Posts Tagged ‘bailout’

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I’ll Scratch Your Back…. if You Pay Me (and could you make that in gold we are killing the dollar)

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
Newsweek
By Michael Isikoff and Dina Fine Maron
There was plenty of outrage on Capitol Hill last week over the executive bonuses paid out by AIG after getting federal bailout money. But another money trail could make voters just as angry: the campaign dollars to members of Congress from banks and firms that have received billions via the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
While a few big firms, such as Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, have curtailed their campaign giving, others are quietly doling out cash to select members of Congress, particularly those who serve on committees that oversee TARP. In recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, the political action committee for Bank of America (which got $15 billion in bailout money) sent out $24,500 in the first two months of 2009, including $1,500 to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and another $15,000 to members of the House and Senate banking panels. Citigroup ($25 billion) dished out $29,620, including $2,500 to House GOPWhip Eric Cantor, who also got $10,000 from UBS which, while not a TARP recipient, got $5 billion in bailout funds as an AIG “counterparty.” “This certainly appears to be a case of TARP funds being recycled into campaign contributions,” says Brett Kappell, a D.C. lawyer who tracks donations. (A spokesman for Cantor did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Hoyer said it’s his “policy to accept legal contributions.”)
The cash flow is already causing angst inside the Beltway. “The last thing I want to do is wake up one morning and see our PAC check being burned on C-Span,” said one bank lobbyist, who asked not to be identified because of the issue’s sensitivity. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Financial Services chair Rep. Barney Frank both said recently they won’t take donations from TARP recipients. But House Democratic fundraisers have quietly passed the word that the party’s campaign committee will resume accepting them—but down the road, not right now. Said one fundraiser, who also requested anonymity, “These are treacherous waters.”
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Face Forward Comments:
To use a phrase that my 13 year old foster kiddo uses, “OMG”! How in the name of Thomas Jefferson could these guys have the nerve to take the money? It’s bad enough that they are taking money from banks that they regulate, now they are taking our tax money back they gave to the bank. I believe that would stand up as conflict of interest in anyone’s court.
<>Congressional Oversight Panel
Elizabeth Warren Chair Democrat
Rep. Jeb Hensarling Republican
Richard H. Neiman Democrat
Damon Silvers Co-Chair Democrat

Above are the members of the committee overseeing the TARP funds. No word yet if any of them have received campaign donations from any banks receiving TARP funds. If they are your representative you need to find out.

I am still searching but have not come up with a complete list of those that are involved in overseeing TARP fund or any of the Stimulus package funds. My guess is that everyone in the House and Senate are involved at some level. I also don’t have a list (yet) of those having received campaign funds from TARP, AIG, the Stimulus package or any of the hundreds of recent government handouts. However, I am calling my State Officials representing me in Washington and I am going to find out if they have.  I suggest you do the same thing.

With your elected officials in the House and Senate already taking campaign donations from bail out banks and the lobbyist that represent them, I find it an odd time for Obama to continue to speak out against lobbyist. That is especially strange when so many key appointees in his administration come from or have had their own lobbying firms.  Read the following from President Obama.

“Decisions about how Recovery Act dollars are spent will be based on the merits. They will not be made as a way of doing favors for lobbyists. Any lobbyists who wants to talk with a member of my administration about a particular Recovery Act project will have to submit their thoughts in writing, and we will post it on the internet for all to see. If any member of my administration does meet with a lobbyist about a Recovery Act project, every American will be able to go online and see what that meeting was all about. These are unprecedented restrictions that will help ensure that lobbyists do not stand in the way of our recovery.” Barak Obama, President

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SACARASIM ALERT
Evidently, the members of Congress receiving campaign contributions coming from TARP funded financial institutions are not as committed to monitoring lobbyist and their attempts to buy influence in Washington as Mr. Obama. ff

 chaos theory 300x181 Ill Scratch Your Back.... if You Pay Me (and could you make that in gold we are killing the dollar)

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Tax Tea Parties are Brewing and the Movement is Growing

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Taxpayers Strike Back With ‘Tea Parties’ Monday, March 16, 2009 By Bret Baier
Foxnews.com

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Police in Cincinnati say at least 4,000 people showed up Sunday for a grassroots protest of wasteful government spending in general, and President Obama’s stimulus package and budget in particular.

It was one of many tea party protests around the country — inspired by the Revolutionary War era Boston Tea Party protesting British taxation. Protesters had signs reading “Give us liberty, not debt” and “Where’s my bailout?”

One report states there are more than 150 tea parties scheduled across the nation in the upcoming months. The events so far have been largely ignored by the mainstream media, but several blogs are tracking them.

Noel Sheppard, associate editor for the conservative NewsBusters.org writes on the coverage so far: “Compare that to how these networks practically fell all over themselves to report war protests after the public’s opinion changed concerning Iraq in late 2003.”

Face Forward Comments:
The most appalling part of the article states, “They are largely ignored by mainstream media”.  If mainstream media is not going to cover this mainstream populace movement, then we are going to have to do it ourselves.  I suggest that everyone that has a blog, website, facebook page, linkedIn account or any other means of communicating to large numbers, share information. Use your email list and tweets to get the word out. If they (mainstream media) won’t cover us then we will cover and promote ourselves.

boiling tax tea 300x158 Tax Tea Parties are Brewing and the Movement is Growing

Tax Payers are Boiling Mad

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