I weep for this country.

Preview from Europe: The Bears Are Back

Read the actual bill it is available on the House's website. Despite how it has been reported it: taxes any individual whose salary and bonus combined is more than 125k. Households combined whose salary and bonus amount to more than 250K are also subject to the taking. So if you work at one of these banks, earn 100K a year and got a 26 K bonus and are the sole breadwinner of your house, the gov't will take your entire bonus. Does that seem fair to the over 116K employs of AIG who had nothing to do with the London based FP unit who work hard to provide for the familes and were counting on the bonus to pay loans and mortgages? Who are working hard to ensure that the company remains profitable to pay back the taxpayer! Wasn't that the whole point of the bailout? Or was it to pay the counterparties? Hmmmm... Oh, by the way, this tax doesn't actually tax the London based employees that everyone wants to flog. And it doesn't tax Merril Lynch because unlike AIG they are still allowed to lobby Congress. Can't wait for our best and brightest to go to Zurich, Banco Sociale and other foreign entities and the US Economy collapes. Way to go!

Financial Sector Must Be Reined In

The real genius here is the architect of this outrage residing in the current adminstration. They were able to turn the country's attention to these bonuses (which they knew about for months and endorsed since AIG's Board is unable to take any action without running it by the Fed) and away from the billions that went to the counterparties, i.e., Goldmen, etc... They were the ones bailed out, not AIG. They were the ones who created the mortages not AIG. The day the identity of the counterparties were released the outrage from Washington was created.
It is obvious, but still the sheep all waive their pick signs and our upset that these folks got bonuses because they are trying to unwind accounts that could cost the taxpayers way more than they have paid so far!
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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was getting the world to believe he didn't exist!