Wall street bonuses expected

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/wall-street-bonuses-expects-come-season-despite-bailout/

Paying bonuses this year is likely to result in a lot of backlash from the average American. After all, even with bonuses down dramatically, they are still higher than the average American, who is losing his or her home, makes. Not to mention the government bailout of financial firms, which seems to change daily, is coming from taxpayer dollars. Concerns abound�rightly or wrongly--that some of the $700 billion bailout could go to pay bonuses this year.

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Some need to pay close attention to this......... it's called welfare handouts. "Entitled mentality". The working class will get NO tax cuts. You all will be working to put money in the hands of those that do not. It makes perfectly good sense. I've been saying there is no way he can do anything he is leading people to believe he can because 1/3 of people in this country pay NO TAXES. He has led so many to believe he will cut middle class when he can't. He is blatantly trying to disguise "government handouts" as "tax credits". You want your hard earned money going to everyone who doesn't bother to work?

One of Barack Obama�s most potent campaign claims is that he�ll cut taxes for no less than 95% of �working families.� He�s even promising to cut taxes enough that the government�s tax share of GDP will be no more than 18.2% � which is lower than it is today.

It�s a clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he�s also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%. But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the meaning of �tax cut.�

For the Obama Democrats, a tax cut is no longer letting you keep more of what you earn. In their lexicon, a tax cut includes tens of billions of dollars in government handouts that are disguised by the phrase �tax credit.� Mr. Obama is proposing to create or expand no fewer than seven such credits for individuals[.]

President Obama has proposed capping compensation for executives at banks that take taxpayer bailout money at $500,000. Republicans hate the idea -- a position puts them uncomfortably on the side of people currently about as popular as child-porn producers and subprime mortgage brokers.

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) blamed the "tone deaf" bankers for creating the political environment that allows Obama to call for a cap.

"Because of their excesses, very bad things begin to happen, like the United States government telling a company what it can pay its employees. That's not a good thing in America," Kyl told the Huffington Post.

"What executives have done is troubling, but it's equally troubling to have government telling shareholders how much they can pay the executives," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL).

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said that he is "one of the chief defenders of Obama on the Republican side" for the president's efforts to reach across the aisle. But, said Inhofe, "as I was listening to him make those statements I thought, is this still America? Do we really tell people how to run [a business], and who to pay and how much to pay?"

Democrats argue that banks that take government money must accept any rules the government decides to send with it. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Barney Frank are both working on legislation that would complement Obama's attempt to get a handle on executive compensation.

It's not a novel concept, and it's one the GOP supports -- when applied to welfare recipients, at least. "We demand that welfare recipients do an honest day's work for their checks.

In what appears to be an attempt to call Obama a hypocrite, ABC�s Scott Mayerowitz �reports� today that the President also has a �lavish lifestyle.� Under the title: �Obama�s Perks: Private Jet, Chef Tax-Free,� ABC notes that Obama earns $400,000 dollars a year and even has a private jet:

As its evidence that �corporate America� is upset, ABC said that �some Wall Street bloggers� are angry with the compensation cap. But the article cited only one blogger, Dealbreaker.com, who � apparently poking fun at Sen. Claire McCaskill�s statement � remarked, �Some accountability needs to be put in place. We won�t have them kicking sand in the face of taxpayers any longer.� Dealbreaker.com also suggests charging rent for White House tenants.

Comparing the President to Wall Street CEOs is absurd. The �private jet� that Obama uses is Air Force One, which is used as a security precaution and necessary for the dozens of staff and press that accompany the President on every trip. Each use of the jet by the President is regarded as a �classified military operation� in order to ensure the President�s safety.

Furthermore, Obama�s salary is set by Congress (whose members are elected by the public). CEO compensation is decided internally within the company, usually by its board of directors. The problem with recent excessive CEO compensation was that executives receiving federal funds were still rewarded for failure with tens of millions of dollars from their companies.

The President, on the other hand, does not get a bonus for his performance, good or bad. Indeed, Presidents Bush and Obama earn the same salary. County Fair at Media Matters has more.

Two days ago on C-Span they seemed to congratulate the bigwigs of the financial companies who got BILLIONS in BONUSES. They ran down the list of those that were being questioned and how much they received. It's absolutely sickening. I had to turn it off.

The White House on Friday threw its support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in existing loans to the Big Three automakers but rejected a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout to help the troubled industry.

The $700 billion financial rescue package was never intended to help automakers and shouldn't be now, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told The Associated Press. But since Democratic leaders in Congress are pressing forward with a proposal to carve out a piece of its for the auto industry, she said the White House has decided to pursue a different approach: accelerating the availability of federal loans Congress first approved in September.

Those loans were approved to help automakers build more fuel-efficient vehicles and become more competitive companies in the global marketplace. The administration now supports allowing the loans to be released more quickly than the original legislation prescribed and to be used for more urgent purposes as the companies struggle to stay afloat.

"Democrats are choosing a path that would only lead to partisan gridlock," she said. "We are now actively calling on Congress to amend the loan program."

My boyfriend is drawing Workmans Compensation. They are wanting to settle his case. The "negotiation" amounts were at about $130,000 settlement last fall when he found out he had to have another surgery and they put him on hold. Now, they are negotiating again, but can only $75,000 because the company does not have funds to pay anymore. Guess who the company is -

but trying to get that money back which might be impossible. For the first time in my life, I agreed with Barney!!!

Gee, wonder if Barney is going to receive some of that payout and just trying to throw everyone off the track. After all, he, Pelosi, and Reid were the ones who put this stupid bailout together, and without thinking about it, either. Real smart on their part.

WASHINGTON -- The chief executive officer of failed insurance conglomerate AIG told lawmakers Wednesday that he has asked executives to give back at least half of their bonuses.

Edward Libby, chairman and CEO of the American International Group, said that some workers there already have volunteered to return the money.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/18/aig-chairman-faces-congressional-grilling-bonuses/

So I didn't bash the GOP quite enough? Oh, please. They (GOP) spent like crazed fools, and they deserved to be punished big-time! I've read enough of your posts in the past. You're one of the reasons I quit reading the politics section of this board. The only thing of interest to me is whatever occurs MQ-wise. As for the tax and spend reality, I repeat my "tax challenge" to everyone here to keep track as the days, months, and years play out.

The numbers aren't emotional, and will speak for themselves. If you can list any taxes that the Dems have lowered or eradicated, go ahead and give it your best shot.