Barney Frank Clashes With Ed Schultz Over Bank Bonuses: "Don't Condescend To Me" (VIDEO)

MSNBC's Ed Schultz and Congressman Barney Frank (D-Ma.) clashed tonight over Congress's response, or lack of response, to the news that JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are distributing $30 billion in bonuses this year, a 60 percent increase on their bonus payments from last year.

The "newsflash" on the bonuses, according to Schultz, is that there is nothing Congress can do to stop it. Frank disagreed, saying Congress has a few tools at its disposal: "We can tax it. Let's not forget that."

Schultz argued that this misses the point because "we dished out billions of dollars to Wall Street and they're doing the bonus dance right now. That wasn't in the fine print, Barney, and you know that."

Frank took umbrage at this, pointedly telling Schultz not to "condescend to him." Schultz refused to back down:

Congressman, why can't you just admit that this was a serious misstep on the part of the Congress. You forked out billions of dollars to save the economy. I get all that, to get the structure back going again. But you didn't ask them any questions about how this is gonna go.

Frank insisted Schultz is wrong, and that if Congress passed the legislation pending to allow shareholders to vote on bonuses then they would veto these large payouts. The disagreement largely boils down to Schultz accusing Congress of being too lax with Wall Street and Frank defending the body's actions.

In October 2008, Frank advocated a freeze on Wall Street bonuses, reports Bloomberg.

"There should be a moratorium on bonuses," Frank said at the time. "They have a negative incentive effect because they are the ones that say if you take a risk and it pays off you get a big bonus," but if those risks cause losses "you don't lose anything."

Frank said the moratorium "ought to be for all firms," and that it should last "until [Wall Street] can get a better structure without that perverse incentive." He added that the freeze shouldn't be limited to those firms getting bailouts.

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Comments

[Hysterian68]

I have a lot of respect for Barney Frank's intellect and his toughness, but I'm delighted to see Ed Schultz wasn't intimidated by this paunchy little aging queen with an attitude, and didn't bow and genuflect to him like the other members of Frank's Financial Services committee do all the time.

It is obvious Frank is the smartest one on the committee and he delights in letting you know that over and over again.

[Hysterian68]

If the Sarah Palin nut jobs with their tea bags in hand , and their side arms strapped to their legs can storm Capitol Hill, the outraged American people should be doing AT LEAST that to protest the out and out robbery of the bankers.

Demanding the immediate retirement of all members of Congress who have become their accomplices.

[Hysterian68]

Barney has a swelling head because he's got a bad case of Washingtonitis. Ed Schultz is absolutely right. Why bonuses of any kind WITH OUR DAMN MONEY????

Barney's failure to stand up to the Wall Street gangsters convinces me Chris Dodd may have the better solution.

Barney, time to go back to Boston and retire to the front porch.

[oath of fealty]

Stock market surging while main street keeps getting squeezed

good articles: http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

It looks like 9-8% unemployment is the new normal since the govt. wants ppl to be unemployed. Otherwise we would have REAL shovel ready projects and green jobs instead of the BS we have now.

[ssg13565]

You have no sense of history nor any patience. 8-9% unemployment is not the new normal. The unemployment rate will drop, unless of course people start voting back in the people who caused this problem in the first place.

The near depression that occurred has so many people frightened about the future that it is going to take a while for them to take the money out from under their mattresses and start to invest it again. The investing has already started in the stock market. Success there will lead people to start opening up their wallets.

Having been around for over 60 years, I have seen this happen time after time.

[Hysterian68]

the investment in the stock market (aka as sucker bait created by short-term traders) is anything but a sign of growing prosperity. It is a sign everything is getting CHEAPER because of the Bush/Obama depression and people are again being fooled into buying financial stocks. The very investments which will be the first to drop when China and India stop buying US Treasury issues and/or Fed Head Bernanke pushes the panic button and increases interest rates.

[dirtystrat]

Aren't we being told that some of these jobs will never return. Yes, I've seen this before myself, but this one fells different.

[WritusMaximus]

Too late, Barney. The time to put accountability in the mix was BEFORE the banksters got our money. The pigs are out the sty.

[Flavor]

Listen, enough with the mess, how in the h-ll can you justify that many men, getting 1million dollor bunus, and American people are starving like marvin. This is a disgrace to the human race, not nothing Mr. Frank said, made any since not one word. You have American people who don't know if their going to eat tomorrow, and here they have a 119 employee's getting a million dollor bonus, something is seriously wrong, with the thinking of these men. Do you know that kind of money could have saved some homes from foreclosure, could have fixed some badly needed repairs on homes for the poor, could have helped some struggling single mother send her child to college, could have helped the small buisness man who is struggling, look around people these buisnesses as we have known them are no more. Ponderossa has closed many resteraunts, rally's, some hardee's are vacating, oh yes, mom &pops grill, all our local stores have been hit hard, here today gone tomorrow.

[indeevoter]

HOO-RAY for Barney Frank! I applaud ANYbody that pushes back on Ed Schultz, whose ideology may be different but whose bellicose, hyperbolic style is too close to Rush Limbaugh's style for me. And he tends to think he's right even when he's wrong - and too often badgers one guest after another until he can find someone to agree with whatever line he's trying to push that day. JUST like Chris Matthews who follows him. Can't take either of them for 60 minutes. But love Keith and Rachel!

[texaz3step]

Go figure! Keith and Ratchet Head!?! You can sure tell your a Dem-wit.

[abouttime]

Hypocracy!
What was MSNBC's Ed Schultz (and the Main Stream Media) doing prior to the bailout? Wras he asking "tough" questions or being a lap dog for the Banko/Pharma/Military/Oil and herion COMPLEX!
A lot late Schultz!

[WritusMaximus]

Gee, replace Shultz' name with Barney's and you still got same.

[1will]

Barney Frank always throws a hissy fit when he gets a question he doesn't like.
So basically he is saying that we are giving big bonuses to people that don't deserve it but we can make them pay taxes on it. Okaaaaay. I wish someone would give me a huge undeserved bonus that I can pay a few extra dollars worth of taxes on.

[WritusMaximus]

Bing Zingo! Barney would be mad at you if you were to ever utter those words in his face!

[Hysterian68]

yes Barney is trying to sell the public the Brooklyn bridge. 'We can make them pay taxes on it"? LOL LOL LOL That's rich. They (the banks) pay taxes with OUR money we've given to them?

Close the banks. Grab their loot. Return Barney Frank to private life.

[osage]

If Harry Truman were alive today, he'd be telling Rep. Frank to grow a backbone instead of making excuses for paying bonuses to failed businessmen/women with taxpayer bailout dollars. Once again the American taxpayer gets ripped off by big business and paid off politicians and one of the politicians tries to justify it with unadulterated obfuscation and outright BS.

[ohiomark]

Barney is wobbling around like he's drunk.

Maybe he's high from the second hand pot smoke.

[blimie]

Democrats can pass out billions and billions of taxpayer dollars to these corrupt firms but we can't do anything about bonuses. They are overpaid, paid off self serving beaurocrats.

[Okieborn]

Thank You Ed for standing up for what is right and what is wrong !!
God Bless the common man because he gets shafted everyday !!!!

[wassilij]

LOL. 'You got the teeth to do it now'!!! Way to go Ed. That was priceless! ROTFLMAO

[norkas]

Barney Frank is a bully and i am pleased that Schultz stood his ground on this subject. Instead of Barney backing off and stating that Ed made a very good point he thought he could run over him.

Thank you Ed this issue upsets all parties and everyone is tired of us being made fools and idiots by many that were part of the bailout.

Yes people need to be paid bonuses for good work but there seems to be NO LIMIT to what they people will pay and often with distain to those who kept them in business

[gabemill]

Barney Frank is an advocate of financial reform. As one of the brightest members of Congress, he seeks, as does Ed, REAL changes...that would reign in the abuses that have caused so much harm. Unlike the deleterious nonsense the right offers, this is the type of substantive debate that is long overdue in our country.

[alwqb]

Barnie is doing all he can. When Bush doled out the TARP money, Paulson put no restrictions on any of it. Talk about passing something though in the middle of the night! Frank could get nothing done with Bush and Co. At least he is trying to pass legislation that lets the shareholders vote on bonuses.

Ed, I usually agree with you but how are you going to defend the government telling you how much you can make? The Right would have a field day with that. Government cannot regulate pay. They can tax the heck out of you but it is up to the shareholders to decide company policy. Do you really think the shareholders are going to put up with the huge bonuses going out the door to a few guys. No way. The shareholders will handle it.

[Hysterian68]

Bush isn't president now. The election is over. Now it is the empty clueless suit who is in charge.