Hero

One of the most amazing things I've ever read:

I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.

Full letter.

In Smug Sense of Satisfaction News...

Via Dan Savage (how many times do I have to tell you to subscribe to his podcast and read his column every week, people??):

Teen mom Bristol Palin and her fiancé, Levi Johnston, called it quits last week. So we've been cheated out of the Royal Rube Wedding we were promised during last summer's Republican National Convention—and another child will grow up without a father in the home, which is a tragedy for the child, according to America's Talibangelists.

Or that's what they said when Mary Cheney—remember that dyke?—had a baby with a woman she would marry if she could marry. It's weird that America's Talibangelists aren't making the same point now.

"Talibangelists." Classic.

While You Were In The Airport Security Line...

The latest bailout came as AIG admitted to having just posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history — some $61.7 billion. In the final three months of last year, the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That's $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second. And all this happened at the end of eight straight years that America devoted to frantically chasing the shadow of a terrorist threat to no avail, eight years spent stopping every citizen at every airport to search every purse, bag, crotch and briefcase for juice boxes and explosive tubes of toothpaste. Yet in the end, our government had no mechanism for searching the balance sheets of companies that held life-or-death power over our society and was unable to spot holes in the national economy the size of Libya (whose entire GDP last year was smaller than AIG's 2008 losses).

Read full article.

Live AIG Hearing

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Ross Williams Lays It Down

Just read Andrew Ross Sorkin's article supporting AIG bonuses after hearing him on The Takeaway this morning. Does he honestly believe what he's saying or is he just trying to get attention?

I challenge you to read the article without becoming nauseous.

Best comment:

Its really very simple. Without government intervention, AIG would be bankrupt and none of those bonuses would have been paid.

The government breaks contracts in bankruptcy all the time. Of course it does set a precedent for people who loot their companies and the taxpayers. Even if the goovernment bails out the company, they may not get all the loot they expected. I don't know that is such a bad thing.

The truth is, the government ought to be going after many of these employees with criminal fraud charges. Its pretty obvious they sold more credit default swaps than their company could afford to pay off. Those were contracts too.

— Ross Williams, Minnesota

Sign the Move On Petition to Block AIG Bonuses

The people at AIG who are most responsible the severity of the financial crisis should be in jail. But instead, they're slated to get $450 million in bonuses. Unbelievable, right?

I signed a petition urging Secretary Geithner and Congress to do whatever it takes to cancel these bonuses. Can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/aigbonus/?r_by=15739-9243232-DFWIhzx&rc=paste

Thanks!

*This post obviously written by MoveOn.org

Guess What? You Paid an AIG Exec's Bonus!

The American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, plans to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

Full Article

Unemployed People Find Way To Sneak Into Jobs Like Mine

This is a really interesting article on the surge in volunteerism due to layoffs -- tons of very skilled workers with a lot of time on their hands. But the nonprofits can't handle all the volunteers because they've lost funding. Crazy.

The thing the article doesn't explain though is how these people can afford to not work and not spend all their time looking for work. If you can afford to not work and volunteer all the time, more power to you - so why work at all in the first place?

The Most Republican Thing I Will Ever Post

My mom sent this. Somewhat sensationalist but mostly interesting. The last 3 or 4 lines suck but the rest makes a point.

-----------------------------------------

How many zeros in a billion? The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it. While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans ....
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.


Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number... what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington , D. C

<>
Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax <>Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Fe dermal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration T ax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to press '1' for English.

I hope this goes around the US A at least 100 times

What the heck happened?????

Avery on NPR Blog!

Only Seven Percent?!?!

New York State considers rule that 7% of sports tickets be affordable
From TicketNews.com, 3/10/09

The New York State Assembly is considering a proposed bill that would mandate that at least 7% of the tickets for sale for a sporting event be affordable, if the game is played in a facility that received taxpayer money to help build it. Bill number A00508, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, calls for "an accounting of all benefits that any state or local authority has granted for the purpose of construction, reconstruction, repair, or rehabilitation of a professional sports facility" so that an affordable ticket price can be determined. The proposed bill does not specify what constitutes "affordable," nor does it limit who would be eligible to buy such tickets or where in the stadium those seats should be located. "Public authorities often provide enormous subsidies for construction, reconstruction, repair, or renovation of sports facilities. The rationale for providing these subsidies is that the facilities thus created and maintained provide a benefit to the general public. While such benefit may take many forms, the basic purpose of these facilities serving as a venue for spectator sporting events-is often out of reach for New Yorkers with modest means. This bill would make affordable tickets a required part of the public benefit we expect when we subsidize these projects," the proposed bill stated.

Where I've Been

You know it's a key economic indicator when I haven't blogged in forever because I'm so damn busy at work, staying late at work, doing more work because of layoffs at work, and working a second job because I'm afraid of losing my work. Go go economy!