House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) initially spoke out against the plan to tax AIG bonuses at 90 percent.
But he's waving the pitchfork now -- right at Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Rangel, speaking on NY1 (our favorite station) on Friday night, was in a feisty populist mood:
"Because someone screwed up, period. With all due respect to [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner and [former Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson, they come out of Wall Street and Goldman Sachs. They don't know what pain is," said Rangel. "So getting a $6 million bonus is just natural to them. They don't know shame, they don't know how to apologize. They never feel the awkwardness of seeing the people who've lost their lives economically as a result of their greed."
One has to wonder if Rangel delivered the same lecture to Wall Street execs as he was taking their cash.
Much of the chairman's $5 million-plus 2008 campaign war chest came from financial firms -- and the Times recently reported that he solicited -- and got -- a $5 million contribution to the public service school named in his honor from a foundation run by former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg.
Moreover, Rangel's five top five donors were all big financial/insurance firms: AXA ($62,100), TARP-gobbling Citigroup ($61,950), Credit Suisse ($56,800), MetLife ($50,500) and JPMorgan Chase ($50,200), according to CRP. - Politico
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