Posted on 09/27/2008 10:45:52 AM PDT by Iron Munro
Here's why many Americans are having a tough time digesting spending $700-billion in tax money to prevent an economic disaster triggered by bad mortgages and greed.
Washington Mutual, the giant lender considered by many to be a poster child for making big profits on wild mortgage lending, was seized by federal regulators Thursday night and immediately sold to J.P. Morgan Chase. It was easily the largest bank failure in American history and only the latest example of the economic instability gripping the country.
The company's chief executive, Alan H. Fishman, had been on the job for less than three weeks. He was on a plane flying from New York to Seattle when the deal was arranged, according to the New York Times.
But don't cry for Fishman. Analysts say he is eligible for $11.6-million in cash severance. And he can keep his $7.5-million signing bonus.
How's that compare to your severance and signing bonus?
It's hard for most Americans to grasp the size and importance of the Bush administration's proposed bailout, even if urgent action is necessary to free up credit and protect the mortgages, businesses and retirement accounts for everyone who has managed their own affairs responsibly. But everyone gets this math: less than three weeks of work at a failing savings and loan for more than $19-million.
That is outrageous — and it explains why so many are so mad.
Easier than a walk in the park if, succeed or fail, you get paid.
What did the famous dude say?
"No try. Do."
Can you imagine paying a plumber a bonus for trying to stop massive flooding in your house...
... and failing?
I cannot fault WaMu for offering him the money.
Mrs. Dearolddad and I have already decided to do just that.
I don’t think the government should be investing taxpayer money in private business, but they already do and it looks as if there will be a lot more.
What a company’s investors and stockholders want to pay the exec’s is their business as long as they are using their own money.
In the event a private enterprise takes assistance or a bailout from taxpayers then we become investors and should have a say commensurate with the size and significance of the taxpayer assistance.
But what is more likely to happen is that another party could get them.
If enough repubs went to a third party, that party could become a replacement to the republican party.
I realize that is a long shot, but I think not enough of the liberal repubs realize how serious their position is.
Hey, they already set the minimum wage. Can they set the maximum wage?
He said his deal will work only (over $1 million per day) if the federal bailout goes through, which he obviously thinks will happen.
Right. He is one of the fabulously wealthy pushing for it. The man did not get to be a billiionaire giving to charity, but making lucrative deals where he could. He has faith that the powerful (mostly Dems) men backing this deal will get it through. Investments require risk, but he has figured the odds and feels certain this will make him money--It sure isn't going to make you an me any. We are going to pay.
Buffett's Berkshire-Hathaway bought our biggest and best paying local plant about 5 years ago and closed it. It was very productive and people here were paid less than the Indiana plant he moved it to. But he closed it for tax write-off. It helped decimate our economy.
The Pres., Paulson, and co. remind me of used car salesmen. If you do not buy it today, it may not be available tomorrow. They need to have a real investigation of this with all the famous economists--even the ones against this. Bt, no, this is a must be done overnight deal. They will spend weeks contemplating their navels and grilling good people like Gen. Petraeus>
vaudine
“For the record, WaMu was a thrift, not a bank.”
are you sure about that? They are insured by FDIC and their site says they are a bank.
https://www.wamu.com/about/default.asp
Technically it’s a mutual savings bank. FDIC has insured all banks, mutuals, S&Ls, etc. since the end of the RTC era.
Wouldn't you still have the exact same people? What have you gained other than maybe changing the name of the group?
Sen. Dodd’s list of donors reads like a who’s who of who’s in the stew: Citigroup, $310,294; SAC Capital Partners, $282,000; United Technologies, $263,400; AIG, $224,678; Bear Stearns, $205,600; St. Paul Travelers, $205,400; Royal Bank of Scotland, $203,750; Goldman Sachs, $175,600; Morgan Stanley, $155,000; Credit Suisse, $154,550; Merrill Lynch, $134,950; JPMorgan Chase, $129,150; Lehman Brothers, $128,400; KPMG, $113,100; General Electric, $108,250; Deloitte Touche, $108,000; USB, $101,900; Hartford Finance Services, $101,500; The Hartford, $94,350; Bank of America, $91,300.
With $165,400, Sen. Dodd also tops the list of members of Congress who took campaign cash from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 1989. Sen. Barack Obama, the self-styled agent of change, is a distant second at $126,000 and Sen. John Kerry is third at $111,000. In the top 20 are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090585/posts
“this is going to be the gateway of the government being able to set the salaries for just about anyone, based on public opinion. A very slippery slope.”
Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick have done just fine. Fine and dandy. Fuld, too. Johnson. Google it.
Lock them all up.
LOL, they are angry that someone changed the PIN number to the ATM that doubled as their house. They think they have a constitutional right to $5 lattes, granite counter tops and big screen TVs.
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