Millions in bonuses for Fannie Mae Execs

"Say it ain’t so. But looks like it is. Here we are, clutching our devastated 401Ks, howling for scalps at AIG, dizzy with the zeroes of the $3.55 trillion budget and the $797 billion “stimulus” and the $700 billion TARP, and the election of a President whose answer to all ills is to frag bomb the capitalist system, spend us into hock unto the umpteenth generation, blow out our currency in the process, and usher us into an era in which ACORN helps with the census and government doles out the ensuing rations.

And, over at the outfit that primed the sub-prime fuse for this chain reaction, Fannie Mae, the top executives are now going to rake in six or seven-figure bonuses over the next year — in some cases double what they got last year. Here’s the AP reporting on Fannie Mae plans bonuses of $1M for execs." Rosett Report.

Congress runs amock and violates the Constitution

Special tax on AIG bonuses after Treasury and Fed agreed to the contracts for the bonuses last fall. Link. Why is Congress trying to destroy AIG after they bought it with our money? Obviously, they want it to fail, right?

Bills of Attainder prohibited by the Constitution. Have any members of Congress ever read the Constitution?

Tim Geithner created the problem. Time for Tim to go!

Who's next? Beware the awful precedent this after-the-fact 90 percent tax grab will set. Michelle Malkin.

While the beltway sinks, the President flees to the Left Coast to appear with a comedian. Figures. What a classy guy.

Buyer's Remorse

Sorry, Mr. President and Mr. Frank. You agreed to this deal. You just had to bail out AIG, and you did so knowing about those contracts. Are you going to set aside the union contracts? Of course not. Now, are you going to just say other contracts aren't binding or just those who create money for the economy? This outrage about the bonuses for AIG is outrageous. We own it; we bought it as is, and we knew all about it--assuming the "we" are the political whiz kids we elected. You guys are the proverbial bulls in the china shop and don't want to pay for the damage you've done.

Shameful expenditures

$18 billion in executive bonuses is the height of irresponsibility, but spending $1.2 trillion in government pork is a fiscally justifiable use of taxpayer funds. Here’s a visual that will demonstrate. Brain Shavings

Just one big happy company trading in favors

According to Bloomberg:

"Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007.

The company’s effective income tax rate dropped to 1 percent from 34.1 percent, New York-based Goldman Sachs said today in a statement. The firm reported a $2.3 billion profit for the year after paying $10.9 billion in employee compensation and benefits."

Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas. So we taxpayers, many of whom are now applying for unemployment checks or standing in a line of 937 for 10 jobs waiting tables, passed the hat for Goldman Sachs Christmas bonuses, which I'm sure were part of "compensation and benefits." Were no guidelines written into this give away package? The $18 billion bonus fund was set aside in 2007. Why didn't they use their own money for the bailout?

Couldn't Congress see this coming? Their own stimulus package so they can pay the mortgage on the multi-million dollar home and the 3rd Mercedes lease. Normally, I don't worry myself about bonuses, perks and salaries--unless I've loaned the company money or own stock in it. And I think I'm now an owner and should have a say in this one. What do you think?

Henry Paulson, the architect of these bailouts, and currently king of the world, is a former employee of Goldman Sachs and a partner with Al Gore in the next great ponzi scheme, cap and trade, a multi-million dollar business called, Generation Investment Management (GIM).

Al Gore might have invented the internet and a new religion, but he's not smart like Hank in money matters. GIM is part of the major carbon-credit trading firms that currently exist: the U.S. Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the Carbon Neutral Company (CNC) in Great Britain. The CCX, is a regulated exchange whose members are committed to cutting their emissions (all the big players are in it--Ted Turner, Kofi Annan, Gore's former chief of staff, Peter Knight, Canadian industrialist Maurice Strong). It is the only cap-and-trade system in North America for six greenhouse gases. Last September, Goldman Sachs bought 10% of CCX shares for $23 million. CCX owns half the ECX (European Climate Exchange), so Goldman Sachs has a stake there as well. See how neatly this works--and it is so bi-partisan, Republicans, Democrats, Americans, Canadians, Brits, Socialists and little 3rd world U.N. tyrants all working together, singing Kum-ba-ya around a non-polluting campfire.

Another former Goldman employee--18 years--is Obama's choice for a "sweeping overhaul" of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Gary Gensler. He probably had his cap set (no pun intended) on the SEC but has lost out the Mary Schapiro, head of FINRA, which was asleep at the switch in catching Bernie Madoff.

When Paulson was appointed in 2006 apparently two things on his side (to assure confirmation) was that 1) like most Goldman Sach CEOs he was "insanely wealthy", and 2) a committed environmentalist. Something for everyone.

For information on CCX, ECX, GIM, Hank and Al, see here, and here.

Who gets the bonus?

The Food Stamp Program is USDA's largest domestic nutrition assistance program serving more than 28 million individuals each month and has given the states that administer the program $48 million in bonuses this year for 2007. It was renamed SNAP as of October 1, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is supposed to imply healthier food.

OK, call it whatever you wish, but what do states do with their bonuses for outstanding customer service? For improved program access? For processing applications in a timely manner? For excellence in administering benefits. Do the poor people get this money or do the government employees? I’m counting $48 million in bonuses--that’s about $1.70 per person on the program. However, we know it would cost more than that to cut them each a check, so who’s getting the bonus? Do they close the office early one Friday and have a big party for the clerical staff? Do the Executive Directors get to go to Hawaii or Florida?

1) $18 million
USDA's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services announced Sept. 26 $18 million in bonus awards to states in fiscal year (FY) 2007 for outstanding and timely customer service in the administration of what has been known as the Food Stamp Program, soon to be known by name change from Congress as "SNAP" - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
$12 million
Each year USDA awards a total of $12 million in high performance bonuses to the eight States with the best and most improved program access index.

$6 million
USDA also awards a total of $6 million among the six States with the timeliest processed applications.
2) $30 million
In June 2008, the Food Stamp Program awarded $30 million to states for excellence in administering benefits.

To see if your state was awarded a bonus see USDA FNS Press Release Ohio must have a really shoddy work force helping the poor because we didn't get a single bonus. Or maybe they call it a paycheck?