Comments on: IS AIG BLACKMAILING THE GOVERNMENT OVER BONUSES?

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:30:36 +0000

Jane Hamsher gets taken to the woodshed for what she wrote, how is she even slightly relevant in this AIG mess? What, AIG misbehaved but that nasty leftist Hamsher must be dealt with? Get a grip Rick.

By: Neo

Neo — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:03:43 +0000

Keeping the traders who created this pyramid of bad paper in place may be our only shot at unraveling their complex transactions without bringing the whole system down around our ears.

Isn’t this the exact same situation that the CIA faced after 9/11. The guys who missed the “big one” were the only folks who could stop the “next one.”

By: Neo

Neo — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:58:18 +0000

The truth of it all can be seen at Treasury.

Count the empty desks.

These Wall Street guys are used to a bigger take-home than the federal government gives Senators and Presidents.

The “strings of the TARP” are like a plague .. with good help running to the next financial institution at the first sign of a threat of a smaller paycheck.

Frankly, who can blame them .. it’s part of the market.

By: cedarhill

cedarhill — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:08:11 +0000

Followup from the real world.

Will Tony and Jack release, inadvertently a virus that kills mankind? Will they detonate a nuke over New York. It sure looks like 24 is trying to reprise all their plot lines including resurrection. All while they do ads to control global warming.

How about Jack Bauer simply commit suicide in order to end this year’s nightmare and deep six the series? Maybe Fox be kind and banish it to the realm of reruns? Or perhaps Obama’s teleprompter?

By: cedarhill

cedarhill — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:01:57 +0000

Over at Powerline they have a transcript that shows regulators had the power, knew they had it, had the resources and just “made a mistake” in not shutting it down in 2004.

What strikes one in all this is we would be net better off if AIG had went into bankruptcy. The Fed could still have intervened and floated them. No one would have gotten bonuses. Liquidations would have been priced, records would be open to the public, etc., etc., etc.

So where are we today? Not much if one measures things by solutions. And now we have Barney (Fife) pointing his empty gun again and the moonbats in full flight.

By: michael reynolds

michael reynolds — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:42:20 +0000

I think Congressman Ackerman may have suggested much the same thing. (Caveat: half-heard Chris Matthews interview while my kids squabbled.) I did hear all of Pat Buchanan’s response afterward and he seemed to be taking the accusations seriously. (Caveat: Buchanan is about half nuts.)

I thought Liddy made a fairly compelling case that as ridiculous as this situation is, we need to keep these AIG employees to pick through their own debris.

By the way: it’s just not a good idea to watch a House committee at work. That way lies despair.