The one thing that irks & irritates me the most about this ongoing AIG bonus fiasco isn't whether it was in the best interest of the company to issue these big bonuses to its employees after accepting TARP money or the fact that AIG had filed suit 3 weeks ago against the the very same Government that bailed them out to try and recoup over $300 million dollars in back taxes. We all have a sense that something is not right with all of this. Who would not sign up for a $1 million dollar bonus? I think all of us under similar circumstances would have accepted these bonus contracts. But when Congressman Barney Frank stands in front of the American people and feigns outrage and starts to point fingers in every direction but his, it just shows that Frank always puts his job ahead of country. He goes around beating the morally wrong drum without ever noticing the hypocrisy drooling out of both sides of his mouth. This is the same Congressman that Chairs the Financial Services Committee and was front and center in support of enactment of TARP, which at the time had no restrictions or strings attached to executive pay or bonuses.
This is the same Barney Frank that made sure OneUnited Bank in Boston received a $12 million dollar infusion of federal cash- a bank that had already been accused of ‘unsafe and unsound banking practices.’ A bank whose CEO was sharply criticized by regulators for excessive pay that included a Porsche. Frank knew that this bank was under scrutiny and yet he included specific provisions in TARP aimed at bailing out OneUnited and spoke directly to Treasury officials about it. This is the same Barney Frank that irresponsibly defended the activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the years, even when it became clear that executives at the two giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) had manipulated earnings statements and gifted themselves with huge bonuses based on the bogus numbers, misled regulators, and steered the companies into such shoddy condition that they posed a systemic risk to the entire financial system. Chairman Frank must regret his September 11, 2003 statement to The New York Times that Fannie and Freddie “are not facing any kind of financial crisis…[t]he more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” During a 2003 committee hearing related to establishing oversight over the GSEs, he casually announced that he didn’t want “the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.” We know how that worked out: the GSEs are now almost entirely owned by the taxpayers; Freddie Mac tapped the Treasury for $13.8 billion in 2008; and Fannie Mae is on deck to get $15.2 billion this year. Yet is advocating to cut our Military spending by 25%.
I can go on and and cite all the instances where Frank has been wrong and irresponsible. We all should know more about Congressman Franks morally correct take on all of this because he has been the Poster Boy for morals. Allowing your apartment to be used as a call boy headquarters by a male prostitute definitely pads that resume.
Well now Mr Frank can add one more nugget to his already undistinguished resume, Porker of the month. At a time when all Americans are being asked to be thrifty and spend wisely, Mr Frank has gone the opposite way again.Thus garnering the Porker of the Month award given by Citizens Against Government Waste, a taxpayer watchdog. Just one more trophy to add to his already extensive collection of incompetency awards.
This is the same Barney Frank that made sure OneUnited Bank in Boston received a $12 million dollar infusion of federal cash- a bank that had already been accused of ‘unsafe and unsound banking practices.’ A bank whose CEO was sharply criticized by regulators for excessive pay that included a Porsche. Frank knew that this bank was under scrutiny and yet he included specific provisions in TARP aimed at bailing out OneUnited and spoke directly to Treasury officials about it. This is the same Barney Frank that irresponsibly defended the activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the years, even when it became clear that executives at the two giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) had manipulated earnings statements and gifted themselves with huge bonuses based on the bogus numbers, misled regulators, and steered the companies into such shoddy condition that they posed a systemic risk to the entire financial system. Chairman Frank must regret his September 11, 2003 statement to The New York Times that Fannie and Freddie “are not facing any kind of financial crisis…[t]he more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” During a 2003 committee hearing related to establishing oversight over the GSEs, he casually announced that he didn’t want “the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.” We know how that worked out: the GSEs are now almost entirely owned by the taxpayers; Freddie Mac tapped the Treasury for $13.8 billion in 2008; and Fannie Mae is on deck to get $15.2 billion this year. Yet is advocating to cut our Military spending by 25%.
I can go on and and cite all the instances where Frank has been wrong and irresponsible. We all should know more about Congressman Franks morally correct take on all of this because he has been the Poster Boy for morals. Allowing your apartment to be used as a call boy headquarters by a male prostitute definitely pads that resume.
Well now Mr Frank can add one more nugget to his already undistinguished resume, Porker of the month. At a time when all Americans are being asked to be thrifty and spend wisely, Mr Frank has gone the opposite way again.Thus garnering the Porker of the Month award given by Citizens Against Government Waste, a taxpayer watchdog. Just one more trophy to add to his already extensive collection of incompetency awards.
If you are fed up with Phony Barney Frank, contact him and tell him to be a real leader and stop insulting the people's intelligence. We are unto you Barney.
Thanks to Leslie Paige for providing information related to this story.
You can contact Leslie @ 202-467-5334 or lpaige@cagw.org
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