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| 5/24 |
| 2009/2/4-9 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:52508 Activity:kinda low |
2/4 Welcome to Fascism (and yes, GWB started it)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090204/D964VSP00.html
\_ Nice try, when you've lived under a dictatorship, come back ok?
\_ Fascism != dictatorship, one word has different letters and
less letters than the other.
\_ fewer
\_ Corporations are begging for handouts from .gov; .gov caps payouts
for corporations taking handouts; where's the fascism?
\_ Government gives money to company, then tells company what to do.
Gov't has nationalized the company.
\_ Congratulations, you've described one aspect of
nationalization. This is not the same as fascism.
\_ And Barney Frank wants more:
http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090203/REG/902039977/1003/TOC
\_ What is your proposal for reducing systemic risk?
This one isn't that great, but so far it is the
This one doesn't seem so great, but so far, it is the
only one I have seen. "Let the invisible hand sort it
out" seems to have failed as a notion. Got any other
ideas?
\_ Uh, invisibile hand means that you need to allow
losses. If you prevent them, you're ignoring the
hand.
\_ I'll take that as a no, then.
\_ Could you dittoheads get together and figure out whether you're
going to call Obama a commie or a fascist? Your flip-flopping is
distracting. -tom
\_ They're not opposites.
\_ Marx (commie) -> Stalin (fascist dictator), so ObaMaRX ->
ObaSTaLIN
\_ Also Geithner is talking the same tune as Frank, as per the
article.
\_ Rush Limbaugh says that Nazis are the same as Socialists, you
are obviously not a listener.
\_ Hint, Nazis were National Socialists.
\_ So you have been listening to Rush...
\_ So you've never read a history book...(Hint: There
are reasonable arguments against Nazi=Socialist.
Denying the name isn't one of them.)
\_ If someone argues the name means they were the
same they are obviously too stupid to be worth
having a real discussion with. End of story. |
| 5/24 |
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| apnews.myway.com/article/20090204/D964VSP00.html Full Image WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday imposed $500,000 caps on senior executive pay for the most distressed financial institutions receiving federal bailout money, saying Americans are upset with "executives being rewarded for failure." Obama announced the dramatic new government intervention into corporate America at the White House, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side. The president said the executive-pay limits are a first step, to be followed by the unveiling next week of a sweeping new framework for spending what remains of the $700 billion financial industry bailout that Congress created last year. The executive-pay move comes amid a national outcry over huge bonuses to executives heading companies seeking taxpayer dollars to remain afloat. The demand for limits was reinforced by revelations that Wall Street firms paid more than $18 billion in bonuses in 2008 even amid the economic downturn and the massive infusion of taxpayer dollars. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success," Obama said. "But what gets people upset - and rightfully so - are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by US taxpayers." Full Image The pay cap would apply to institutions that negotiate agreements with the Treasury Department for "exceptional assistance" in the future. The restriction would not apply to such firms as American International Group Inc. "There is a deep sense across the country that those who were not ... responsible for this crisis are bearing a greater burden than those who were," Geithner said. Firms that want to pay executives above the $500,000 threshold would have to use stock that could not be sold or liquidated until they pay back the government funds. Generally healthy institutions that get capital infusions from the Troubled Asset Relief Program in the future will have more leeway. They also will face the $500,000 limit, but the cap can be waived with full public disclosure and a nonbinding shareholder vote. Obama said that massive severance packages for executives who leave failing firms are also going to be eliminated. "We're taking the air out of golden parachutes," he said. Full Image Other new requirements on "exceptional assistance" will include: _The expansion to 20, from five, the number of executives who would face reduced bonuses and incentives if they are found to have knowingly provided inaccurate information related to company financial statements or performance measurements. The next 25 would be prohibited from golden parachutes that exceed one year's compensation. The administration also will propose long-term compensation restrictions even for companies that don't receive government assistance, Obama said. Full Image Those proposals include: - Requiring top executives at financial institutions to hold stock for several years before they can cash out. Compensation experts in the private sector have warned that intrusions into the internal decisions of financial institutions could discourage participation in the rescue program and slow down the financial sector's recovery. They also argue that it could set a precedent for government regulation that undermines performance-based pay. Full Image "One of the big questions is whether it will make it more difficult to recruit and retain executives at these companies," said Claudia Allen, chair of corporate governance at the Chicago-based law firm of Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg. Timothy J Bartl, vice president and general counsel for the Center On Executive Compensation, said the president's actions are a unique situation given the government's role bailing out troubled institutions. "We do not view it as something that ought to be extended beyond this circumstance," he said. On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers had been pushing for even stricter caps. The figure is equivalent to the salary of the president of the United States. Even some Republicans, angered by company decisions to pay bonuses and buy airplanes while receiving government help, have few qualms about restrictions. "In ordinary situations where the taxpayers' money is not involved, we shouldn't set executive pay," said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "But where you've got federal money involved, taxpayers' money involved, TARP money involved, and the way they have spent it, with no accountability, is getting close to being criminal." |
| www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090203/REG/902039977/1003/TOC AddThis Social Bookmark Button Barney Frank: TARP's comp curbs could be extended to all businesses Would be part of broader bill limiting hedge funds, credit-raters, and mortgage securitizers; Theres deeply rooted anger on the part of the average American, the Massachusetts Democrat said at a Washington news conference today. He said the compensation restrictions would apply to all financial institutions and might be extended to include all US companies. The provision will be part of a broader package that would likely give the Federal Reserve the authority to monitor systemic risk in the economy and to shut down financial institutions that face too much exposure, Mr Frank said. Also included in the legislation: registration requirements for hedge funds and proposals aimed at curbing conflicts of interest at credit-rating agencies such as Standard & Poors. The bill, which the committee is working on in consultation with the Obama administration, also will require financial institutions that bundle mortgages into securities to share in potential losses. This would give banks and mortgage-specialists an incentive not to make bad loans, he said. Institutions that securitize loans improperly will incur tougher penalties. There have been too few constraints on major financial institutions incurring far more liability than they could handle, Mr Frank said. The committee hopes to have a general outline of the legislation by early April, he said. It will be the panels first priority in its effort to restructure financial regulation in the wake of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Mr Frank has summoned the CEOs of Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and the seven other US financial firms that got $125 billion from TARP to testify at a Feb. Mr Frank seems to be in synch with the Obama administration in his plans for executive compensation. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said last month that he might try to extend to all US companies a restriction that prohibits bailout banks from taking a tax deduction of more than $500,000 in pay for each executive. The Troubled Assets Relief Program legislation enacted in October seeks to give companies receiving aid under the $700 billion bailout a number of incentives to curb what it calls excessive executive pay. Mr Geithner said he would consider extending at least some of the TARP provisions and features of the $500,000 cap to US companies generally. Under the legislation, banks receiving bailout money must limit golden parachute payments to senior executives to no more than three times the executives base pay. The companies also must subject any bonuses or incentives to clawbacks if the payouts are based on banks misleading financial statements. In addition, bailout recipients cant offer top managers incentives that encourage unnecessary excessive risks that threaten the value of the financial institution. These limits apply to the chief executive officer, chief financial officer and the next three most highly compensated executives in a bank receiving rescue funds. Mr Frank said provisions on golden parachute payments and bonus clawbacks would probably be in the legislation, though he declined to provide more detail because were early in the process. A congressional oversight panel headed by Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren also recommended last week that Treasury consider revoking executive bonuses at failed institutions getting federal aid. Currently, these institutions must subject bonuses to clawbacks only if the payouts are based on banks misleading financial statements. The top Republican on the committee, Spencer Bachus of Alabama, said last month he has reservations about giving the Fed new powers, such as the authority to monitor systemic risk. Mr Frank said today that after lawmakers address issues on systemic risk, they will consider how to bolster investor protection via changes at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The committee also will review proposals to assist struggling homeowners and expand the housing supply, and to strengthen international financial institutions such as the World Bank, he said. AddThis Social Bookmark Button Reproductions and distribution of the above article are strictly prohibited. To order reprints and/or request permission to use the article in full or partial format please contact our Reprint Sales Manager at (732) 723-0569. |