" The truth is that Dodd, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, was responsible for getting Senate passage of a provision that might have prevented the AIG bonuses. The public record reflects that Dodd championed tougher provisions than the White House or the Treasury Department wanted, and that the Obama administration lobbied for removal of the Dodd language from the stimulus bill that the president eventually signed. Dodd protested at the time, and agreed to the removal of his language only under protest."
Interesting article, and factcheck is pretty consistent
TerrapinCB: Blame Dodd' Attacks Ignore Facts http://www.factcheck.org/politics/blame_dodd_attacks_ignore_facts.html " The truth is
So, let me get this straight, the Republicans are hypocrites for pointing out Democrats' hypocrisy and incompetence. Whereas the blame on the other side is only aimed at Obama's economic team and is merely "not good", while the behavior of Chris Dodd, who let down the American people and then lied about it, is only "problematic" and a "little disingenuous"? Wake up folks, this is vintage bias at its worst.
royroper: So, let me get this straight, the Republicans are hypocrites
"The Republicans are bleeding this for everything it's worth"
You still don't get it. Republicans can TALK all they want, but they have no AUTHORITY to do ANYTHING. Obama has the keys to the car and HE is in the driver's seat. Do YOU think he should drive off a precipice? That's not a trick question - it doesn't depend on what Rush Limbaugh says or any Republican in Washington.
RobHunt: "The Republicans are bleeding this for everything it's worth" You
I never dreamed that after the calamitous Bush eight years with Republican Senators and Congressmen supporting Bush in a solid block on 99% of Bush's drastically completely failed agenda that the Republican Party could survive as a viable second major Political Party, but this Geithner as Obama's SEC is quickly unraveling Obama's credibility as a prudent credible leader.
When Paul Krugman and Nouriel Roubini oppose Geithner's financial plan to build a healthy government economy, President Obama will definitely go down with Geithner. And the Republican Party, incredibly will pose a serious threat in the 2010 congressional elections and break the democratic majority in Congress.
Hw could Obama lose the ball in his own court without hitting a three pointer or even a free throw at the base line?
AND in the meanwhile the backbone of any democracy, the Middle Class Home owners are methodically being thrown out of their castles due to corrupt crafted Home Loan Mortgagees perpetrated by our insidious enemy the Federal Reserve Bank.
President Obama is being distracted by supporting Geithner, the genetically engineered with a Wall Street DNA by the FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.
UNCLEJOE: I never dreamed that after the calamitous Bush eight years
This is just another light on 'business as usual'..... Obama cannot fix everything at once.
I love how he handles himself - surrounded by these thugs and liars - on BOTH SIDES of the aisle.
I still believe in O. And I am impressed with how he fearlessly surrounds himself with the good ole boy network - yet rises above them and makes them accountable.
Nobody is talking about the damage done to the GOP. Wall Street crooks are their base! It's as if the whole GOP base is splintered into a hundred different interest groups all fighting with each other.
GGMarks: This is just another light on 'business as usual'..... Obama
In what way has Obama "risen above" the "old boy network"? You point out correctly that he has SURROUNDED himself with such people.
You claim he has somehow "made them accountable" but I don't see ANYONE being called to account except the US taxpayer. Will Chris Dodd and Barney Frank be asked to face the music? Will there be any prosecutions with respect to the fraudelent "triple A" stamp that the rating agencies bestowed upon the bundled mortgage products?
Your "faith" in Obama would be charming if the stakes weren't so high. As it stands however, such faith is starting to look more like blind ignorance.
RobHunt: In what way has Obama "risen above" the "old boy
The GOP is trying to put the blame of all of this on the democrats, when this all started under "W" with
Hank Paulson who if you all remember had the 1 page bill, well he didn't want anything to do with the
compensation for these thieves the Bush administration wanted to leave the guys in the office alone, so yes there is, GOP and Hypocrisy. Also when Obama talked about the cap on the pay for these guys the
GOP was crying about the Government getting involved this is Hypocrisy!
sandals: The GOP is trying to put the blame of all
As far as this administration is concerned, there IS no GOP. They were beaten back like Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, defeated to the point of irrelevancy. Now you look around Washington and all you see are Democrats. It's what the people wanted and it's what the people got.
I don't hear people blaming the Republican Guard for the current situation in Iraq. They are out of power. They and their ilk did some damage, sure. But now they are GONE. Continuing to blame them won't solve ONE ISSUE that faces Iraq.
The same is true of the Republican Party here in the US. HEAP blame and scorn on them if you must. Many Americans will agree with you that they deserve such treatment. But who does that help? What problem does that solve? You know the answer - it helps no-one and it solves nothing.
The fact is, DEMOCRATS control the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the White House. They are free to enact whatever legislation their little hearts desire. The people of Iraq would not be well-served by constant hand-wringing over how awful the Republican Guard was. The people of the US are likewise not well-served by constant sniping at a group that is no longer in power and don't even have enough votes to get the specials changed at the House cafeteria.
RobHunt: As far as this administration is concerned, there IS no
HYPOCRISY. Republicans in the fall did'nt want pay caps on exec. of these companies. Now when the bonuses appear they are outraged (they are going along with the public). When Dodd put in a provision, then it was changed by the Treasury/Geithner to allow them, all Republicans are of course outraged. Then Rush annouced that they are entitled to them, they had contacts. Contracts are legal and should be honored according to Rush, the Reps were'nt so outraged. Next, the Dems. passed a bill to tax the bonuses and now the Reps are against that bill. They only want to obstruct, finger point, and let everyone know that the provision in the bill was a Dem. mistake. They will then again obstruct to get the bonuses back. I look at it this way, Geithner was put in a no win situation in dealing with these bonuses. If the language would have been left in, AGI did not get their bonuses, a hugh lawsuit against the US Gov. for not honoring their contracts would be the new outrage. It was a no win situation. I am so sick of the Republicans who go back and forth according to what the Dem. want to do to fix the economy and fix the set backs that may have occured . You are either for getting the money back by taxing them and putting laws in to stop them or you're not. Republicans are not. Or yet, they're not unless Rush says so.
callforchange: HYPOCRISY. Republicans in the fall did'nt want pay caps on
This is pretty horrible stuff. I think I am having serious second thoughts about the judgement of progressives on the financial meltdown. This rush to pitchfork justice has begun to run riot. Do we really want to continue the dialogue on the need to nationalize banks and other financial institutions? How many government controlled AIGs can we want tolerate? This is becoming the American Inquisition where profit may be the new heresy. Does anybody really care anymore about the need for orderly capital markets? Are we at risk of breaking down as a cooperative social structure because we have become so fixed on the need to attribute blame and punish?
spatso: This is pretty horrible stuff. I think I am having
So who does AIG pay off with a 6.5 Bn chunk of its taxpayer bailout?? Why Goldman Sachs, of course! I hope AG Holder and/or NYAG Cuomo will carefully look into Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein's perjury (or simple lie if he was not under oath) when he testified before Franks' Financial Services Committee that GS had "little to no downside exposure" in the derivatives markets. The article by Eliot Spitzer on Salon or Slate (?) is spot-on. The American taxpayer is being fleeced -- AGAIN. And the overarching motivation for all of this -- aside from the obvious? To so ensnarl the Obama administration in putting out these arson-created financial fires that no time/energy/money/stomach will remain to implement Obama's agenda for change.
I agree with madprogressive whole-heartedly! Geithner, Summers, Patterson and the other Robert Rubin sycophants, otherwise known as DLC DINOs, are playing for the Wall Street and banking/insurance thieves that have put the economy in this pit in the first place...they don't give a damn about the taxpayers -- of which, notably, Geithner was NOT voluntarily one. Noone with two synapses firing simultaneously expected much of anything different from Paulson and Bush, who began this "authorized" daylight raid on the Treasury, principally to reward Bush's backers & Paulson's Goldman Sachs cronies. One must recall that Blankfein, of Goldman Sachs, was one of the "outside insiders" who originally conceived the so-called bailout back in September, and who likely promoted (if he didn't originate) the decision to let Lehman Bros., a major GS competitor, go toes-up. Undoubtedly, Paulson was giving Blankfein assurances that Treasury would protect GS, while allowing one of its competitors to sink...same with Bear Stearns' arranged "marriage". The whole thing is a manufactured scam, if anyone could ever get to the bottom of it.
bobwalters: I agree with madprogressive whole-heartedly! Geithner, Summers, Patterson and the
Let me see, GOP and Hypocrisy. Please! You'd first have to believe these people have principles to violate. There is absolutely nothing these people won't try to take advantage of politically, not one thing. Never mind they hooped and hollered when Dodd proposed the amendment in the first place, what matters now is this is a tool they can hammer the Dems with so they can gain some traction before 2010. The real problem is the ConservaDems who continue to play fast and loose with the rules, like conservative Republicans. Geithner does not get it, and that's because he fundamentally sees nothing wrong with the system in place, much like Republicans. The new centrist coalition is forming to ensure the system currently in place doesn't change. They will do what centrist typically do; nibble around the margins with legislation, but essentially leave the current, flaws and all, in place for another set of crooks to come along and commit the same crimes on the American people.
madprogressive: Let me see, GOP and Hypocrisy. Please! You'd first have
How can you pin blame on Geithner without having it reflect on Obama? Answer: You can't.
Geithner was the very first pick Obama made. He reports directly to the president and they talk three times a day. That guy doesn't even tie his SHOES without consulting Obama.
You can squawk all you want about "Geithner" - but all we HEAR is buyer's remorse regarding Obama.
RobHunt: How can you pin blame on Geithner without having it
Sure that's all you hear. It's called Media hype and ratings. The Republicans are bleeding this for everything it's worth, however no mention of Citigroup. They were bailed out by Bush and Paulson and now Citi is spending over 10 million to decorate the Ceo's office.
cariintexas: Sure that's all you hear. It's called Media hype and
http://www.factcheck.org/politics/blame_dodd_attacks_ignore_facts.html
" The truth is that Dodd, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, was responsible for getting Senate passage of a provision that might have prevented the AIG bonuses. The public record reflects that Dodd championed tougher provisions than the White House or the Treasury Department wanted, and that the Obama administration lobbied for removal of the Dodd language from the stimulus bill that the president eventually signed. Dodd protested at the time, and agreed to the removal of his language only under protest."
Interesting article, and factcheck is pretty consistent
You still don't get it. Republicans can TALK all they want, but they have no AUTHORITY to do ANYTHING. Obama has the keys to the car and HE is in the driver's seat. Do YOU think he should drive off a precipice? That's not a trick question - it doesn't depend on what Rush Limbaugh says or any Republican in Washington.
When Paul Krugman and Nouriel Roubini oppose Geithner's financial plan to build a healthy government economy, President Obama will definitely go down with Geithner. And the Republican Party, incredibly will pose a serious threat in the 2010 congressional elections and break the democratic majority in Congress.
Hw could Obama lose the ball in his own court without hitting a three pointer or even a free throw at the base line?
AND in the meanwhile the backbone of any democracy, the Middle Class Home owners are methodically being thrown out of their castles due to corrupt crafted Home Loan Mortgagees perpetrated by our insidious enemy the Federal Reserve Bank.
President Obama is being distracted by supporting Geithner, the genetically engineered with a Wall Street DNA by the FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.
I love how he handles himself - surrounded by these thugs and liars - on BOTH SIDES of the aisle.
I still believe in O. And I am impressed with how he fearlessly surrounds himself with the good ole boy network - yet rises above them and makes them accountable.
Nobody is talking about the damage done to the GOP. Wall Street crooks are their base! It's as if the whole GOP base is splintered into a hundred different interest groups all fighting with each other.
You claim he has somehow "made them accountable" but I don't see ANYONE being called to account except the US taxpayer. Will Chris Dodd and Barney Frank be asked to face the music? Will there be any prosecutions with respect to the fraudelent "triple A" stamp that the rating agencies bestowed upon the bundled mortgage products?
Your "faith" in Obama would be charming if the stakes weren't so high. As it stands however, such faith is starting to look more like blind ignorance.
Hank Paulson who if you all remember had the 1 page bill, well he didn't want anything to do with the
compensation for these thieves the Bush administration wanted to leave the guys in the office alone, so yes there is, GOP and Hypocrisy. Also when Obama talked about the cap on the pay for these guys the
GOP was crying about the Government getting involved this is Hypocrisy!
I don't hear people blaming the Republican Guard for the current situation in Iraq. They are out of power. They and their ilk did some damage, sure. But now they are GONE. Continuing to blame them won't solve ONE ISSUE that faces Iraq.
The same is true of the Republican Party here in the US. HEAP blame and scorn on them if you must. Many Americans will agree with you that they deserve such treatment. But who does that help? What problem does that solve? You know the answer - it helps no-one and it solves nothing.
The fact is, DEMOCRATS control the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the White House. They are free to enact whatever legislation their little hearts desire. The people of Iraq would not be well-served by constant hand-wringing over how awful the Republican Guard was. The people of the US are likewise not well-served by constant sniping at a group that is no longer in power and don't even have enough votes to get the specials changed at the House cafeteria.
Keep going around in circles, Rob.
Geithner was the very first pick Obama made. He reports directly to the president and they talk three times a day. That guy doesn't even tie his SHOES without consulting Obama.
You can squawk all you want about "Geithner" - but all we HEAR is buyer's remorse regarding Obama.