Politics!!

My guess: the entire workforce at the big three was significantly higher than market rates.  They were higher because of a union.  Not because of the merits of the individual worker.  The same cannot be said of the AIG situation.

AIG promised bonuses to keep their employees and key players in OTHER AREAS OF BUSINESS from bailing on the company.  If you lose all of your key workers, you're going to fail no matter how much money the federal government gives you.  Contrary to the beliefs of many, the people getting these bonuses could have left for other jobs without any real issue.  Some had offers on the table that they turned down to come back and help.  Was it some benevolent self sacrificing act? No, they came back because they were offered good money to do so.  Congress knew about it from the start.  For them to come back and participate in a media frenzy permeated with misinformation was a joke.  The whole thing was huge exercise in CYA.  People bemoaned the bonuses in lieu of the massive amounts of money they were given.  That was a huge investment.  One that shouldn't have happened, but huge none the less.  As such, the country's interest is in the success of the company which isn't going to happen if their best and brightest bail given the uncertainty of AIG's future.  Again, those bonuses did that.  They also amounted to less than one percent of the bailout.  The media and our Congress were more than happy to allow the public misconceptions about what went on continue.  Just as they were with regards to "retreats" they held last summer.  Retreats that had already been paid for or were a minimal cost to the company.  What is even more disgusting in all of this is that they put these individuals and their families in danger.  The AG in NY is the most despicable of all these politicians, threatening to release their names in his tirade of false outrage.  I can't stand what our government has become and continues to become.  Term limits can't get here soon enough.  That's the only thing I hope comes out of this climate of fear.  Unfortunately, I think people are just going to happily hand over more power to these people who rant about the super rich and then jump in their limousines and head home to their multi million dollar mansions.
 
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20871.html

Tell me this doesn't turn your stomache.

Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations for paying high salaries to their employees — and, by extension, to themselves.

“These are complicated companies,” one CEO said. Offered another: “We’re competing for talent on an international market.”

But President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.”

“My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”
 
"Not to sound like a conspiracy nut, but this crisis is every bit as manufactured as the great depression. It marks a transition in government and personal property rights that moves our country not towards socialism, but towards a corporatist form of government. The purpose of this crisis is the amalgamation of capital in the hands of the few, not the many.

If you wanted to impose serfdom on a population how would you do it?
Destroy the equity that a person has in their house and thus destroy the concept of ownership.
Destroy the value of currency. If you make a person work for credit you can manipulate the value of goods and services to impose perpetual debt. As the song goes “I owe my soul to the company store”.
Take away personal mobility with high fuel prices, high vehicle prices, reduce the amount of credit available for auto purchases and end production of automobiles. By taking away personal mobility a person no longer has social mobility or class mobility!
Institute a system of apprenticeship and job classification which denies people class and social mobility.
Institute a national ID card that can be turned into a system of internal passport.
Establish a system of cartels that center on raw materials, energy and consumer goods.
Establish a system of patronage where elected officials are bound to the interests of the cartels and not their constituents.
Establish a system of weak and ineffective oversight of campaign contributions.
Establish a system of weak and ineffective price controls on goods and services."- END QUOTE

We have all been bought and sold. We just don't know it yet.
 
and what would be the final purpose of this great plan?
Next you are going to say that the government has built mega massgraves and FEMA concentration camps, and is planning to kill 90% of all americans.... :tard:
 
Marko said:
and what would be the final purpose of this great plan?
Next you are going to say that the government has built mega massgraves and FEMA concentration camps, and is planning to kill 90% of all americans.... :tard:

I think you missed waay wide of the mark.
 
jerryjg said:
"Not to sound like a conspiracy nut, but this crisis is every bit as manufactured as the great depression. It marks a transition in government and personal property rights that moves our country not towards socialism, but towards a corporatist form of government. The purpose of this crisis is the amalgamation of capital in the hands of the few, not the many.

If you wanted to impose serfdom on a population how would you do it?
Destroy the equity that a person has in their house and thus destroy the concept of ownership.
Destroy the value of currency. If you make a person work for credit you can manipulate the value of goods and services to impose perpetual debt. As the song goes “I owe my soul to the company store”.
Take away personal mobility with high fuel prices, high vehicle prices, reduce the amount of credit available for auto purchases and end production of automobiles. By taking away personal mobility a person no longer has social mobility or class mobility!
Institute a system of apprenticeship and job classification which denies people class and social mobility.
Institute a national ID card that can be turned into a system of internal passport.
Establish a system of cartels that center on raw materials, energy and consumer goods.
Establish a system of patronage where elected officials are bound to the interests of the cartels and not their constituents.
Establish a system of weak and ineffective oversight of campaign contributions.
Establish a system of weak and ineffective price controls on goods and services."- END QUOTE

We have all been bought and sold. We just don't know it yet.

Right on man.... We all have to wake up
 
dbw said:
mindology said:
words like socialism and fascism are just deterrents to the mass totalitarianism that is at the sub level of all of this.

This might be the dumbest thing anyone has ever said on this forum, which is really kind of impressive.  Kudos.  I'm off this topic as well, bye

haha... Guess this is what I get for getting into a political discussion on a guitar forum!!!
I think everyone has made good points, although I disagree with some.  With that said, I would never point anyone out or judge someones character or intelligence. It is easy to pop in and criticize someone without an argument of their own. 
you know, I expect a little better interaction from this forum, especially a "hero member."

This is the classic example of a ad hominem fallacy.
definition:
1. appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason.
2. attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.

thanks guys for the interaction!!!!! I think it is great to get these ideas out on the table.
 
Lucky #007 said:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20871.html

Tell me this doesn't turn your stomache.

Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations for paying high salaries to their employees — and, by extension, to themselves.

“These are complicated companies,” one CEO said. Offered another: “We’re competing for talent on an international market.”

But President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.”

“My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”




It does. Its sickening. You have the one" bad guy"filthy rich banker in back  smiling -obviously set up to be the "bad guy" so we can transfer all of our frustration onto him, while the rest of the bankers look "sincere and concerned".  Guess what..these guys need to keep their day jobs( well, they actually need to lose them), cause they are very BAD actors. They obviolusly havent a care in the world like the rest of uS. Try and see through it. It does "turn my stomach"!!
 
jerryjg said:
Marko said:
and what would be the final purpose of this great plan?
Next you are going to say that the government has built mega massgraves and FEMA concentration camps, and is planning to kill 90% of all americans.... :tard:

I think you missed waay wide of the mark.

I am just having a go at conspiracy theories in general.. most of them are sooo far fetched.
 
jerryjg said:
Obamas firing of the GM exceutives has some people screaming "Fascism"..others saying its "Socialism".  I've even heard that its a move  in idealogy towards "Communism" .  ...Well...???

I think people should protest outside the white house and demand that obama step down, and see how he likes it :icon_thumright:
 
Back
Top