The Real AIG Scandal-By Eliot Spitzer: "This Was ALL An INSIDE JOB"

[kpete]

The Real AIG Scandal
It's not the bonuses. It's that AIG's counterparties are getting paid back in full.
By Eliot Spitzer
Posted Tuesday, March 17, 2009, at 10:41 AM ET

Everybody is rushing to condemn AIG's bonuses, but this simple scandal is obscuring the real disgrace at the insurance giant: Why are AIG's counterparties getting paid back in full, to the tune of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars?

..............

It all appears, once again, to be the same insiders protecting themselves against sharing the pain and risk of their own bad adventure. The payments to AIG's counterparties are justified with an appeal to the sanctity of contract. If AIG's contracts turned out to be shaky, the theory goes, then the whole edifice of the financial system would collapse.

But wait a moment, aren't we in the midst of reopening contracts all over the place to share the burden of this crisis? From raising taxes—income taxes to sales taxes—to properly reopening labor contracts, we are all being asked to pitch in and carry our share of the burden. Workers around the country are being asked to take pay cuts and accept shorter work weeks so that colleagues won't be laid off. Why can't Wall Street royalty shoulder some of the burden? Why did Goldman have to get back 100 cents on the dollar? Didn't we already give Goldman a $25 billion capital infusion, and aren't they sitting on more than $100 billion in cash? Haven't we been told recently that they are beginning to come back to fiscal stability? If that is so, couldn't they have accepted a discount, and couldn't they have agreed to certain conditions before the AIG dollars—that is, our dollars—flowed?

The appearance that this was all an inside job is overwhelming. AIG was nothing more than a conduit for huge capital flows to the same old suspects, with no reason or explanation.

more at (xlnt ?s too):
http://www.slate.com/id/2213942/

[chimpymustgo]

1. This is the motherlode. Those who KNOW have to tell us what;s going on. Thanks, kpete!

THis is why they HAD to get rid of Spitzer.

[McCamy Taylor]

78. A big K&R. Spitzer was on AIG's back when the feds went after him.

I believe that Mukasey and the DOJ lied in public about Spitzer in order to protect AIG, because they knew that the company would be used as a conduit to funnel tax payer money back to groups like trhe Bush family's own Carlyle which had taken huge losses in the mortgage market.

And I believe that companies like AIG are giving out huge bonuses so that their employees can bribe Congress into ignoring the crimes of Wall Street and the bankers. The bailout was the biggest f'ing political slush fund ever.

[flamingdem]

93. exactemundo nt

[no_hypocrisy]

2. A boobytrap in other words.

They drafted contracts that would mandate AIG to pay them for their fuck-ups and if they didn't pay, they'd sue AIG for breach of contract.

Yeah, sounds like a set-up to me.

[RJ Connors]

60. I gathered from another article that,

these contracts were negotiated in early 2008. That right there makes me very suspicious and says that we still need to keep digging into this mess and find out what's, what.

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[TheCoxwain]

4. I am missing Eliot Spitzer already....

nt

[truedelphi]

11. I have missed him since the very day he was shot down.

yes yes yes it was all his own doing. But I hated seeing the only big shot that I know who ever successfully hassled Monsanto.

And I have heard ever since his downfall that he was taken out because of what he knew about Wall Street.

[stillcool]

14. he gave them the rope..

to hang him with, but if it weren't for that..they'd find something else.

[baldguy]

23. Spitzer's personal issues were the public reason for his downfall

But the OP and stuff like it is the reason he was targeted.

[windbreeze]

36. and HE had to have known that was so...

He needed to stay clean, and not give them anything to use against him...he failed the test...wb

[bbgrunt]

57. ...at least he managed to stay alive.

[elleng]

79. Yes, he did,

and he's able to think and write. Too bad for them.

[TheCoxwain]

43. I still do not know what is the big deal if he had a hooker....

[louis-t]

48. Vitter got caught and he's still in office.

Limbaugh got caught and he's still on the radio. See, laws and morals don't apply to repugs.

[Jambalaya]

90. Joe Scarborough and dead assisstant

Hey,what about the young, female aide to Morning Joe found dead in his office while he was in Congress a few years back?

Guess a Democrat's live hooker trumps a Republican's dead aide?

[windbreeze]

56. the outrage is only justified if it is REPUBLICAN outrage...

I mean, they haven't had any of their own earth shaking scandals in the previous 8 years, have they??...how many of them did these sorts of foibles actually take down???next to none??...however...Spitzer KNEW he was playing in the big leagues, and knowing he was going after the big boys...he should have kept himself above this sort of thing...just for THAT reason alone...they were gunning for him right out of the gate.... personally, I still don't think he should have had to resign...wb

[Jambalaya]

94. Hooker was a set-up?

Please explain $5500 an hour to me · Philadelphia Daily News ^ | March 11,2008 | Elmer Smith ...
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984159/posts - 50k - Cached - Similar pages

Spitzer's Pimp Gets 6 Months - Cecil Suwal - Zimbio Cecil "Katie" Suwal (inset) ran Emporer's Club VIP with Mark Brener. Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (right) paid the service for high-dollar ...
www.zimbio.com/Cecil+Suwal/articles/17/Spitzer+s+Pimp+Gets+6+Months - 57k - Cached - Similar pages

KABOBfest: Spitzer's Pimp an Israeli Citizen In case my delicious metaphor needed a little sprinkles on top, Haaretz reported that the pimp who hooked up New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is an Israeli ...
www.kabobfest.com/2008/03/spitzers-pimp-israeli-citizen.html - 153k - Cached - Similar pages

SPITZER'S PIMP PLEADS GUITY - New York Post Jun 13, 2008 ... The operator of a multimillion-dollar hooker ring that brought down ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer pleaded guilty to money laundering and ...
www.nypost.com/seven/06132008/news/regionalnews/spitzs_pimp_is_guilty_115321.htm - 68k - Cached - Similar pages

[Jambalaya]

66. Screwer or screwee

The screwin' he got ain't nothin' like the screwing we're gettin'!

[NoSheep]

120. Sex....seems to be the only thing that outrages 'murkins.

[navarth]

5. K & R

[burythehatchet]

6. we are slowly inching closer to the truth.

[xiamiam]

7. same mo as well...aig bonuses and the 'gun to your head' bailout in sept..fast...lets round up these

"old suspects"..or make their money worthless somehow...refuse to give them our homes...wow..just wow..

[The Wizard]

102. Shoot them

Shoot them all.

[Spazito]

8. Spitzer certainly puts forward excellent questions that should be...

asked AND answered, imo.

Recommended.

[Last Stand]

58. Elliot knows the answers to these questions. That's why they outed him.

Not a coincidence. Dumbass left himself open, though, and took himself out of the mix to get to the bottom of this mess.

[nichomachus]

9. Now we know why Spitzer had to be destroyed

while Diaper Dave Vitter and Toe-Tappin' Larry Craig skated.

A hint of a scandal and the corporate media declared Spitzer's career over and done. He was too close to the truth about the Great American Bank Robbery.

[polichick]

62. I wouldn't doubt it.

[Echo In Light]

10. Everything's a conspiracy

[tuckessee]

18. With criminal enterprises it always is. n/t

[Echo In Light]

24. And that's what's so perplexing about those who honestly believe conspiracies are non-existent

It isn't about shadowy X Files shenanigans, it's simply the way big business conducts business, and has to use a cover story to maintain the 'democracy' ruse.

[valerief]

47. And that is business as usual. Damage control is done by big business's media

army, who marginalize people who dare to speak the truth.

[Echo In Light]

112. Unfortunately it seems to work that way within most social/belief structures

[Jambalaya]

33. RICO Enforcement

When the all thugs, thieves and weasels of Wall Street conspire it's called cooperative endeavors.

I call it collusion.

I also think Federal racketeering charges are in order-PRONTO!

[Downwinder]

74. With ever crime, the Police want to know who else is involved! n/t

[terisan]

12. We need Eliot Spitzer. Racketeering or other criminal convictions may get $ flowing back to us.nt

[arthritisR_US]

13. K & R. n/t

[WeDidIt]

15. Could this be a rope-a-dope?

In other words, will the house of cards come crashing down in terms of indictments being issued for fraud?

NAAAAH, the government is in on it because the politicians got their big money donations from these crooks.

[elizfeelinggreat]

16. k & r

Thank you for this!

[stillcool]

17. It seems so Enron-ish.

[Jambalaya]

37. Foreclosure Phil

Enronish-it ought to!

The person responsible for deregulation of much of the subprime mortgage market,and speculation in general was Phil Gramm,from Texas-author of the {Gramm -Leach-Bliely Act] about 15 years ago,perhaps more.

His wife was on the board of Enron.

When Gramm quit politics,he became a lobbyist for UBS-the Swiss bank who is recipient of much TARP money.

You might remember Gramm as McCain's economic advisor who called America a nation of whiners and that the recession was merely mental!

[Lucky Luciano]

41. uhhhhh...errrrrr....no foreign banks received TARP money...

....not even UBS, though UBS did receive a Swiss government bailout.

[ColbertWatcher]

45. I think the poster means indirectly.

The Swiss banks got the money in the form of secret accounts from the bankers who got it from TARP.

[Lucky Luciano]

50. That doesn't make much sense...

Certainly Goldman or whoever did not give their TARP money to the Swiss...if you mean bonuses of execs going to their personal Swiss bank accts, well....even if some did, it was a miniscule amount. Most bankers are not fat cats - most are just upper middle class bordering on rich - definitely not secret Swiss bank account worthy people. Not sure if AIG was a counterparty for UBS, but if they were, then UBS may have gotten money from the Fed indirectly this way (by having AIG post collateral on their CDS contracts), though that is not TARP money either - AIG is its own animal - one big nast mofo. I don't think I remember seeing UBS as one of the counterparties though. I see this list actually (from a FrenchieCat post):


* Goldman Sachs
* Deutsche Bank
* Merrill Lynch
* Société Générale
* Calyon
* Barclays
* Rabobank
* Danske
* HSBC
* Royal Bank of Scotland
* Banco Santander
* Morgan Stanley
* Wachovia
* Bank of America
* Lloyds Banking Group

[ColbertWatcher]

52. Ugh, I missed a step.

TARP gives to banks, banks give bonuses to execs, execs open secret Swiss accounts.

[Lucky Luciano]

53. mehh...I covered that part...not significant. nt

[Jambalaya]

63. Payouts to UBS via AIG

News results for UBS and AIG bonuses Obama's Challenge: Containing the AIG Bonus Outrage - Mar 16, 2009
Obama's focus at the White House was on bonuses for AIG's 370-person financial ... One example is UBS, the Union Bank of Switzerland, which got $5 billion. ...TIME - 8444 related articles »

Cuomo Blasts Big AIG Payouts - WSJ.com Mar 17, 2009 ... Cuomo said AIG paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 ... payouts through AIG to UBS, now caught up in a tax-shelter dispute with the IRS. ...
online.wsj.com/article/SB123730459869257121.html - 7 hours ago - Similar pages

United States Senator Olympia J. Snowe :: Press Room Snowe Expresses Outrage over AIG Bonuses and UBS Tax Crimes ... Expressing disbelief, Senator Snowe also cited the interwoven relationship of UBS and AIG. ...
snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=15a6230a-802a-23ad... - 4 hours ago - Similar pages

[flyarm]

71. I saw Senator Olympia J. Snowe on tv today say she and Senator Wyden had it written in Stimulus

that no bonus's wuold be paid , that is why she went along with the Stimulus.she said it was the behind the doors negotiating that took it out without telling anyone involved in agreeing to the stimulus..she was pissed!!!!!!!!..She put it right on the doorstep of dems and the stimulus bill!

This bonus stuff is a deflection..165 million is piss ants to what is going to foreign banks..and the insiders! Payoffs are going on and it is on both sides of the damn isle!

[elleng]

80. That's a real shame.

How likely is she to do favors for dems in the future?

[flyarm]

117. how likely?? she shouldn't..none of them should sign off on anything

until they have read each and every freaking word..that is their job..

so what was the last bill filled with ..ohhhh..a mere..9,000 earmarks..earmarks we can ill afford..and Obama said he would go line by line through earmarks...before he signed any bill..well..he didn't..and most in congress never read the damn bill..this is like groundhog day..over and over again.......

and it is your money they are all pissing away..but worse..it is China's money your kids and grandkids will be paying back one day...or be owned by China..a <still> communist country.

but ...LOOOOKKKKK the other way>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> noooooooooo<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<that way
better yet>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>......don't dare bring it up..or you will be called all sorts of names around here!!

[elleng]

128. As to last bill, which was required

because none of them could get their acts together last session, any reasonable person recognizes that there was no choice but to sign it or begin his term with an entire government shut down. PS, earmarks are often necessary, stimulating, and affordable; they're just 'hidden' as such.

We're talking here about the stimulus, right?, which wyden and snowe and and all had read, and in an interesting turn of events (see other threads here) apparently WH messed with bonus stuff. Last I read, that was yet to be understood.

[Jambalaya]

89. Larry Summers and California Energy "crisis" / Enron

During the California energy crisis of 2000, then-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation.<8> Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets. <9>


President of Harvard
He left the Treasury Department in 2001 when George W. Bush became President and returned to Harvard as its 27th President, serving from July 2001 until June 2006. He was Harvard's first Jewish president, and received praise from Harvard's Jewish community for his support. <10>

A number of his decisions at Harvard attracted public controversy.~~~~~~~~Wikipedia

[flyarm]

114. Tim Geithner worked for 3 years at Kissingers firm..and then the CFR.........

Tim Geithner worked for 3 years at Kissingers firm..and then the CFR.........

look into the back ground of Geithners dad , Peter Geithner and his ties to Obama's mom and step dad!!

Google is your friend!!


See Obama sent Kissinger To Russia shortly after becoming president to represent the Obama administration in Russia..
Kissinger who held positions with Nixon, Ford and Reagan !!!!!!!!!!!!

this kissinger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThfWVCfjVo&eurl=http ://...

"There is a need for a new world order," Kissinger told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose last year, "I think that at the end of this administration, with all its turmoil, and at the beginning of the next, we might actually witness the creation of a new order – because people looking in the abyss, even in the Islamic world, have to conclude that at some point, ordered expectations must return under a different system."


This is the Kissinger Obama sent to Russia........representing his administration..

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/82may/hershwh2.htm

Kissinger and Nixon in the White House
by Seymour M. Hersh


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0611-03.htm


and that is just for starters!!

[pleah]

19. K&R

[Ganja Ninja]

20. The next company that comes with it's hand out needs to go immediately

into receivership. Just start dissolving them.

[pleah]

21. dupe

[chimpymustgo]

22. Here's more from TIME: Obama's AIG Outrage: All Talk, No Action

Obama's AIG Outrage: All Talk, No Action
By Michael Scherer / Washington Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2009

In the middle of decrying the misdeeds of the financial firm AIG, President Obama cracked a joke. "Excuse me," he said Monday, after coughing into the microphone. "I am choked up with anger here." There were laughs all around the gilded East Room of the White House, because he didn't sound angry at all.

The laughter, of course, did not fit the occasion, the latest in a seemingly endless stream of public events at which Washington's political leaders work themselves into high dudgeon over the sins of financial wizards who, we are told over and over again, have messed up the world for everyone else. But then, you can only act outraged about the same thing so many times before it all starts to sound stale. These spectacles, the public rhetorical floggings, have become teleplays, as predictable as a daytime soap opera, as comforting as a wet rock. (See pictures of the top 10 scared traders.)

As the event wore on, even Obama did not seem that into it, a surprising misfire for a politician who has long excelled at always striking the right tone at public appearances. He was almost grinning as he described the "recklessness and greed" of the traders in AIG's financial products division, a reckless band of wealthy incompetents who made bets they could not pay for, leaving the American taxpayer on the hook for as much as $173 billion in emergency funds -- an enormous sum that works out to about $600 for every man, woman and child in America. "How do they justify this outrage?" Obama asked rhetorically, with only the slightest tinge of outrage in his own voice. (Read "Obama's Challenge: Containing the AIG Bonus Outrage.")

Then he announced that he had instructed his Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, to seek "every single legal avenue available to block" $165 million in bonuses that were awarded last week to the very same traders at AIG's Financial Products division who made the bad bets in the first place. This was a politically necessary thing for Obama to say, even if it lacked a punch.

Obama had promised weeks ago to stop the excessive bonuses on Wall Street, at a time when the existence of the coming AIG bonuses had already been disclosed by the excellent reporting of Bloomberg News. Obama's staff had vowed more recently that the further infusion of taxpayer money into AIG, which the federal government now controls 80% of, was appropriate and necessary. And now he was faced with the fact that his new executive compensation policy, which only applied to a narrow subset of executives at a few institutions, had been powerless to stop the worst violators at AIG from getting their undeserved payday. (See the worst business deals of 2008.)

On ABC's The View, Whoopi Goldberg spoke for the rest of the nation when she looked into the camera and said, as if to AIG executives, "You can't bend us over!"

But the sad truth is they can. And they probably will. And President Obama, despite his popularity and moral indignation, has few tools to stop them.

-snip-

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1885668,00.html

Enough with the extortion. Let the bitch FAIL. No more taxpayer dollars.

[slay]

25. Great insights by Spitzer

I could care less about his personal life - that's why it's called a personal life. Glad to see slate.com publishing this.

[slipslidingaway]

26. K&R ...."It's not the bonuses...." n/t

[Blackhatjack]

27. As I have been saying AIG was always a 'passthrough' for govt taxpayer $$ ....

... to many of the entities which caused this economic crisis, and the same ones who already took a huge portion of taxpayer money in their own names.

The AIG explanations make no sense at all unless you consider that AIG is alive just to funnel taxpayer money to other entities which wish to remain anonymous.

[DemReadingDU]

32. Exactly!

The largest transfer of wealth in history.

[Jambalaya]

35. AIG ,CIA, and BCCI

levey has done some extraordinary pieces here at DU on the intersections of these firms-going back to the last economic meltdown when GHW Bush was president.

S&L scandals,Silverado,BCCI, Saudi Safari Club,Keating Five-all in the 80's.

This is the second looting of the American treasury while a Bush was President... many of same banks and same cast of characters.

BTW, the NYT article today by Andrew Sorkin defending the necessity of paying AIG bailouts -does anybody know if he's by chance related to Ira Sorkin,Madoff's attorney and BFF?

[suegeo]

69. Ira Sorkins' sons

The sons of Ira Sorkin might present a conflict of interest for their Madoff-defending daddy. This article doesn't give the sons' names, as far as I can tell. You'd think they'd be given first names in some news article somewhere.

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/03/10/2009-03-10_sons_of_ira_sorkin_lawyer_of_accused_pon.html

SNIP The sons of Bernard Madoff's lawyer could be among those lining up for a payout from the accused Ponzi swindler, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Attorney Ira Sorkin's two sons have $900,000 invested with Madoff in a trust account set up by their grandfather.
*****ON EDIT******
ANDREW NOT RELATED TO IRA
Pilar Jenny Queen, the daughter of Bobbi Queen of New York, was married last evening to Andrew Ross Sorkin, the son of Joan Ross Sorkin and Laurence T. Sorkin of Scarsdale, N.Y.

The bridegroom, 30, is the chief mergers and acquisitions reporter for The New York Times and is the editor of DealBook, an online financial news report on the Web site of The New York Times. He graduated from Cornell.

Linky:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/fashion/weddings/10Queen.html

ON EDIT AGAIN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Lee_Sorkin
According to the wiki,
Sorkin defended that fascist Murdoch early on. Eh, I guess even fascists deserve their day in court.
SNIP One of his first private clients was Rupert Murdoch in the law firm of Howard Squadron, Theodore Ellenoff and Stanley Plesant. When the firm was sold, he joined Dickstein Shapiro.

ON EDIT
Ira Sorkins' sons are Roger and Peter. They got 900,000 from grandma's IRA, invested with Madoff, pulled out in 2007 when she died.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aKmjrSn_kQI8&refer=home

SNIP Sorkin said he didn’t get the money, declining further comment on who did. The Wall Street Journal reported that the account was divided between his sons, Roger and Peter.

[Jambalaya]

85. Thank You!

[Junkdrawer]

42. Bet your ass that the REAL crooks have 3-4 layers of indirection....

AIG pays Goldman Sachs pays Citi pays XYZ Hedge Fund pays ABC Trust pays Crook...

[Jambalaya]

95. AIG Reinsurance scam

AIG’s Past Could Return to Haunt
Inter Press Service (IPS) Dec 19, 2008

American International Group (AIG) operated a captive insurance scam that involved fraudulent use of offshore tax havens. Currently, the U.S. government has invested over $40 billion in AIG, with the U.S. getting nearly 80 percent of its stock.

This puts the U.S. in a unique position to investigate the internal operations of a giant corporation with a reputation for using the offshore system for tax evasion.

U.S. authorities could begin their investigations with a look into a very curious practice that was revealed 15 years ago in a case that was never exposed by the mainstream press and which insurance insiders say is endemic.

AIG would keep a portion of a client’s inflated insurance premium and send the rest to the client’s offshore reinsurance company. AIG would earn a higher commission. The client would write off the entire amount as a business expense and enjoy the extra cash offshore, tax free.

This story tells how notorious fraudster Victor Posner made an AIG deal to stash reinsurance profits in Bermuda.

Read more at Komisar Scoop

[Jambalaya]

96. Link to Komisar Scoop

The Komisar Scoop Lucy Komisar writes about the criminal offshore bank BCCI and the way it connected the Bushes, the Saudis, Saddam and Osama bin Laden ...
thekomisarscoop.com/ - 402k - Cached - Similar pages

[malaise]

28. Ding ding

We have a winner.
KO and Rachel - get Eliot Spitzer on your programs NOW

[Mr. Hyde]

29. Why do we keep "bailing out" these criminals? Is this change we can believe in?

This is getting infuriating.
edit typo

[TornadoTN]

54. There will be a tipping point

The populist anger coming at this from all sides is going to reach a point where it will simply explode.

The question is going to be is if its too late to effectively save our nation.

Don't get me wrong, I love Obama and I think he's been a very good President so far and he's tasked with a major bag of fuck-up to attempt to clean up. However, it remains to be seen how much he is going to be allowed to change or reverse course.

[JDPriestly]

82. I even heard people talking about it on the Los Angeles Metro

line today -- people who did not look like they generally talk about economic or political news. I was amazed. And, by the way, the Metro line (in non-rush-hours) is not like the subways in New York, Chicago, San Francisco or other big cities. Very few middle class people in the non-rush-hours.

[truedelphi]

98. My next door neighbor never talks to me about politics

But this thing of more and more Main Street monies going to BailOut the Wall Street Big BOys,. again and again, has him pissed.

He said sadly, "Well I had hope in Obama and the change he promised. Why does Obama have the same people that caused the mess to be there in his Administration?""

I suspect he voted Democratic for the first time in a long while (if he ever even vttoed for the Dems before.) And he is disappointed.

[TornadoTN]

101. It's a common theme - and it's a shame too

Again, Obama has a lot going for him and there's no other person that I'd rather have leading our nation at this particular time.

However, some of the decisions on the financial & economic side have been less than stellar. When you look across the entire scope of the administration its the one area that just doesn't fit the theme of change and sensible leadership. Geithner was one of the ones that contributed to this mess and now he's in charge of cleaning it up - and he's doing the same things as before to "fix" the problem.

I really have some misgivings about Obama in this area. It's almost as if he was told to keep certain things in place. Like he didn't have a choice in the matter.

[Bluenorthwest]

108. Or like he has a choice-we all do

but he actually thinks all morality is about making sure gays can not get married, and that theft and fraud is not at all wrong, just clever, and ought to be rewarded.
Rip off billions, get a reward check. Steal, get taxpayer money as a bonus. Torture, start illegal wars, well, that's cool.
Just don't love the 'wrong person'. That we must 'defend against' with talk of God. I guess OBama's God supports theft and fraud, but is all hung up about sex. I guess Obama has the same God as the Republicans.
I'm too mad to say anything more.

[truedelphi]

126. Don't get me started on the approach/justification to inequality for

Some Americans. You'd think we were back in the fourteen hundreds.

[truedelphi]

125. I know - it really doesn't add up. Here is Pres. Obama coming out and

Saying that we will close Gitmo, that we will pull the troops out of Iraq, that we will do needle exchange rather than hype up the drug wars, and then his appointees cannot make a single intelligent decision about the economy? (Well the stim bill might have made sense, but the Wall Street Bailouts do not - and they are the most expensive part of the program, especially given the 2.1 Trillion dollar buyout of "toxic assets.")

I have no idea what is going on with this. It just doesn't add up.

[Kaleko]

30. Give Spitzer a boost by digging the Slate article

here: http://digg.com/business_finance/The_real_scandal_at_AIG_is_counterparty_payout

It only has 17 diggs so far.

[katty]

31. Spitzer gets his moment- he had to go-the man who knew too much

[tomm2thumbs]

34. too bad he managed to undo his reputation of right/wrong

he probably could have been a huge star/hero to many Americans - now he's just a footnote

[WillyT]

38. Big K & R !!!

:kick:

[Flagrante]

39. Greg Palast had the Spitzer story a long time ago

http://www.gregpalast.com/elliot-spitzer-gets-nailed/

/enjoy

[Divine Discontent]

100. my question to Spitzer is why didn't he reference AIG & the doomed financial market in his downfall

and say that he would be proven right (unless he did and I didn't read or hear about it?) when everything collapsed because he was going after them? That is what upsets me if this man was taken down for sex when he was going after the bad guys.

[marias23]

40. The bonuses in spite of their obvious unfairness are a distraction

The bonuses in spite of their obvious unfairness are a distraction. We have multi-trillion dollar problem that must be acted on. By focusing in the bonuses the left and the media are giving conservatives fuel to undermine the stimulus. Let it go. (at least for now).

[flyarm]

115. absolutely!!!!!!!! You have it right MARIAS23!!

there is a damn big difference between millions and billions..

This was millions..for the bonus's...

someone in this admins does not want you to look further than the millions ..to the billions of your tax dollars that just went to foreign entities!..oh and those BILLIONS are borrowed billions with interest rates that are soon to follow!!

the millions are chicken feed to what is really being spent and going world wide of your $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

the bonus's are a defelction..from the billions going to foreign banks that gambled ..yes gambled with AIG..how many 165 million does it take to make a billion?? and yet billions of our tax dollars are going to foreign banks..where is the true outrage of that????????

want to see what a billion and a trillion looks like??????

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

[vssmith]

44. It appears that Henry Paulson wanted his former employer,

Goldman Sachs, to get their money from AIG. Was he still owning shares when he made this deal?

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[aquart]

83. Can we hang Paulson now?

I'd donate for the rope.

[natrat]

46. the thousands of these fucked politicians and bankers in on this scam is incredible

[Joanne98]

49. And Europe is yelling "protectionism".. We bail out their banks and when

we want to spend our on tax monies on ourselves they scream protectionism.. This is an outrage.

[Lucky Luciano]

51. It is rather annoying.

We made sure their counterparty risk was mitigated - the least they could do is play nice!

[Better Believe It]

67. What nations in Europe have done that? Did you mean Mexico? Links please

Mexico just imposed some "protectionist" tariffs in response to Congress prohibiting Mexican trucks from delivering and picking up freight in the United States which is a clear violation of the NAFTA agreement. Mexico is not a European nation.

I don't support NAFTA, but, it looks like the United States just fired the first shot in a self-defeating "protectionist" war with Mexico.

[myrna minx]

55. K&R n.t

[Politicalboi]

59. We are told we owe 80% of AIG

LOL! AIG is connected to Kroll securities and the CIA. It's all a joke. Kroll was responsible for the security of the WTC. And how do we the people own part of the CIA? We don't. I think this is more like the Ponzi scheme that Madoff pulled. This house of cards might just come tumbling down. But who knows if we will ever get to the bottom of this. I think the hike in oil prices were another scam.

[bluesmail]

61. Sanctity of the Contract = Zero Tolerance.

Reminds me of decades ago, being hounded, yes hounded by GMAC they wanted me to make on behalf of my boyfriends contract a payment with them. Hell no. They even hounded me at work. The nerve. So I understand the sanctity of the contract is Zero Tolerance that AIG is using the sanctity of the contract/zero tolerance to get them bailed out with taxpayer $'s. No thank you. Parent corporations with cjildren should in cases like this have their children taken away. AKA breaking up the parent corporation into itty bitty pieces.

[PaulRevere08]

65. OMG!! Why does this remind me of the Californina "energy crisis"!

[autorank]

68. K. Ms pete does it again! k*r n/t

[Barack_America]

70. "A-I-G was an in-side jo-ob".

Let's see who gets this. ;)

[RoccoR5955]

72. Of course it was an inside job...

...It was the thieves stealing the china and silverware out the door.
Once the deregulation started, back in the days of Reagan, this was bound to happen.
Spitzer was ratted out, because they had to ruin him some way. His personal life should be held private.
I just hope that someone, maybe Andrew Cuomo stays in touch with Spitzer, and nails their asses in jail, where they all belong, and gets back the money that belongs to WE THE PEOPLE.

[spanone]

73. knr

[malaise]

75. Read this as well

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5276312

[snot]

76. K&R'd.

[defendandprotect]

77. They'll probably be back to actually kill Spitzer now . . .!!!!

But -- thank you Elliot Spitzer for telling us what's going on!!!

[bertman]

81. Yeh, you can bet he's extremely depressed and despondent. A man ready to take his

own life. Probably in a garden shed behind his mom's house, ya know.

Bless him while he's alive, kicking, and doin' the lord's work!!

[KittyWampus]

84. odd how Spitzer's piece isn't getting much play. too bad.

[dysfunctional press]

86. the 'bonus outrage' is a distraction, with the msm fanning the flames...

and LOTS of people seem to be falling for it- even/especially around here.

[sattahipdeep]

87. Same old suspects_Chris Dodd on Mary L. Schapiro

Analysis and discussion with the Chairman of Banking Committee Chris Dodd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgymGJ4uNxA

6:30 7:07

Schapiro's corrupt as Markopolos pointed out.

01:02:11 MARKOPOLOS

01:02:39 REP.SHERMAN

01:05:01 REP.CASTLE

01:05:36 MARKOPOLOS

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=283836-1


Barack Obama vs. Chris Dodd at the AFL-CIO Debate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn6ZneR2ias

[Vic Meyers]

88. What would make me feel better about it all.

I would love nothing more that to see President Obama to go on prime time and announce to the nation that, although we cannot legally prevent AIG from issuing the bonuses, we can have every last bonus-receiving executive audited by the IRS and ensure that those who are screwing the taxpayers are paying their taxes while they do it.

[seafan]

91. 'Failure to answer these questions will feed the populist rage that is metastasizing very quickly.'

Eliot Spitzer is on to these criminals.

.....

The appearance that this was all an inside job is overwhelming. AIG was nothing more than a conduit for huge capital flows to the same old suspects, with no reason or explanation.

So here are several questions that should be answered, in public, under oath, to clear the air:


What was the precise conversation among Bernanke, Geithner, Paulson, and Blankfein that preceded the initial $80 billion grant?

Was it already known who the counterparties were and what the exposure was for each of the counterparties?

What did Goldman, and all the other counterparties, know about AIG's financial condition at the time they executed the swaps or other contracts? Had they done adequate due diligence to see whether they were buying real protection? And why shouldn't they bear a percentage of the risk of failure of their own counterparty?

What is the deeper relationship between Goldman and AIG? Didn't they almost merge a few years ago but did not because Goldman couldn't get its arms around the black box that is AIG? If that is true, why should Goldman get bailed out? After all, they should have known as well as anybody that a big part of AIG's business model was not to pay on insurance it had issued.

Why weren't the counterparties immediately and fully disclosed?


Failure to answer these questions will feed the populist rage that is metastasizing very quickly. And it will raise basic questions about the competence of those who are supposedly guiding this economic policy.

IMHO, Geithner and Summers should be fired. These two are a black mark on the Obama Administration.

[go west young man]

110. Great questions.

My belief is that Goldman Sachs are the real daylight robbers. There are plenty of other banks benefitting but they seem to be the most deeply entrenched and the media seems to be staying clear of implicating them in it all.

[Stinger2]

92. Hello, Did you ever think the USA has had a Coup

Hello, Did you ever think the USA has had a Coup and we are all pawns in the game of draining every dime out of Americans, as the laugh all the way to the Cayman Islands.

[democracy1st]

97. Geithner has been exposed and the Obama administration better do something about it!

[earth mom]

99. How many of us here on DU were screaming this truth last fall?

:argh:

:grr:

[chimpymustgo]

106. Swear to God! A whole lot of people could smell this sh*t from a mile away.

But too many idiots felt if ou "leaders" were in favor of this, it HAD to be kosher.

We are ALL getting gamed and screwed.

[Name removed]

124. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Chimichurri]

103. The-poweres-that-be knew what they were doing when they

got rid of Eliot Spitzer

[mmonk]

104. 116th recommend.

[Atman]

105. The only mistake in the article: There WAS in fact a "reason" and "explanation."

Drowning the government in a bathtub. This was a way to make it happen, and get stinking filthy rich in the process so that you have enough money to ride out the worldwide calamity you created.

Ask Grover and the neocons. They'll explain the theory to you.

.

[mdmc]

107. Oh, we know Spitzer

the only time I watched "Kramer's Real Money" (or whatever) Spitzer was a guest caller.
We know it was an inside job.
If they hadn't taken Spitz down, would he still have written this?

[unapatriciated]

109. Interesting article from 2004 involving AIG...

They have been cooking the books for years so that they can hide the shell game they have been playing.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5279370&mesg_id=5279370

[AllyCat]

111. Figures. This is why I had no illusions that a Dem majority would change much

So many of them are still on board with this. ALL of the Repukes are like this, but many of the Dems are too. What a shame people don't rise up.

[flyarm]

113. WSJ: Citi's Chief Economist Leaves for Treasury Post

WSJ: Citi's Chief Economist Leaves for Treasury Post


Source: The Wall Street Journal

Citigroup Inc.'s chief economist is leaving the New York company for a job at the U.S. Treasury Department, according to an internal Citigroup memo.

Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to Treasury "to work on domestic financial issues," said the Citigroup memo, which was sent Tuesday.

According to a government official, Mr. Alexander will be a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Alexander and a Treasury spokesman weren't immediately available to comment Tuesday. A Citigroup spokesman declined to elaborate on the company's memo.
(...)
Mr. Alexander's role as Citigroup's chief economist didn't entail significant management responsibilities. But his optimistic economic forecasts colored executives' views that the U.S. was unlikely to face a prolonged slump.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123732747181462245.html

anyone getting that tingle down their leg yet???????

[barbtries]

119. yep.

revolving doors, private industry to federal government, and all the while taking care of their own while screwing the rest. it really stinks to high heaven, and i am not hopeful regarding an equitable outcome.

[antimatter98]

116. AIG scam is tip of the iceberg. Obama's doing nothing. n/t

[chimpymustgo]

118. It seems it is ALL a scam. We're just paying for it.

[flyarm]

122. Oh and our kids and our kids kids will be paying for it!! This will be generational!!

won't they just love us!!

eom

[underpants]

121. Marking for later read

[sixmile]

123. Kicked to keep Cuomo safe and out of trouble

You never know where or when your past will catch up to you. Right, Mr. Spitzer?
Cuomo is up against some powerful, shady criminal networks. I hope he keeps himself clean and stays out of canoes and small planes.

[mdmc]

127. kick

[slipslidingaway]

129. ....n/t

[Quantess]

130. kick