FLASHBACK: In October, Obama Said That AIG Executives ‘Should Be Fired’ For Their Excesses
FLASHBACK: In October, Obama Said That AIG Executives ‘Should Be Fired’ For Their Excesses
Earlier this week, after the AIG bonuses were revealed, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) called for the replacement of company executives. “Since the federal government … now essentially owns that company, maybe it’s time to fire some people.” Frank told ThinkProgress that, “when you are trying to undo something, it is often not the case that the people who did it are the ones to put in place.” So far, however, the administration has not embraced Frank’s call.
Last fall, as Wall Street crumbled and just one week after the federal government bailed out AIG, the firm’s executives spent $440,000 on manicures, facials, pedicures, and massages at a luxury resort in California. At the time, Obama was a vocal proponent of firing AIG executives. During an October 7, 2008 presidential debate with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), candidate Obama declared, “those executives should be fired”:
OBAMA: It means we are cracking down on CEOs and making sure that they are not getting bonuses or golden parachutes as a consequence of this package [TARP]. In fact, we just found that AIG — a company that got a bailout — just a week after they got help, went on a $400,000 junket. I’ll tell you what. Treasury should demand that money back, and those executives should be fired.
Watch it:
In October, the revelations about AIG’s luxury retreat sparked widespread outrage, just as the AIG bonuses are doing today. That didn’t stop AIG, however. In November, the Washington Post reported that AIG “plans to pay out $503 million in deferred compensation to some of its top employees, saying it must tap the funds to keep valuable workers from exiting the troubled insurance giant” — the same rationale AIG CEO Edward Liddy is using today.
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Kick to trash to the curb already and lets get to the real scandal of AIG being used as a tunnel to bail out the uregulated derivatives mess the government should NOT be on the hook for.
The taxpayer didnt approve of having the government bail out the dark pools..or really even knew about them.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:00 pmThis is what happens after 8 years of crooked R’s running the SEC and FTC.
Gave them an inch, they took a mile, and now they expect that’s par for the course.
Spare the tax, spoil the rich guy.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pmWonder what Rush and his ilk will have to say about that revelation?
March 18th, 2009 at 2:06 pmDoes anyone else get the feeling that one of the things we are seeing here is just how deep the corruption in our government goes ?
March 18th, 2009 at 2:11 pmDoesn’t it spell out that AIG knew it was coming to an end and they just wanted to get out with as much as possible in their pockets ?
So what did our government do but sweeten the pot then act like they had noooo idea, it was out of their control.
‘Ultimately, I’m responsible. I’m the President of the United States…The buck stops with me.’
In my opinion, this is change! We finally have a president who takes ownership of problematic situations! Eventhough this AIG scandal didn’t originate during his administration, Obama faces the press and the nation to answer difficult questions. THE CHANGE WE NEED CONTINUES!
March 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pmWhat an amazing difference between a chief executive and a President. This President actually Deals with things, instead of making deals. This President actually accepts responsibility instead of shifting blame. Now if only the MSM would actually realize this and act accordingly, not that I really expect that to happen. If nothing else We, The People, finally have a Leader and Statesman who is actually dealing with the problems. Now if only the 23% would get out of the way…
March 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pmavchavis, It may be refreshing to hear but the above topic also shows that Obama was aware back in October of the excesses at the top of AIG and here we are with another “shocker”. I’m hoping there are actions that back up the tough talk from the white house.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:18 pm.
Dear Mr. President,
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
XOXO
America
.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:18 pmKeith H.,
March 18th, 2009 at 2:21 pmOf course!
Kings always rob the coffers while scurrying out the back door.
avchavis Says:
In my opinion, this is change! We finally have a president who takes ownership of problematic situations! Eventhough this AIG scandal didn’t originate during his administration, Obama faces the press and the nation to answer difficult questions. THE CHANGE WE NEED CONTINUES!
March 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
___________
A good start, yes. But unless the President backs this up with action, it’s just empty rhetoric, unfortunately. It’s nice to have a President who says he takes responsibility, but we need one who actually takes it, and puts some measures into place that actually prevents these abuses.
We own 80% of AIG. It’s not just some philosophical statement that the buck stops with the Federal government – it’s a matter of fact. This is about more than just cancelling bonuses – it’s about prosecuting the criminials who created the credit default swaps that tanked AIG — knowing that the company was too big to fail and thus would have to be bailed out if they screwed up.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:26 pmI’m sorry, but this is really the reality of our mainstream political system right now. There’s a lot I like about President Obama, but we know these banks and corporations have been lining the pockets of our politicians (both sides of the aisles) with campaign contributions. We won’t have full accountability until our politicians cease to be employed by groups like AIG. It’s systemic: campaign finance reform should never leave the table.
The encouraging part is the populist outrage that might actually push the President and Congress to enact some change, if not exactly what they deserve. It’s the people vs. the money, and it always has been. The people might be waking up a little, though.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:29 pmobama said a lot of things back in october.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:30 pmPresident Obama I voted for you, but you better start looking at your own house before firing others. I know you are busy however, we thought you would appoint competent people unlike bush who appointed buddies.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:31 pmAs awful as this crap is, yes I do agree that something is being covered-up.
At this time, I believe AIG should consider liquidation, insolvencey, receivership or other remedies and reimburse the taxpayers overall monies to were loaned to them.
That said, I see a real positive to this. It’s a “opening” to finally re-institute the regulations laws to keep the corporations more accountability and somewhat honested.
What’s up with Andrea Mitchell? She wants to blame Pres. Obama for everything. I can’t stand her. And Repugs are trying to lay blame on him to during the questioning with Liddy. See, even during this mess, the GOP are trying to make points, for crying out loud.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:32 pmChange? What Change? I voted for Obama but it sure looks a heck of a lot like the same old charade. As long as we keep letting lobbyist and corporations make the rules NOTHING will change. Look at the healthcare BS going on. We don’t need more meetings, 70% of Americans want single payer universal health care..it will never happen. Americans will continue to do without and die because the insurance companies STILL set the policy. I think we need to change the constitution from We The People to We big Business
March 18th, 2009 at 2:33 pmAll I can say is that whomever blocked the amendment (Democrat or Republican) by senators Blanche Lincoln, Ron Wyden and Olympia Snowe which guarded against big bonuses, should immediately be forced to resign and then tarred & feathered.
I am so $%$#ing tired of both sides protecting and doing the bidding for these banks, Wall Street, corporations, the Oil industry, the Defense industry etc, etc!
This hearing on the AIG bonuses are a joke! Watching these politicans act all angry and shocked by the news of these bonuses when they knew this would happen after the above mentioned amendment was blocked. God help us all, we are being run by a bunch of soulless, corrupt morons!
March 18th, 2009 at 2:33 pmI must add the word “greedy” to my last comment
March 18th, 2009 at 2:35 pmHope – After seeking who was in the “closed meeting” deciding the writing of the AIG bailout. It sure seems that appointees Geitner and Summers pushed wording to ensure bonus’s were paid. Read Salon.com Glenn Greenwald.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pmA simple man Says:
obama said a lot of things back in october.
And to the letter, they made much more sense than his opponent did. He’s also followed through on many things he said in October in the first two months of his administration.
There needs to be clear and direct action taken against AIG. I’m certain that Obama’s team will handle it more competently than either McCain or Bush would have.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pmWatching the hearing as well, I think Liddy is doing pretty damn good. Who would take on this debacle for $1.00. He has only been there 3 months to try and get a handle International operations and 1600 people. Good grief !
March 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pmThis a.m. Snow was the only one to say Congress is to blame for not doing their homework. Amen, they couldn’t read every line of this VIP document ?
March 18th, 2009 at 2:38 pmI agree with you Mike71654 but I think President Obama is being hamstrung by those who truly control our government. You are correct, until we rid the lobbyists from DC nothing will ever change. I thought we were a nation of laws? I heard a guest on the Thom Hartmann show say yesterday that the corporations have veto power in government thanks to the sell outs we elect but also Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 put into law that it was illegal for politicians to accept money from lobbyists. This law is still on the books according to the guest. So both parties are breaking the law and need to be forcibly thrown out of office.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:40 pmTweedster-
total agreement on that last paragraph! we’ve seen the alternative. we have imperfection now, but not complete inability/greed.
but the Democratic party needs to get out of the greed game if they are going to keep any integrity. this bank shadiness smacks of self-interest via campaign contributions.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:40 pmTweedster Says:
There needs to be clear and direct action taken against AIG. I’m certain that Obama’s team will handle it more competently than either McCain or Bush would have.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:43 pm“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
Agree 100%! But Obama still has the bluedogs and pinheads like Reid, Pelosi and Hoyer to deal with.
Impeach obama. We need somebody like mitt romney in charge of this country.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:43 pmavchavis,
I dont disagree that it certainly is a new direction for the Presidency but in the end is meaningless, What really does it mean to say “the buck stops with me”? In my opinion nothing.
The day President Obama appointed Getiner I shot off an
March 18th, 2009 at 2:44 pme-mail to the White House voicing my disapproval, he is a carbon copy of every corrupt Wall street entitlement aristocrat out there, no difference at all from the previous administration, so what does it mean to say the buck stops…anywhere?
It is a plain and simple looting of the US treasury…just like Bush and Cheney, the AIG execs have the same mentality…
…me first…fcuk the rest of you suckers.
That is why they took the money and ran.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:45 pmA simple man Says:
Thanks for the laugh track for the day. I think I can see my spleen.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:49 pmDoes anyone else wonder what happened to NO Monopolies in business ? If that had been enforced AIG would not have been allowed to become so large with fingers in so much that letting it fail would really kill our economy.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:49 pmMike71654 Says:
——————————————————————————–
Change? What Change? I voted for Obama but it sure looks a heck of a lot like the same old charade.
You need to be realistic. Obama has been president for less than 100 days! How on earth can you expect so much so quickly?? I think you and people like you are impossible to please and unreasonable. You need to remember that the Obama administration has to unravel the prior 8 years of BS from Bush! Things are not as simple as they appear to be. There’s a legal process to follow. Again, Bush did whatever he wanted and Obama’s trying to follow the law and do things in decency and order!
March 18th, 2009 at 2:49 pmSimple man, do you really want the religious right to continue with their insane demands over your life ? Do you know some Mormons, learn about their philosphy before voting for old Mitt.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:51 pmImpeach Obama? Just where do you think Mitt Rommney is in the line of succession?
March 18th, 2009 at 2:53 pmA simple man Says:
We need somebody like mitt romney…
….HAHAHAHAHA, yeah, right…when someone believes a obviously bogus, made up out of the blue religion, then maybe not so much…
….magical underwear anyone? Where’d they put those “Golden Plates”…
…all religions are bogus anyway…made up by ancient sheep herders makes it so credible and all…
…just wish that someday we can elect a non-superstitious president.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:53 pmWell bush allowed 9/11 to happen on his watch even getting a warning precluding its happening. And lets remember who was the President during the deregulation, mortgage fraud and bailout fiasco.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:53 pmDid he really just say vote for Mitt Romney? whoa.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:54 pmit’s obviously OT, but Simple Man:
please feel free to list the merits of Mitt Romney.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:56 pmI have to say it is refreshing to have a President that does take the blame for wrong on his watch. Quite a difference from one who can’t remember making a mistake.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:57 pmPresident Obama (and I do like the sound of that) is standing out front on so many tough issues. Actions will speak louder than words but he is making it clear that he is hands on.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:01 pmHellinbucket – I was hoping he was on top of it, but it is getting out that Geitner and Summers put the wording in for the bonus’s. Check out Glen Greenwald in Salon.Com. That just makes me sad.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:06 pmWe need to do to AIG what Theodore Roosevelt did to Standard Oil.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:06 pmA simple man Says:
Impeach obama. We need somebody like mitt romney in charge of this country.
LMAO, you are a comedian!!
March 18th, 2009 at 3:08 pmoooh. good find, satyam…
…
a real test ahead.
just be honest. brave and truthful.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:09 pmI agree AIG has become a monopoly, thought there were laws aganst that. I keep thinking of the people I know that have taken paycuts and lost bonus’s this year because their company has lost money.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:10 pmKid Charlemagne Says:
We need to do to AIG what Theodore Roosevelt did to Standard Oil.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:14 pm“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
Ding*Ding*Ding* We have a winner for most intelligent comment of the day!!!! Great idea Kid!
FLASHBACK:
Is this the same obama that signed the stimulus package that HAD THE CLAUSE that guaranteed that the bonuses would be paid? You know, the same clause that Democrat Chris Dodd put in http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b63_1237304298&c=1 . THE SAME BAIL OUT THAT GEITHER STRUCTURED FOR AIG? http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/g/timothy_f_geithner/index.html
I love it when politicians screw up and then scramble to point the finger at everyone else. What is even worse is that the political dolts like Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and obama are feigning outrage in an effort to direct the peoples anger at AIG employees.
Folks, your anger should really be directed at the incompetent government politicians who…
A) installed the clause to allow these bonuses to be paid
B) did not read the bill BEFORE they signed it
Unbelievable incompetence is rampant in this government.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:17 pmImpeach Obama for…dereliction of duty before 9/11? Lying the country into a war with Iraq? Trampling all over the constitution? For allowing the use of torture? For suspending Habeas Corpus? For flipping off the Geneva Conventions? For using illegal wiretapping? For politicizing the “JustUs” department? For vote caging? Oops that was bUSH.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:18 pmTim43, the troll that you are, you do have a point about Dodd and Franks but lets not forget about the republican pushed bills “The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and “The Commodity Future Modernization Act which lead to this mess and the rampant, unchecked oil speculation that led to record price for oil and gas.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:22 pmUncle Fester Lurks Says:
All I can say is that whomever blocked the amendment (Democrat or Republican) by senators Blanche Lincoln, Ron Wyden and Olympia Snowe which guarded against big bonuses, should immediately be forced to resign and then tarred & feathered.
Chris Dodd (D-CT), the senator who received the largest contributions from AIG put an amendment that protected their bonus.
Obama received the second largest contribution from AIG, which makes me understand if these criminals will be prosecuted, or at least fired.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000123
March 18th, 2009 at 3:24 pmMittens supporters, please move to the back of the room.
Romney & Palin aren’t in the race anymore.
One of them was pissed they couldn’t get enough hair gel, makeup or eye liner…
Oh, and Sarah was pissed, as well.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:25 pmPresident Obama doesn’t have to clean up after the last 8 years. He has to clean up from all the deregulation and lack of oversight that started 28 years ago under Ronald Reagan. I was Reagan who minimized all the departments that would oversee the little amount of regulation that was left. And because these departments were not in place there was nobody to argue that further deregulation would be harmful.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:25 pm^^ wonder, not understand.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:26 pm–
Impeach yourself. Go sit at the little kids table and get out of here.
texaslady
March 18th, 2009 at 3:29 pmI agree with you on the monopoly thing–where are the anti-trust laws when you need them.
LINK?
I don’t even understand what you’re saying. What I do know is that when individuals donate to a presidential campaign they have to put down who they work for and these individual contributions are then attributed to the total donated by employees of a corporation. Obama received donations from a lot more people than just the employees of AIG.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:30 pmShayne Says: LINK?
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/dodd-cracks-aig—time/
Dodd unexpectedly added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. That amendment provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009,” which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are seeking to tax. The amendment is in the final version and is law.
I know Fox is a biased source, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:36 pmTime for the arsonists to be payed-off for their hit job. And it’d be nice if this catastrophe didn’t go to waste, taking out Dodd in all the confusion would be a nice two-fer.
The dishonest “Blame Dodd” scheme from Treasury officials
Glenn Greenwald
There is a major push underway — engineered by Obama’s Treasury officials, enabled by a mindless media, and amplified by the right-wing press – to blame Chris Dodd for the AIG bonus payments. That would be perfectly fine if it were true. But it’s completely false, and the scheme to heap the blame on him for the AIG bonus payments is based on demonstrable falsehoods.
[...]
That is simply not what happened. What actually happened is the opposite. It was Dodd who did everything possible — including writing and advocating for an amendment — which would have applied the limitations on executive compensation to all bailout-receiving firms, including AIG, and applied it to all future bonus payments without regard to when those payments were promised. But it was Tim Geithner and Larry Summers who openly criticized Dodd’s proposal at the time and insisted that those limitations should apply only to future compensation contracts, not ones that already existed.
The exemption for already existing compensation agreements — the exact provision that is now protecting the AIG bonus payments — was inserted at the White House’s insistence and over Dodd’s objections.
[Emphasis added.]
March 18th, 2009 at 3:44 pmXanaphia, unfortunately Fox wasn’t right this time. Here’s the debunking and explanation of how Fox got it wrong and the lies kept getting repeated by them. Fox’s Hannity, Doocy repeated falsehood that Dodd to blame for AIG bonuses
Click on the link and learn about your news source.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:50 pmknowbuddhau Says: So It’s Obama’s guys, Tim Geithner and Larry Summers who did this? I am afriad this doesn’t look good for Obama.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pmknowbuddhau – whew! i knew someone would get here with that -
but none too soon!
it’s not a TP thread already???
out to the garden for a bit! (feels good to say that!)
March 18th, 2009 at 3:59 pmshayne – even better! ha!
March 18th, 2009 at 4:00 pmXanaphia here is the break down. Appears that the lawyer in chief received the second largest contribution right behind Dodd.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7110145&page=1
1. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., $103,100
2. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., $101,332
3. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., $59,499
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., $35,965
5. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., $24,750
6. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, (R) Pres $20,850
7. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., $19,975
8. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn, $19,750
9. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., $18,500
10. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) Pres $13,200
11. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., $12,000
12. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., $11,000
Shane — I don’t expect you to believe it because you have been brainwashed.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pmknock, knock
repug: who’s there?
faka
repug: faka who?
President Obama can see a faka a mile away.
HAHAHAHA
ZING!
March 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pmI just wonder if obama and dodd will pay back the AIG employees for the political contributions made on their behalf.
Doubt it.
Is anyone on this board mad at the current incompetent government or are you still blaming everything that goes wrong in your lives on bush?
March 18th, 2009 at 4:05 pmI’d like to know when Obama knew about the bonuses and what his conversation
March 18th, 2009 at 4:11 pmabout them was.
A simple man Says:
obama said a lot of things back in october.
Amazing.
President Obama did made a lot of promises and look how many he has accomplished in just in one month.
WOW!
March 18th, 2009 at 4:19 pmI’ve been a big cheerleader for Barack Obama because of campaign statements like this important one Satyam dug up. But now that he’s President, we’re hearing too much of the same ol’, same ol’ — “the contracts can’t be broken”; “maybe we’ll set up a new regulatory layer sometime in the future,” blah-blah.
We HAD a regulatory agency — the Federal Reserve — overseeing these bonus deals &, according to Ed Liddy’s sworn testimony, Ben Bernanke & his “regulators” thought the bonuses were hunky-dorey. Regulators regulating their friends (who will hire the regulators as soon as their “public service” stint is up) are worse than thieves left to watch over the gang’s loot.
Short version — the President’s little pep talk today didn’t pep me up any.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
March 18th, 2009 at 4:29 pmLook repugs don’t try to sway attention away from your disarray club you call a party.
There are some dumbasses here. “I hope President Obama walks the walk…yak,yak,attack.” Give President Obama a chance to act before talking shit about him. I mean, really.
chimpy didn’t do anything “for the people” within 8 longass years and still I heard some giving him the benefit of the doubt, hoping in all hope that chimpy would make the correct choice. Time after time.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:33 pmI have to agree with Constant Weader, I am a big supporter of Obama, But we need actions , not words, to deal with this problem.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:35 pmThe solution to the AIG problem was elicited from a representative of AIG by the Honorable Congresswoman from New York this morning, to wit: Separate out the Financial Products division from the AIG Holding company and let it fail and the rest of the AIG conglomeration will stand financially.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:37 pmI’m blaming everything on people who think, and vote, like Tim43.
March 18th, 2009 at 5:43 pmI saw this today and I was very proud of Obama’s comment. He acknowledged that this was not his mess, but that as president, he would see that it was cleaned up.
March 18th, 2009 at 5:51 pmI find it typically repulsive that republicans are criticizing Obama and all the Democrats, as if they had no hand in this. Hypocrite is too mild for them and their false indignation.
chat is a porn whack off loser…
March 18th, 2009 at 9:12 pmTimmy, you and Simpleton are up past your bedtime.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:26 pmTombaker, you are right! The blame should be placed on Tim and the Simpletons who voted for the Criminal Bush and the RepubliCons.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:29 pm