More AWFUL News! "Obama Admin To Issue New Wall Street Pay Limits"!

[BlooInBloo]

Why does he HATES us????

:cry:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/09/obama-admin-to-issue-new-_n_213457.html

"WASHINGTON — Nearly three months after American International Group bonuses provoked an angry reaction in Congress, the Obama administration is ready to issue new regulations limiting the compensation of top executives at financial institutions that have received government rescue funds.

The regulations, expected as early as Wednesday, would apply to the most highly compensated employees at financial firms that obtained infusions from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

While 10 of the nation's largest banks got permission to pay back their share of the money, executives at several other high profile firms would still fall under the new restrictions, including Citigroup, Bank of America, the American International Group, Chrysler and General Motors.

The government, however, is not stopping at federally assisted institutions. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke want to give the Fed, which regulates banks, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the financial markets, greater powers to set compensation guidelines across the financial sector."

[MarjorieG]

1. Must be tired of banks stopping good measures on credit, public option. Hope rules of the road come

next. Derivatives, etc.

[AtomicKitten]

2. Let the regulation smackdown begin!

[BlooInBloo]

3. omg!

[redqueen]

38. I love that gif!

I had it in my sig for a while but when I tried to put it back in recently the board wouldn't allow it. Boo.

[ProSense]

4. It's really going to be interesting to

look back on these early months and first year of the Obama Presidency and compare the outcomes to the predictions of failure and doom.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Heh indeedy. Game ain't over. We'll see what develops as more time passes.

[Cant trust em]

12. it's been almost comical

Maybe it speaks even greater to the failure of the Bush presidency that people can't wait to run away from it as fast as possible.

[tridim]

14. I have crow in the freezer

[Cant trust em]

15. You know, after the primaries there was ample opportunity for crow, but I held it back

In two years when things have improved, there is going to be a feast.

[vaberella]

22. I don't even want to know how much you plan on collecting along the way.

The way you make it sound...:rofl:

[LooseWilly]

19. Mmm... crow.

You do mean Old Crow, right?...

[vaberella]

21. Ha!

You know what it is...people are jumping to conclusions. We have to give it some time and things WILL get done. Obama really hasn't let me down yet and I don't think in the end he'll let us down at all. Yes, in some things he's a bit slower than others, but I think with some patience we'll get a lot done. We gave him 4 years to clear up an 8-30 year mess depending on which Republican President mess started the drama and the Dem enablers through shitty policies...so technically he'll need more than 8 years to clean it up. But so far we gave him 4 and I think he's doing pretty well.

[ClarkUSA]

26. +1

[babylonsister]

5. What will people do? He's - gasp!- doing stuff? And

combined with this? We're doomed!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5814290&mesg_id=5814290

Bank bailout turns out to have been good business for U.S.

[AtomicKitten]

6. We made a $1.8B profit on the money repaid? ....OMG - We're doomed!

[vaberella]

20. Your photo is apt and can we put that 1.8 bn towards the deficit.

Lay away plan...it's slow moving but going.

[HamdenRice]

25. Yeah Obama mentioned that. I've been writing about the projected profit for months.

I guess that means that Obama is a lying shill also.

[BlooInBloo]

7. OMG! We're the return we're getting is more than DOUBLE the rate at which we borrowed????

Somebody please draw up articles of impeachment.

[Flabbergasted]

9. Stunning! Awesome. nt

[Cant trust em]

10. I'll be willing to wager that some people will be pissed that the caps aren't low enough

If it's a cap at a million some people will be pissed that it's not $500K. Whatever.

[BlooInBloo]

11. Of course. Or any of a jillion other things they just make up on the spot...

Because true outrage waits for no man or woman!

[sarah553807]

13. That's it,impeach this motherfucker

I'm sick of him helping the little guys,why not the hard working CEO's who are just trying to put "food on their family"(that never gets old)

[StrongBad]

16. He's gotten the ball rolling on a lot of things in 6 months.

I know people may think the timeframe argument is lame, but the legislative process takes time, and given his work and initiative in a lot of areas, I'm confident that within the first 4 years we're going to see a lot of tangible progress.

And then for the second term, well I bet that's when the gloves come off :)

[vaberella]

17. I think it's good news and I"m awaiting a lay out. Did anyone read the Huffpost posts?

Dear God the Huffpost topic posters sound like the Obama = Bush people on this site.

[Cant trust em]

40. Same people, different website. nt

[quakerboy]

18. In related news, banks to return 68 bn in bailout money

(I know, briefly mentioned in the article) I would imagine that amount is carefully calculated to drop the govt share just below whatever majority stake Obama would need to put in the rules. I wonder how long it will be before the other institutions involved to follow suite.

I also wonder how much of the money to pay back the govt will come straight from the Fed. I trust Bernanke and Geithner about as far as I trust a meth addict in a police evidence locker.

[Autumn]

33. The money they are returning will be

put back into the treasury to be used to further subsidize the banks.

[vaberella]

23. BIB----Guess who's Op-Ed in NYT I can't wait to read after this news?!?!?!

:rofl: I hope you post it.

[BlooInBloo]

24. David Brooks' ?

:P

[ClarkUSA]

27. How can this be?! Obama = Bush folks keep saying he's a "corporate tool"!!!

I guess I'd Better Believe It.

[Cha]

42. Or

not.

[quantass]

28. Only "Top Executives" -- I see a loophole for abuse.

Am i missing something...why not put a pay limit on ALL employees?...by not doing this it leaves wiggleroom for big paydays down the chain.
If i was part of these big banks i'd say: "So they finally figured out the game and limiting us....but humph they are only limiting just the top of us?...THANK YOU!"

[BlooInBloo]

30. I suppose that's why Obama specifically appointed someone to watch over that....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8461529

[jefferson_dem]

29. Funny. "Conservatives" who were slamming the AIG bonuses a few months back...

are now slamming this measure as "socialism." I sure hope they continue to get out there defending the greedy gilded class. Perfect.

[nichomachus]

31. WAIT -- that was five minutes ago. Now he's changed his mind. But it was fun while it lasted.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124460111423500951.html

The Obama administration is dropping its plan to cap salaries at firms receiving government bailout money, leaving them subject to congressionally imposed limits on bonuses, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move is likely to end months of confusion on Wall Street about separate pay directives from the White House and Congress.

The administration is expected to announce the compromise on Wednesday. In addition to standing behind the restrictions passed by Congress in February, the administration plans to push for broad changes in compensation practices across the financial-services industry, these people say.

[BlooInBloo]

32. HuffPo front page notes the contradiction as well, between the AP and WSJ....

I wonder which is true, and whether there was a change, or if they each heard different things from different people?

Sigh - nothing can be simple. lol!




EDIT: One wonders what the point of a pay "czar" is, however (which both source appears to agree upon), if there are no pay rules.

EDITEDIT: The AP guy appears to be sticking by his story, with a new one today:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/06/administration_to_issue_new_wall_street_pay_curbs.php

If I had to guess, there's some semantic funny business going on between the words "pay", "salary", "compensation", and "bonus". We'll have to wait until it really happens, to know for sure, I suppose.

[Jennicut]

34. They may not limit overall pay but want to limit bonuses, which is the main problem

Geithner also wanted one singular body to oversee all regulatory agencies for Wall St. but now may have more then one.

[BlooInBloo]

35. Yah. I suppose as long as it incentivizes them to pay us back, with better interest...

That's enough, for the moment. Makes it more like a bridge loan.

[vaberella]

36. Not just the AP guy...TIME has reported on this...

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1903547,00.html

[BlooInBloo]

39. Nice find. I dont pan to get into a "I have more sources than you" battle though....

Would rather just note the apparent contradiction, and await further information that will resolve the tension.

[scheming daemons]

37. This must be incorrect.... the DU purity police said Obama was just like Bush...

....

[harun]

41. He already backed off on this and is only thinking about limiting bonus's.

According to what I read.