroom apartments or, if you're lucky, four or five generations of a family in a 3 bedroom home. In other words, an economy based on virtual serfdom like in the middle ages (or maybe sharecroppers, or the industrial revolution). And this is what he thinks is the IDEAL!

[dashboard]

Yep not only is the world flat, but his head is flat and scaly. I used enjoy his commentary but find him to interested in book publishing, speaking, MSM hopping and less on any hard hitting journalism.

Go back to the basics man.

[PhilipTaylor]

JOHN STEWART'S NEXT TOPIC: FAIRNESS!

Why is the Government's Right to Print money OWNED by a Secret Bank Owned Private Organization run by Polished Front Men who refuse to tell us Who and How Much at least a couple $Trillions were allocated?

Why is the Private Federal Reserve able to Print "DEBIT" Money that impoverishes America and the Countries around the World?

Why doesn't the MEDIA Shine a Bright Light on How the FED has made America the Largest Debtor Nation on Earth?

Why are the Wealthy Elite Getting even Wealthier off America's Massive Debt!
__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­_________

Lets NOT lose FOCUS here!

CNBC is a "TOOL" of Wall Street but should be the Fourth Branch investigating Wall Street!

But the REAL Problem is the EL1TE Federal Reserve and its E1ite Owners, the Banksters running the FED and manipu1ating Markets to their Advantage, harvesting our Retirement Plans/Investments as they see FIT.

Notice NOT "1" of the CEOs has been Investigated, F1red, or Prosecuted for the $700 Trillion R1p- 0ff using "SURE FAIL TRICK&TRAP Mortgages", Excessive Fees, Illegal Shorting, Fake "AAA" Ratings, Hyper-Inflated Derivative Pricing, and a Cas1no Gamb1ing CDS Scheme!

The Elite think in Decades, even Centuries, while they tell us to focus on THE MARKETS this week, or Today, or this Hour!

If we do not stop the HARVESTING of America's/World's Money by taking the RIGHT to Print Money away from E1ite Bankster Owned FED we will never have a healthy Middle Class.

[cavegal]

Would you happen to know who the 7 or 8 private banks are that make up the Fed?

[hellboundtrain]

There is no talent here that deserves any bonus.

The idea of "too big to fail" simply enslaves all to keep paying, and paying, and paying.

What, the looters get a bonus?!!!

Ten thousand times NO!

Abolish that which enslaves you! Abolish the FED!

[dem 01]

This guy has been wrong about everything.

READ IT !
http://www.nypress.com/article-19271-flat-n-all-that.html

[madHenry]

I know I may miss a few gems, but I do not listen to this creature at all when I realized the extent to which he extols the H1B visa program which has been so severely abused by large companies to hire young foreign workers while casting off American workers. In particular Friedman has a hardon for increasing the number of Indian H1Bs.

[texastrixie]

Anything to destroy the middle class is high on his list.

[politicscorner]

It seems like it is important to make sure the large banks don't fail. But that does not mean they should be run by the same people.

It's high time that the Feds should take over these banks and clean house.

[research]

AIG insures risky investment with Swaps. Now You and I are paying for AIG unregulated leveraged insurance losses.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/profile/research?action=profile

[tbone99]

Tom, since when could you recognize fairness?

You backed a war based on lies hat has cost a trillion dollars, not a small contribution to the mess we are in. A war that has profited the military industrial sector while the population paid in blood.

all at once "fairness" is in your vocabulary.?

[rasit]

How about coming up with FAIR plan for AIG bailout. Mr. Friedman?