ThinkFast: December 9, 2008
ThinkFast: December 9, 2008
Yesterday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was suggesting to his company’s board that he deserved a $10 million bonus for his performance in 2008. But by yesterday afternoon, Thain had dropped his request after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called it “nothing less than shocking.”
The White House and Congressional Democrats moved closer to a deal “to rush $15 billion in emergency loans” to the Big Three car makers. “Democrats bent to the will of the president on several” provisions. The White House is still pushing Democrats to drop their demand that automakers “pull out of lawsuits against states seeking to enforce tougher tailpipe-emissions standards.”
Internal Freddie Mac documents reveal that “senior executives at the company were warned years ago that they were offering mortgages that could pose dangers to the firm” and generate more risky loans throughout the industry. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has the documents, is holding a hearing today to discuss them.
As more of the unemployed and uninsured “turn to the nation’s emergency rooms as a medical last resort, doctors warn that the centers — many already overburdened — could have even more trouble handling the heart attacks, broken bones and other traumas that define their core mission.”
79 percent: The share of Americans who approve of President-elect Barack Obama’s performance during the transition, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. Seventy-nine percent also think Obama “will do a good job as president,” compared to 71 percent who disapprove of the job President Bush is doing.
A new CBS News polls finds that 45 percent of Americans approve of a government bailout of U.S. automakers, while 44 percent disapprove. Over two-thirds of Americans, however, say that “if taxpayers do help automakers, the government should have a say in how the companies are managed.”
Yesterday, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) met with workers who are staging a sit-in at a Chicago window-making plant after they were only laid-off with only three days warning and without the pay owed to them. The governor said that the state would be suspending business with Bank of America, which cut off the company’s credit line and refused to allow payment to the workers.
Big business is lining up behind Obama’s stimulus plan to invest in infrastructure projects. “[L]obbyists from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) are asking lawmakers and Obama’s transition team to funnel federal funds to ’shovel-ready’ projects as the best way to stimulate the flagging economy.”
The Pulitzer Prize is going digital, announcing Monday that the journalism award is expanding to include online-only publications. The move reflects “our willingness to adapt to the remarkable growth of online journalism,” said Pulitzer Administrator Sig Gissler.
Though the Pentagon “was aware of the threat posed by mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)” and ” of the availability of mine resistant vehicles [MRAPs] years before insurgent actions began in Iraq in 2003,” it did little to develop such vehicles, the Pentagon Inspector General reports. Marine officials “did not develop a course of action for the (request) [or] attempt to obtain funding for” MRAPs.
And finally: Yesterday, President Bush let loose and danced during the Children’s Holiday Reception and Performance at the White House. Watch his performance here.
Sign up here to receive our daily e-newsletter, The Progress Report.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Big business is…
going to do what they do best and dilute a perfectly good plan with crap.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:11 amPelosi nominates a “car czar”.
Firstly, hate the term “czar”. But moving on, we threw 700 billion at the banks. We might throw around 30 billion at The Big Three.
If we have someone up to the job of “czar” – Volcker seems as good as anyone – can me make him the bank dude… just me being picky about the fact 700 is a little bigger than 30.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:12 amExpectations of Wall Street execs leave me angry and frustrated.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:14 amWhat more needs to happen to the nation and their companies before they realize they are part of the problem?
Thain, thinking he deserves a $10 milllion bonus after the past few years of gross mismanagement and subsequent losses is unconscionable. This guy was supposed to be the savior of the company after Oneal – but he is of the same breed.
Put these self-centered, greedy egotists all in a brown bag, shake it, pour them out — they’re all the same. Drop an anvil on all their heads.
John Thain & Bank of America: Partners in crime
December 9th, 2008 at 9:14 amI see Georgie is displaying his gross lack of style and rhythm with his intellectual peers — no insult to the gradeschoolers intended.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:22 amI do believe there is no public forum in which his presence is suitable.
Dumb Fox the Average Golfer
Good morning! Why didn’t Congress put the 9/11 Fund guy in charge of the bailout if they think he’s so great? Why did Congress allow Botch and Paulson to name their own watchdog? Neil Kashkari (Cash n’ carry, credit: ralph) is a Wall Street lackey.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:23 amMSNBC just reported that the feds have arrested Illinois Gov Roy Blogjevich, after a multi-year proble into his “pay for play” politics. (Funny how the Republicans bragged about running Congress that way when they first took over last century.) Something tells me that this is in response to his taking the side of the workers at Republic Windows and Doors by suspending his states business with Bank of America, the bank that refused to extend credit to the company (thus forcing them to close their doors and lay off their workers without the federally-mandated sixty days notice.)
December 9th, 2008 at 9:25 amMorning McWars. Come on, that’s an easy question: so they could distribute/steal the 700B without any oversight or accountability.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:26 amLest we forget, it was the huge spike in gas prices that triggered this economic collapse. Oil companies sucked tens of BILLIONS out of the economy. Their profits soared, their CEOs were handsomely rewarded.
Meanwhile, people were forced to cut back on spending, just to put gas in the car and food on the table. That reduced demand for consumer products, which, in turn caused production cutbacks, i.e. layoffs, which in turn started the foreclosure buildup, which drove down house prices, which left many people with mortgages higher than the value of their house, which eliminated refinancing, which further slowed consumer spending, leading to more production cuts, more layoffs, more foreclosures, with no end in sight.
For Bush, Cheney and Big Oil, it’s Mission Accomplished. The “haves and the have mores” got what they paid for when they annointed BushCo.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:29 amA ten million dollar bonus is a risky thing to ask for when your company’s middle name is lynch.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:30 amWayne, that’s the Cheney effect hard at work, screwing with America until Jan 19th, 2009/
December 9th, 2008 at 9:30 amI’m just crawling out of bed and you want me to watch a video of George Bush dancing?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:34 amYesterday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was suggesting to his company’s board that he deserved a $10 million bonus for his performance in 2008. But by yesterday afternoon, Thain had dropped his request after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called it “nothing less than shocking.”
I thought a “bonus” was supposed to be additional pay, given as a reward for exceeding expectations or for performing an outstanding achievement. Was Thain hired as CEO to run the company into the ground? If not, then what possible reason could he have had for expecting that he deserved to be paid a bonus? Where do they find these people to run these companies? They sound exceedingly greedy to me.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:35 amOK, so if a woman had been nominated to oversee the car debacle, would she be called “Car Czarina”?
Say it fast enough, and it sounds like a great drag name…Carczarina Divine!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:35 amgummitch, he’s set back the cause of white guys dancing at least a hundred years.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:36 ambarracks, or, maybe a fatal disease…
December 9th, 2008 at 9:37 amNote that Thain was not JUST requesting the bonus for himself: 10M was for him, but he was also speaking on the behalf of other senior executives, thus his request was for a bit more than 10M.
Talk about a false sense on entitlement.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:38 am“Of entitlement”
Yeesh!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:39 amI could be mistaken, but the first time I heard the word “czar” to describe an American official’s role in our government was during the Reagan Administration. (Didn’t they have the first “Drug Czar”?) Wasn’t it the Reaganites who deemed anything Russian to be “evil”? Why would they embrace, and continue to use, a term used by their hated enemies? To me, it suggests that they were just being hypocritical in their denunciations of the Soviet Union.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:41 amYesterday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was suggesting to his company’s board that he deserved a $10 million bonus for his performance in 2008.
The hubris of these people is shocking. If I was an employee who ran a company into the ground by risky business practices, I would be fired.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:41 amYesterday, President Bush let loose and danced during the Children’s Holiday Reception and Performance at the White House. Watch his performance here.
No, I don’t think I will. Thanks anyway…
December 9th, 2008 at 9:42 am“if taxpayers do help automakers, the government should have a say in how the companies are managed.”
Didn’t do that with the 700B for “financial institutions” (wink, wink), why would they do that with the automakers? Are the autobarons outside the Wall Street loop? Poor guys.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:42 amMethinks Andrew Cuomo just illustrated in one short exclamatory utterance why we need responsible regulation and why it is time to give Ayn Rand and her counterintuitive philosophy a decent burial. Does anybody believe outraged comments, unless made by the attorney general of the state in which ML is based or someone else with a big hammer would have caused Thain to back off? Anyone who believes these greedy pigs will ever police themselves needs to look at the spike in executive comp over the past eight years which seem to have yielded minimal real economic growth.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:43 amIsn’t it amazing how the repugs have been threatening Blagojavich for several years, but just happen to arrest him the day after he cuts BoA out of Il official money stream! If only more states would do the same.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:44 amYesterday, President Bush let loose and danced during the Children’s Holiday Reception and Performance at the White House
Coke and booze can have that effect on some people.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:45 amYesterday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was suggesting to his company’s board that he deserved a $10 million bonus for his performance in 2008. But by yesterday afternoon, Thain had dropped his request after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called it “nothing less than shocking.”
Amazing performance by Thain this year: He rescued a baby from a burning house, rescued a kitten from a tree, and liberated clients and taxpayers from millions of those pesky dollars. Bravo.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am/sarc
The White House is still pushing Democrats to drop their demand that automakers “pull out of lawsuits against states seeking to enforce tougher tailpipe-emissions standards.”
Always the creep, Bush is trying to use this financial crisis to promote his right wing agenda.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:46 amA new CBS News polls finds that 45 percent of Americans approve of a government bailout of U.S. automakers, while 44 percent disapprove.
It all depends on how you word the poll. If you say “Do you approve of bailing out the auto industry, many people will say no”. If you say, “Do you approve of bailing out the auto industry if it means that 3.5 million Americans will not lose their jobs”, that would end up with an entirely different result. Many people really don’t understand the consequences of allowing the auto industry in this country to fail.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:49 amJust for a moment to be fair to John Thain, he inherited a mess at Merrill, and probably through the Bank of America deal prevented Merrill from get sh!tcanned Lehman-style. Certainly compared to his Wall Street peers, he should not be as tainted by the blow-up of the financial system.
That said, he already owns truckloads of Merrill stock, so he will in time be well rewarded if the Bank of America deal comes good.
But obviously any bonus for any Wall Street exec this year is flat wrong – the broader debate over the eye-popping salaries these people seem to be able to negotiate is a whole other question.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:49 amAnother tragic case of achievement gone unrecognized.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:49 amRepublicans are thieves, it really is that simple.
$700b was not a bailout, it was a final cash grab.
Jan 20 cannot come soon enough
———————————————
December 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am‘ere – Atlanta’s Progressive Jazz
Find us on Reverb Nation
———————————————
The autobarons flew in to ask for their handout, and they got publicly spanked for having flown in.
A wide variety of financial institutions hired professionals to lobby for their handouts and nothing was said.
Let me say that again: financial institutions HIRED people to LOBBY for their welfare checks.
And nothing was said.
WTF?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:54 amBush should have to walk back to Crawford Jan. 21st.
Cheney should have to walk back to Wyoming the same day.
Americans could walk along for a bit, telling them personally in a 1:1 format what they think of the job done the past 8 years.
This wouldn’t be punishment enough, of course, but a good start.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:55 amWayne A. Schneider Says:
MSNBC just reported that the feds have arrested Illinois Gov Roy Blogjevich, after a multi-year proble into his “pay for play” politics.
Do we have another Don Siegelman on our hands? January 20 can’t come soon enough.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:55 amI heard on Air America yesterday that if our government had given the taxpayers the 700 billion it would have come to around $12,000 per taxpayer. Now tell me that wouldn’t have done more to stimulate the economy than giving it to Wall Street. Homeowners would be able to pay their mortgages for a while and a lot of that money would have gone into buying things like cars and other goods.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:58 amStill missing from the public dialog concerning the economy: why didn’t/couldn’t the Big Three go to the newly bailed out banks for loans?
Wasn’t the point of the bailout to “unfreeze” credit?
And why then is Bank Of America freezing the window company’s credit?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:58 amWayne, it’s not that simple. Apparently, these investigations have been going on for years and there are some significant issues with Gov Rod Blogjevich. Though he has supported and signed a good deal of progressive legislation, there are problems with no-bid contracts, campaign funds with contributors awarded favors of all kinds, etc. In addition, I guess he’s got the lowest approval rating of any Governor in the U.S….like 4%. He apparently doesn’t get along with anyone, including his fellow democrats and is considered very dictatorial, if not crazy. Whether or not this latest issue of forbidding the state to do any business with Bank of America is part of the current decision to arrest him…who knows for sure? He may have exceeded his authority in the matter. I liked the idea frankly, because B of A received about $25 billion of the bailout funds, and their shutting down this companies line of credit is just plain immoral. It also is only one more example of the truly pathetic lack of guidelines and demands applied to the various financial institutions in order to secure the money from us…the U.S. taxpayer!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:59 amToday Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) was arrested. BBC reports it was for corruption in regard to Obama’s Senate seat replacement. Bummer.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:09 am“Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
Wayne A. Schneider Says:
MSNBC just reported that the feds have arrested Illinois Gov Roy Blogjevich, after a multi-year proble into his “pay for play” politics.
Do we have another Don Siegelman on our hands? January 20 can’t come soon enough.”
Probably not. But your concern is well founded, and that is one of the worst legacies of the bush era: that the Justice dept. is not motivated by justice, rather it is motivated by politics. And now that the repubicans have estabished that belief, whenever one of their own is indicted they will screech about partisan policing and their public will nod their heads in agreement.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:14 amWaPo reported that auto dealers descended on the Capital to lobby for the bailout bill. Did Mack McLarty and Bob Johnson lobby for a chunk of the Big 3 bailout?
December 9th, 2008 at 10:15 amGood morning, Cagey. Rhetorical question, my friend, rhetorical question. On to Gov. Rod’s arrest, has Illinois ever had a decent governor since Adlai Stevenson?
December 9th, 2008 at 10:17 amWhen I see G.W. Bush dancing, I think of Forrest Gump dancing with Jenny.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:24 amNow that I understand Patrick Fitzgerald is behind the arrest of Blogojevich, I feel better about it not being a retaliation move for what RB did with BoA. I respect Fitzgerald. I would have supported him as AG.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:25 amMy god, reportedly wiretapped attempting to sell Obama’s senate seat. What a bastard.
Reading up at Firedoglake.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:27 amAs a citizen of Illinois, I was never ecstatic over Blagojevich. But jeez–what is it about the Governorship? Dan Walker, Jim Thompson, George Ryan, and now Blagojevich? The rest of the government works pretty well,but the Office of the Governor makes us look like Louisiana.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:48 am79% approve of Obama – that means that he has also gotten approval from 1/5 of the 25% who still like Bush ?????
December 9th, 2008 at 11:21 amHey pbg, we have a corrupt governor in Wisconsin too. The problem is he’s smarter than blago so we’re stuck with his corruption indefinitely.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:09 pmRanting Tommy -
I think it’s pretty clear that political thieving is confined to neither side of the aisle. Us arguing about it over political lines is exactly what our politicians WANT us to do. They want to always be assured that at least half the population will have blinders on when it comes to corruption.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:12 pm