Obama Deficits will be 4X Bushes

(CBS/AP) President Barack Obama's budget would produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade, more than four times the deficits of Republican George W. Bush's presidency, congressional auditors said Friday.

The new Congressional Budget Office figures offered a far more dire outlook for Obama's budget than the new administration predicted just last month — a deficit $2.3 trillion worse. It's a prospect even the president's own budget director called unsustainable.

In his White House run, Obama assailed the economic policies of his predecessor, but the eye-popping deficit numbers threaten to swamp his ambitious agenda of overhauling health care, exploring new energy sources and enacting scores of domestic programs.

The dismal deficit figures, if they prove to be accurate, inevitably raise the prospect that Obama and his Democratic allies controlling Congress would have to consider raising taxes after the recession ends or else pare back his agenda.

By CBO's calculation, Obama's budget would generate deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year of red ink over 2010-2019.

Worst of all, CBO says the deficit under Obama's policies would never go below 4 percent of the size of the economy, figures that economists agree are unsustainable. By the end of the decade, the deficit would exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product, a dangerously high level.

White House budget chief Peter Orszag said that CBO's long-range economic projections are more pessimistic than those of the White House, private economists and the Federal Reserve and that he remained confident that Obama's budget, if enacted, would produce smaller deficits.

Even so, Orszag acknowledged that if the CBO projections prove accurate, Obama's budget would produce deficits that could not be sustained.

"Deficits in the, let's say, 5 percent of GDP range would lead to rising debt-to-GDP ratios that would ultimately not be sustainable," Orszag told reporters. - CBS News Story

Well America, this is what you voted for. He sold you the bill of goods and now we are going to get the bill.

The deficits that they are talking about are astronomical. There might not be enough red ink in the USA for what Obama is planning. But hey, we can put people to work by getting us more red ink.

For the record, I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!

The President has some Explaining to do

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., called on President Obama on Friday to explain what happened when a provision was added to his economic stimulus bill last month that allowed AIG employees to receive $165 million in bonuses.

Waters' comments were the strongest criticism yet from a Democrat over a controversy that continues to grow.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, confessed Wednesday to adding language to a spending cap in the stimulus bill that specifically excluded executive bonuses agreed to before the bill's passage. But he added that Treasury officials forced him to make the change to protect the government from potential lawsuits.

It was a reversal from Dodd's position a day earlier, when he strongly denied he had anything to do with adding the provision.

"They've got some explaining to do," Waters told Joe Scarborough on his WABC radio show Friday morning. "And I think the president is going to have to clarify to the American public what took place between Treasury and Mr. Dodd.

"Obviously, there appears to be some sort of an agreement that they would protect AIG from having to give those bonuses. I don't know who said what and when," she added. "Chris Dodd said he wrote the language but that he was pressured practically by Treasury. Maybe the president is not up to speed on what is going on, but I think it is going to have to be clarified."

The provision added to the stimulus bill was a broad measure that applied to all companies receiving bailout money, not just AIG, though the AIG bonuses in particular have caused outrage in Washington and around the country after the insurance giant received more than $170 billion in federal aid.

The U.S. government now has an 80 percent stake in the company, which was hit hard by the downturn in the housing sector and by the failure of complex securities based on risky mortgages. - FOX News

Ya think? But he says he and his Treasury Secretary knew nothing. Come on, everyone seems to believe everything this guy says. Why not now? Is it because your own butt is going to be in a sling the way this is all going. No one to blame here but yourselves. Bush isn't there for you to put this on.

Obama's Record Shattering Deficit

(CBS/AP) The federal budget deficit for the current year will top $1.8 trillion under the latest estimates produced by congressional economists, say Capitol Hill aides briefed on the figures.

The Congressional Budget Office's estimate of President Barack Obama's budget for next year show a worsening picture for 2010 as well, with a deficit of almost $1.4 trillion expected under administration policies. Mr. Obama had predicted about $200 billion less.

The aides spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of public release of the figures later Friday.

The latest figures, fueled by the $700 billion Wall Street bailout and diving tax revenues stemming from the worsening recession, would shatter the previous record for a federal shortfall of $459 billion, set just last year.

Democrats insist the huge deficit won't crimp Mr. Obama's ambitious agenda. The White House reminds daily that Mr. Obama inherited a terrible fiscal situation. FOX News Story

I finally figured it out!!!! Obama and the Democrats are telling us that within 5 years they will cut the annual deficit in half. I believe them!!! If you take a $500 Billion deficit and drive it up to over $1 Trillion for the next 2-3 years, then when you bring it back down to where it was in the first place you have cut it in half. You really haven't done a damn thing, but you can say you cut it in half and you would technically be right. In America it is all in how you word it.

What a schmuck.

Obama bans Press from Press Award Ceremony

Barack Obama was elected commander in chief promising to run the most transparent presidential administration in American history.

This achievement and the overall promise of his historic administration caused the National Newspaper Publishers Assn. to name him "Newsmaker of the Year."

The president is to receive the award from the federation of black community newspapers in a White House ceremony this afternoon.

The Obama White House has closed the press award ceremony to the press.

From the president's official schedule:

"Later in the afternoon, the President and the First Lady will attend a reception with the National Newspaper Publisher Association in the State Dining Room, where they will be presented the Newsmaker of the Year award. This event is closed press."

Maybe they'll let the newspaper people pass the award through the fence.

-- Andrew Malcolm - LA Times

There it is, that all so important Transparency in Government. This is crazy. Maybe he knows he doesn't deserve the award.

Democratic infighting over AIG Bonuses

As the House passed new legislation Thursday to crack down on the outrage-inspiring bonuses, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the Banking Committee chairman, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner engaged in finger-pointing about who was responsible for Congress' failure to prevent them in the first place.

Dodd, a five-term senator, was already facing a tough re-election contest in 2010. He says the Obama administration insisted he modify his proposal to rein in bonuses at companies getting billions of dollars in financial bailouts so that it would only apply to payments agreed to in the future — thus clearing the way for the AIG payouts.

It was that or have his executive pay limits dropped altogether from the $787 billion stimulus measure that passed last month, Dodd says.

He agreed to the changes "in order to preserve the amendment," Dodd told reporters Thursday. "They sought it; I didn't. They asked for the changes ... and so we agreed to those changes."

Geithner said Thursday that his staff merely pointed out that without the change, the government risked being sued by executives in line to get big bonuses from bailout recipients.

"What we did is just express concern about the vulnerability of a specific part of this provision, the legal challenge, as you would expect us to do. That's part of the legislative process," he told CNN.

The treasury chief also appeared to back away from the administration's previous assertion that Geithner first learned of the bonuses last week. Interviewed on CNN, Geithner said only that he "learned of the full scale and scope of these specific" bonus payments at that point.

Both men had positive things to say about each other despite the dispute over who watered down the bill. - FOX News Story

Either way, the prove is in the argument. They knew about the bonuses and did nothing about it until the public showed outrage. The new they were coming, both sides have different opinions about what they could do, so they did nothing. So don't sit up their on your pedestal and say you didn't know. You might not of known when, but you knew.

Obama's Broken Promise #3

Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 240:

Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials

"No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."

Sources: Obama ethics plan

Subjects: Ethics, Workers

See Politifact.com

This one has been driving me nuts from the beginning. I have had correspondence with the folks at Politifact to get this down as a Promise Broken when Obama passed his rule and then agreed to have waivers. It just took some time but it was finally ruled as such.

This is a great website for the no nonsense, bipartisan follow up on what is going on in Washington. Politifact.com

Treasury Secretary admits to allowing Bonus Loophole

(CNN) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told CNN Thursday his department asked Sen. Chris Dodd to include a loophole in the stimulus bill that allowed bailed-out insurance giant American International Group to keep its bonuses.

In an interview with CNN's Ali Velshi, Geithner said the Treasury Department was particularly concerned the government would face lawsuits if bonus contracts were breached. - CNN Story

Treasury Secretary on Thin Ice

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is not only struggling to right the reeling economy, he's also fighting for his political life.

Battered by controversy surrounding the $165 million in bonuses doled out by AIG and still reeling from tax problems that jeopardized his nomination last January, Geithner has been assailed this week by Republican leaders over his handling of the financial crisis.

Many speculate that Geithner may soon find himself a victim of the bailout bonus controversy. Odds that Geithner will be ousted by June 30th have doubled to 21 percent over the past two days according to predictions by intrade.com, The Business Insider reports.

A barrage of recent criticism lends credence to the Web site's assessment of the treasury secretary's withering prospects for survival. Here's what some of Geithner's Capital Hill critics are saying:

"Secretary Geithner either didn’t know about the bonuses, and was grossly negligent, or he did know and failed to bring this to the President’s attention," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) in a statement yesterday. "Either way, the end result has been a significant waste of taxpayer dollars and he should take immediate responsibility and resign."

"Quite simply, the Timothy Geithner experience has been a disaster," said Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) in a statement calling for Geithner's resignation. "The Treasury Department is in disarray. Taxpayer dollars are being wasted. America’s economy hangs in the balance. America needs and deserves a Treasury Secretary who can truly lead us forward."

"As I said yesterday, I think the Treasury Secretary is on thin ice and the sooner we get answers to the questions we’ve posed, the better off he might be as well," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, at a news conference today. - CBS News

This guy has made a bad situation worse. The President has said "He has made all the right moves". What in the hell is he watching. When this guy talks, the whole Country cringes. He single handily crashed the stock market on more than one occasion. He has been a train wreck that hasn't stopped.

Obama Envoy sat on Board of AIG during Collapse

Obama administration special envoy Richard Holbrooke was on the American International Group Inc. board of directors in early 2008 when the insurance company locked in the bonuses now stoking outrage across the U.S.

Holbrooke, a veteran diplomat who is now the administration's point man on Pakistan and Afghanistan, served on the board between 2001 and mid-2008. During that period, AIG undertook the aggressive investment strategies that led to a near-collapse and forced a multibillion-dollar federal bailout.

President Obama has insisted his administration was not responsible for AIG's financial woes, and a White House spokesman said Thursday that Holbrooke was unaware of AIG's decision to award retention bonuses to key employees.

"Mr. Holbrooke had nothing to do with and knew nothing about the bonuses," spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Close to $165 million in bonus money was paid last weekend.

It remains unclear whether AIG's decision to grant the bonuses ever came before the board. A Holbrooke spokesman declined comment, referring calls to the White House.

Obama named Holbrooke as a special envoy on Jan. 22, two days after taking office. Vietor said administration officials were aware of Holbrooke's work for AIG during background checks this year -- when AIG already had benefited from federal intervention. - FOX News Story

The point is not what he knew and when about the bonuses. The point should be, here is a person that the President has put in a position of power and influence who sat on the Board of Directors for one of the worst economically damaging companies in American History. The worst part is the White House readily admits that the President has never discussed AIG with him. Wouldn't you want to know what his perception and thoughts on the whole collapse of his Company?

Tonight Show with Obama

President Obama sat down with Jay Leno on Thursday for a late-night TV interview that spanned a range of topics -- from the economic crisis to the presidential dog -- and even, at one point, featured the president joking that his bowling ability was suitable for the Special Olympics.

The bowling comment was a reminder of his poor performance on the lanes last year during one of his campaign stops. Obama bragged to "The Tonight Show" that he recently bowled 129 on the White House alley.

"It's like Special Olympics," he said.

Obama said he was stunned when he learned of the bonuses that bailed-out insurance giant AIG was paying its employees, and the payments raise moral end ethical problems. The administration's going to do everything it can to get them back, he said.

But Obama added the bigger problem is the culture that allowed traders to claim them. He says that's got to change if the economy is to recover.

"The larger problem is we have to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough, and people have a sense of responsibility and they understand that their actions are going to have an impact one everybody," Obama said. "If we can get back to those values that built America, we're going to be okay."

According to NBC, Obama was the first sitting president ever to appear on "The Tonight Show." He'd already appeared twice as a candidate.

Obama's TV appearance Thursday came during a series of stops in California intended to rally support for his budget proposal and his solutions to the widespread economic troubles facing the country, but some have questioned whether a light-hearted chat with Leno would strike a humorous tone when a serious one was merited.

"It's not an accident that no sitting president has ever done a show like this," media analyst Steve Adubato told FOX News on Thursday before Obama's TV appearance. - FOX News

Treasury Grandfathered in Bonuses with Bailout

It was a day of outrage on Capitol Hill. Outrage that AIG, recipient of almost $180 billion in federal bailout money, is paying out $165 million in "retention awards" to hundreds of employees, including 73 bonuses of $1 million or more and 11 payments to people who no longer work for AIG.

As CBS News and others have documented, that outrage is disingenuous coming from lawmakers who have known about the pending bonuses for months.

In particular, it's disingenuous coming from anyone who voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (a.k.a. the Obama stimulus package). The stimulus bill included provisions to limit executive compensation at companies receiving federal bailout money. But it also stated explicitly that the limits would not apply to bonuses agreed to prior to Feb. 11, 2009.

For several days, news organizations have been trying to determine who put that clause in the bill. The Treasury Department, reeling from the bad PR associated with propping up AIG while letting the bonuses go forward, pointed its finger at Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

The administration official said the Treasury Department did its own legal analysis and concluded that those contracts could not be broken. The official noted that even a provision recently pushed through Congress by Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, had an exemption for such bonus agreements already in place.

The Treasury's linking Dodd to the provision allowing the bonuses is true, but, again, disingenuous and misleading.

Dodd put the amendment in the stimulus bill limiting executive compensation with no grandfather clause. Under pressure from the Obama administration and the Treasury Department (the same Treasury Department pointing its finger at Dodd), he was forced to add the grandfather clause or abandon his amendment altogether.

(The narrative of these events was ably documented by FireDogLake.com's Jane Hamsher and later by Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald. The Treasury's linking Dodd to the grandfather clause was particularly effective because Dodd has numerous links to AIG and has received more campaign donations from the company than any other senator.)

Today, Dodd spoke out in an impromptu appearance on CNN's "The Situation Room."

"The alternative was losing, in my view, the entire section on executive excessive compensation. Given the choice, this is not an uncommon occurrence here, I agreed to a modification in the legislation. Reluctantly," he said. "I wasn't negotiating with myself here. I wasn't changing my own amendment. I was changing the amendment because others were insisting upon it."

The appearance wasn't exactly a cake walk for Dodd. His interviewers focused on the fact that in an appearance the day before, he denied any involvement whatsoever with the clause allowing the bonuses. Untrue, to be sure.

Still, Dodd made clear who wanted the change.

"The administration expressed reservations about the amendment," he said. "They came to us and asked for modifications to the amendment. I was being sought out and asked to modify this, with the alternative, candidly, being losing the amendment itself."

He added, "There were many who were highly critical of the Dodd amendment on compensation – excessive compensation. I find it ironic that the very people who were critical of me putting that amendment in a month and a half ago are now the very people saying we went too far."

He said that the amendment still included a provision disallowing bonuses "contrary to public interest," and said, "Ironically, it's the administration, relying on that section, which is using that as a means by which they can reach back and try to get at these bonuses, which I'm confident we will." - CBS News

This is all such a joke. The fake outrage from Washington. They all new about the bonuses for months. The Treasury (Obama included you would presume) asked for the language in the bailout to be changed to grandfather in the bonuses.

You here the Treasury saying we will recoup the money in the next bailout. What? They say the will deduct the bonuses from the next bailout. OK, that makes sense. You owe me $20, and ask to borrow $40. I am only giving you another $20 cause you owe me $20 already. Have I recovered anything? What a joke.

Citi Spending $10 Million on Executive Suites

(CBS) After outcry from lawmakers and the public, Citigroup scrapped plans to purchase a $50 million corporate jet purchase earlier this year. But now the bank, which has taken billions in federal bailout money, is moving forward with construction of a new executive suite that will cost more than $10 million, reports Bloomberg.

The new space will include 17 private offices, conference rooms and open areas with soft seating, according to plans pulled from New York City's Department of Buildings. There are also specifications for Sub-Zero refrigerators. Citigroup says CEO Vikram Pandit needs the renovated space so he can keep his top executives in one place.

Back in February, Pandit, who took home $38 million as his company got $45 billion in taxpayer money, vowed to lawmakers that he would eliminate corporate excess, saying "I get the new reality and I'll make sure Citi gets it as well."

But on the second floor of 399 Park Avenue, Citigroup has already spent more than $3 million dollars on something as basic as wall removal, reports Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker.

"This is all in the eye of the beholder. From the standpoint of the observer, you might ask what were they thinking?" Schatzker told CBS' The Early Show. "$45 billion in bailout money and this is the only major bank to be bailed out or rescued - three times by the U.S. taxpayer. Add it together and why now?"

"The other side is Citigroup's argument in their defense, to say the project began before the TARP money was handed out. That said, the approvals did not come through until after the money was given. There was an opportunity for Citigroup to say maybe we shouldn't proceed right now. They do say it will cut down on space and they are consolidating offices and over the long-term will save the bank money."

And while $10 million is a relatively small sum compared to the $165 million in AIG bonuses that has sparked such outrage, Citigroup's project may still draw criticism from lawmakers and taxpayers, said Schatzker.

"That cuts to the issue that people are concerned about, which is are the bankers on Wall Street tone deaf to what's going on in Washington. ... $10 million is not $165 million, but in many people's minds down in D.C., where you have the public representative, it's not a matter of how much, but the principal."

Back in February, the U.S. announced the most recent element of Citigroup's rescue package - up to $25 billion in exchange for a 36 percent stake in the company. - CBS News

Democrats Aware of AIG Bonuses in December

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 1, 2008 Contact: Jennifer Kohl 202.225.4289 or 202.225.4025 Trudy Perkins 410.685.9199 or 202.225.4641

Letter to AIG Seeking Information on 'Retention Payments'

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and a member of the Joint Economic Committee, sent the letter below to Edward Liddy, President & CEO of AIG, requesting information about the company's 'retention payments' to executives which were announced the day after AIG executives said they would be forgoing bonuses. December 1, 2008 Mr. Edward M. Liddy Chief Executive Officer American International Group, Inc. 70 Pine Street New York, NY 10270 Dear Mr. Liddy: I write today to request that American International Group (AIG) fully disclose to the public the extent of the payments being made to senior company executives under your employee “retention program.” The limited information that is currently available to the public about this program is insufficient to constitute the level of disclosure that the American taxpayers, who have bailed out this firm repeatedly in recent weeks, have the right to expect. In form 8-K dated September 22, 2008, and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), AIG disclosed the following: “On September 22, 2008, a retention program of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) became effective. The program applies to approximately 130 executives and consists of cash awards payable 60 percent in December 2008 and 40 percent in December 2009.” AIG has recently indicated that it will not provide performance bonuses in 2008. However, in what appears to be a disingenuous “slight of hand,” AIG has announced its intention to continue to provide the retention program payments (commonly known as retention bonuses) previously announced in September – albeit some executives have apparently opted to delay receipt of these payments (but not to forgo them). Thus, in form 8-K dated November 24, 2008, and filed with the SEC, AIG disclosed the following: “On November 24, 2008, the Executive Officers of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) who participate in its previously disclosed retention program, including Chief Financial Officer David Herzog and Executive Vice President Jay Wintrob, volunteered to delay payments thereunder, with the first installment being delayed from December 2008 until April 2009 and the second installment being delayed from December 2009 until April 2010. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edward M. Liddy does not participate in this program.” In September of this year (and several days prior to the SEC filing announcing the “retention program”), the U.S. taxpayers provided a bailout loan of $85 billion to keep AIG afloat; in return, the federal government received an ownership stake in the firm. Subsequent actions increased the total size of the bailout to more than $150 billion – and restructured some of the initial loans provided to the firm. Without taxpayer intervention, AIG would have ceased to exist and, to be blunt, all of its employees would have lost their jobs. Against this background – and given the massive layoffs occurring at other major financial entities, such as Citibank – the American taxpayers have a right to know why senior executives at AIG, who are frankly lucky to still have jobs, need to receive additional bonus payments of any kind to retain them at AIG. To that end, I request that AIG disclose to the public the following information: Which executives in which AIG divisions are receiving the retention payments – and how much is each executive receiving? What are the base salaries of the executives receiving the retention payments? Are all executives delaying receipt of these payments until April 2009 – or, if any executive is not delaying receipt of the payments, which executive or executives is/are receiving payments in December 2008 and how much is each executive receiving? Why is it necessary for any AIG executive to receive a retention payment – and why is it necessary that these be scheduled for April 2009 and April 2010? What will be the source of the retention payments provided in 2009 and 2010? AIG has previously claimed in correspondence to me that it is working “to create a transparent, accountable culture to regain the trust of the American people.” The disclosure of the information requested here will be a first step toward providing the kind of transparency that the American people have the right to expect from a private firm to which they have provided more than $150 billion in financial assistance. Sincerely, Elijah E. Cummings Member of Congress This is a Democratic Congressman. Note the date of this letter. Note that he talks about AIG releasing this information in September. Note - THEY ALL NEW AND DID NOTHING!!!! Click Here to See Actual Press Release Site

Democrats ready to put Brakes on Obama

Barack Obama’s Big Bang Theory of Governance is starting to face its first big test among the new president’s fellow Democrats.

At the White House Tuesday morning, Obama began the day with a sharp push-back against the idea that his uncommonly ambitious agenda on health care, energy and other initiatives is too much, too soon.

As Obama’s remarks echoed on Capitol Hill, it soon became clear that the skeptics are not just Republicans.

There is rising doubt among Democrats — particularly moderates already concerned about the big costs and deficits called for in Obama’s budget — that either Obama or Washington have enough bandwidth this year to stimulate the economy, overhaul the failed financial sector and move on to a far-reaching domestic agenda.

“From the standpoint of the Congress, there’s only so much that we can absorb and do at one time,” Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, told POLITICO Tuesday. “To maintain a schedule like the one we’ve got at this moment, throughout the year, I don’t know if it will be healthy.”

Democrats’ comments were muted, with few directly criticizing Obama for being too ambitious. But several lawmakers made clear that they have trouble with Obama’s logic that deep economic troubles make it more urgent, not less, to take on expensive projects such as health care and education reform.

“Everybody has to bring something to the table,” said Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a leader of a 15-member caucus of conservative and centrist Democrats. “That doesn’t mean that you have to postpone your aspirations forever. But until we’re through this crisis and growth has resumed, there’s going to be some belt-tightening that’s necessary.”

These doubts reflect conflicting currents in Obama’s political circumstances just 60 days into his administration.

A majority of the public supports his hit-the-gas approach to his first year, according to polls. But it is clear that even in a period of one-party dominance in Washington, many ostensible allies are calculating how they can hit the brakes. - Politico.com Story

Fire the Treasury Secretary?

Florida Republican Rep. Connie Mack called for Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner to lose his job Wednesday, becoming the first Capitol Hill lawmakers to call for his ouster over AIG's using tens of millions of taxpayer dollars for executive bonuses.

"Quite simply, the Timothy Geithner experience has been a disaster. The Treasury Department is in disarray. Taxpayer dollars are being wasted. America's economy hangs in the balance. America needs and deserves a treasury secretary who can truly lead us forward," Mack said in a written statement.

He called on Geithner, the former New York Federal Reserve chief, either to resign or be fired, and said President Obama should nominate a new secretary with "the experience and leadership skills America deserves."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama has "complete confidence" in Geithner, as lawmakers began to question why the Treasury Department didn't do more to prevent American International Group from paying $165 million in bonuses even after receiving more than $170 billion in federal bailout money.

Though the administration claims Geithner found out about the bonuses only last Tuesday, Mack suggested he was more involved.

"Before Timothy Geithner became secretary of the Treasury, he was working hand-in-hand with AIG and other financial institutions to provide them hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money as one of the key architects of the financial sector bailout," he said. "I've had serious concerns about Secretary Geithner from the moment he was nominated. In the months since, he has shown us time and again why he was the wrong choice for this critical post."

Geithner faced criticism during his nomination over personal tax problems but ultimately won confirmation. - FOX News

I agree. This guy can claim he didn't know, but he has been involved with the financial institutions from the start of all of this and if it is true he didn't know then that is just as bad as not knowing. This guy is the wrong man for the job. He hasn't done much that I can think of right and a whole lot wrong.

Obama also said he has "complete confidence" in Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, whose handling of the situation with AIG has come under harsh criticism in Congress.

Obama said that Geithner has been "making all the right moves in playing a bad hand." - FOX News

I think Obama is out of touch if he thinks this guy is making all the right moves. That tells you a lot about the President if he thinks that way.

Bonuses for AIG known about for Months

For months, the Obama administration and members of Congress have known that insurance giant AIG was getting ready to pay huge bonuses while living off government bailouts. It wasn't until the money was flowing and news was trickling out to the public that official Washington rose up in anger and vowed to yank the money back.

Why the sudden furor, just weeks after Barack Obama's team paid out $30 billion in additional aid to the company? So far, the administration has been unable to match its actions to Mr. Obama's tough rhetoric on executive compensation. And Congress has been unable or unwilling to restrict bonuses for bailout recipients, despite some lawmakers' repeated efforts to do so.

The situation has the White House and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the defensive. The administration was caught off guard Tuesday trying to explain why Geithner had waited until last Wednesday to call AIG chief executive Edward M. Liddy and demand that the bonus payments be restructured.

I don't know if he (Geithner) should resign over this," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told CBS' The Early Show Tuesday, "But I can tell you, this is just another, you know, example of where he seems to be out of the loop."

Publicly, the White House expressed confidence in Geithner - but still made it clear he was the one responsible for how the matter was handled.

While administration officials insisted Tuesday that neither Mr. Obama nor Geithner learned of the impending bonus payments until last week, the problem wasn't new. AIG's plans to pay hundreds of millions of dollars were publicized last fall, when Congress started asking questions about expensive junkets the company had sponsored. A November SEC filing by the company details more than $469 million in "retention payments" to keep prized employees.

Back then, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., began pumping Liddy for information on the bonuses and pressing him to scale them back. "There was outrage brewing already," Cummings said. "I'm saying (to Liddy), 'Be a good citizen. ... Do something about this.'" - CBS Story

There is mounting evidence that the information about the AIG Bonuses was known for Months and nothing was done about it. Obama and his Administration are laying out claims that they only became aware last Thursday, but there has been evidence that it was public knowledge since September.

Pelosi - "Stop Raiding and Deporting Immigrants"

The eye-popping national debt surpassed $11 trillion Monday, the largest in U.S. history.

The new Treasury Department figures on the national debt were released as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to project that the annual budget deficit will be higher than previously estimated by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. The debt, which refers to the cumulative amount of money the government owes, hit $10.9 trillion on Friday.

The whopping number has major ramifications for President Barack Obama, who is trying to push through a raft of big-ticket bills on health care, energy, education and climate change — while also attempting to stabilize the swooning economy.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Budget Committee, said Tuesday that the numbers could force Congress to make "adjustments" to Obama's $3.6 trillion budget plan.

"It’s very important get a result for the American people and one that has the priorities that have been [announced] by the president in terms of reducing our dependence on foreign energy, that’s in all of our interests, excellence in education, health care reform and dramatic reduction of the deficit,” Conrad told reporters. “Those will be our guiding principles as we go forward, but as I say, we’ve not yet seen CBO’s new numbers. But I think we can all anticipate because they were done substantially later than OMB’s, that they are going to be more adverse. That that’s going to require all of us to make adjustments.”

"It must be stopped....What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American."

Pelosi said she was invited to the church by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., as part of his 17-city, cross-country tour called United Families, which he says is intended to put a human face on the immigration debate.

"We think that families are the cornerstone of our society and our nation, and an immigration system should preserve those families, not destroy them," Gutierrez told FOX News Capitol Hill Producer Chad Pergram on Tuesday. - FOX News Story

You are right Mrs. Pelosi. We should take down the border crossing stations, dismiss all border patrol agents, get rid of the immigration enforcement agents and close down the part of the justice department that handles illegals. This is all ridiculous for us to not just welcome one and all into our country.

Are you serious. These people have come into the Country illegally. There are legal ways to come into the country, legal ways to become a citizen. If you really want to be part of the American Dream, do it legally.

Obama's Change has Brought Record $11 Trillion Deficit

The eye-popping national debt surpassed $11 trillion Monday, the largest in U.S. history.

The new Treasury Department figures on the national debt were released as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to project that the annual budget deficit will be higher than previously estimated by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. The debt, which refers to the cumulative amount of money the government owes, hit $10.9 trillion on Friday.

The whopping number has major ramifications for President Barack Obama, who is trying to push through a raft of big-ticket bills on health care, energy, education and climate change — while also attempting to stabilize the swooning economy.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Budget Committee, said Tuesday that the numbers could force Congress to make "adjustments" to Obama's $3.6 trillion budget plan.

"It’s very important get a result for the American people and one that has the priorities that have been [announced] by the president in terms of reducing our dependence on foreign energy, that’s in all of our interests, excellence in education, health care reform and dramatic reduction of the deficit,” Conrad told reporters. “Those will be our guiding principles as we go forward, but as I say, we’ve not yet seen CBO’s new numbers. But I think we can all anticipate because they were done substantially later than OMB’s, that they are going to be more adverse. That that’s going to require all of us to make adjustments.” - Politico.com

Obama has already taken part in driving up the deficit to a record $11 Trillion. He will undoubtedly blame it on all of those that have come before him as he does with everything. He doesn't take responsibility for a single thing that happens.

The AIG bailouts, notice the White House was quick to throw their Treasury Sec. under the bus. He knew it and didn't tell me. Come on, grow a pair and be a man. Take some responsibility.

Obama is now out pushing his record budget, saying that this is the key to the long term rebuilding of the economy. blah, blah, blah. I have heard it all before, how important it is to spend billions and trillions or the sky will fall.

Reducing the deficit and getting fiscally responsible will be the key to the long term health of not only the economy, but of America as a whole. So far the critics of Obama's during the election have been almost dead on target of what a President Obama would do. Bigger bigger bigger Government, more spending, higher deficits, etc.

Keep watching we are barely into this mess.

Democrats on Defense after AIG Bonuses

Congressional Democrats careened between the circular firing squad and the three-ring circus Tuesday as they struggled with their new reality: playing defense on the economy.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) blamed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for letting bailed-out insurance giant American International Group pay $165 million in bonuses to its employees, saying he wrote a letter to Geithner two weeks ago warning him of just such a possibility.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), tagged by Republican aides for sponsoring an amendment to the stimulus bill that allowed the bonuses, shifted the blame to the Treasury Department and “the bill conferees,” saying he had no idea that the AIG bonuses were coming.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), joined by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), introduced a bill that would impose a 70 percent tax on “excessive” compensation paid to employees of all bailed-out companies. President Barack Obama has said the White House would use all legal means possible to get the bonuses back, but House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged that there were “some questions” as to whether Congress could do anything at all.

And while Hoyer begged AIG execs to give up the money voluntarily, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) just tried to change the subject. Asked about Geithner’s role in failing to stop the bonuses, Reid said: “Let’s talk about what we have accomplished this Congress.”

Nice try.

For the second day in a row, the AIG bonuses were just about the only subject of conversation at the Capitol. At press conferences throughout the day — and as members filed in and out of a St. Patrick’s Day lunch — outrage over bonuses was on everyone’s lips.

And that suited long-suffering Republicans just fine.

“This latest flap involving AIG, I think, is very troubling,” crowed House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). “What’s going on in this administration? It seems like an administration in disarray.”

Having mostly opposed Obama’s stimulus plan, the second half of the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds and the omnibus spending bill, Republicans feel they have a free shot at the Democrats for anything that goes wrong now.

On Tuesday, they took it again and again. “This administration could have, and should have — through the process of providing for [AIG] another $30 billion two weeks, just two weeks, ago — prevented this from happening,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “They had a lot of leverage prior to that infusion of $30 billion.”

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said that “the American people are rightly outraged that their tax money is going to pay bonuses to the very people that got this company in trouble.” - Politico.com

FDIC Slaps Bank for doing Good Business

The secret behind East Bridgewater Savings Bank's accomplishments is the careful approach of 62-year-old chief executive Joseph Petrucelli.

"We’re paranoid about credit quality," he told the Boston Business Journal.

That paranoia has allowed East Bridgewater Savings Bank to stand out among a flurry a failing banks, with no delinquent loans or foreclosures on its books, the Journal reported. East Bridgewater Savings didn’t even need to set aside in money in 2008 for anticipated loan losses.

But rather than reward Petrucelli's tactics, the FDIC recently criticized his bank for not lending enough, slapping it with a "needs to improve" rating under the Community Reinvestment Act, the Journal reported.

The problem, according to FDIC data, was that from late 2003 through mid-2008, East Bridgewater Savings made an average of 28 cents in loans for every dollar in deposit — a sharp contrast to the 90 percent average loan-to-deposit ratio among similar banks, the paper reported.

"There are no apparent financial or legal impediments that would limit the bank’s ability to help meet the credit needs of its assessment area," the FDIC wrote in the CRA evaluation.

The agency also faulted the bank, which does not have a Web site, for not promoting its loan products enough, the Journal reported.

Considering his bank is doing well in tanking industry and even the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund is in trouble after paying for an upswing in bank failures, Petrucelli told the Boston Business Journal that the negative rating caught him by surprise.

East Bridgewater Savings ended 2008 with $135 million in assets, deposits of $84 million, $87,000 in profit, and a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 31.6 percent — more than three times higher than many community banks in Massachusetts, the Journal reported.

Its net loans and leases equaled 21 percent of assets, compared with 72 percent among 385 similar banks across the country. - FOX News

And they blame Bush. It is this time of thinking that got us into this mess. Don't do business in a sensible way, get wreckless we have lots of Taxpayer money to spend. I would rather a bank like this get rewarded with funds than giving those that fail funds to bail them out.

ACORN to Assist in Census

The U.S. Census is supposed to be free of politics, but one group with a history of voter fraud, ACORN, is participating in next year's count, raising concerns about the politicization of the decennial survey.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now signed on as a national partner with the U.S. Census Bureau in February 2009 to assist with the recruitment of the 1.4 million temporary workers needed to go door-to-door to count every person in the United States -- currently believed to be more than 306 million people.

A U.S. Census "sell sheet," an advertisement used to recruit national partners, says partnerships with groups like ACORN "play an important role in making the 2010 Census successful," including by "help[ing] recruit census workers."

The bureau is currently employing help from more than 250 national partners, including TARGET and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to assist in the hiring effort.

But ACORN's partnership with the 2010 Census is worrisome to lawmakers who say past allegations of fraud should raise concerns about the organization.

"It's a concern, especially when you look at all the different charges of voter fraud. And it's not just the lawmakers' concern. It should be the concern of every citizen in the country," Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland, R-Ga., vice ranking member of the subcommittee for the U.S. Census, told FOXNews.com. "We want an enumeration. We don't want to have any false numbers."

ACORN, which claims to be a non-partisan grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people, came under fire in 2007 when Washington State filed felony charges against several paid ACORN employees and supervisors for more than 1,700 fraudulent voter registrations. In March 2008, an ACORN worker in Pennsylvania was sentenced for making 29 phony voter registration forms. The group's activities were frequently questioned in the 2008 presidential election.- FOX News Story

Are you kidding me. This obviously is more payback from the Obama Administration. Otherwise, who in their right mind would touch this group?

Gibbs takes Fire for AIG - Obama Admin Caught in a Lie?

This was not an easy day on the job for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who compared his treatement from the press corps today to torture.

“I would posit that the CIA should look at the process in which I'm undergoing [questioning],” Gibbs joked following 20 minutes of hard questions about the Obama administration’s handling of the large bonuses being paid out by insurance company AIG.

The briefing went on for nearly an hour; the vast majority of the questions revolved around AIG, which has received billions of bailout dollars from the government. Many were premised on the notion that President Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the administration have mishandled the revelations about the company, which have fueled populist anger and potentially lessened the president’s political capital.

Early on, Gibbs told reporters that the White House and President Obama continue to have “complete confidence” in Geithner and are unconcerned about the oversight process of the Treasury Department.

“The secretary of Treasury did as much in his legal power at the time to lessen the impact of what we all understand is outrageous,” he said, latter adding that Geithner “took extraordinary steps, based on contracts that were in existence in April of last year, in order to do all that he could to protect the taxpayer.”

Gibbs noted that the White House is seeking ways to keep the bonuses from being paid out, something that may not be possible because the bonuses were guaranteed in preexisting contracts.

That did not satisfy the White House press corps, however. Reporters noted that the administration apparently knew about the situation back in January, but that Geithner said he only found out about it last week.

“And the question is, why didn't he know about it sooner?,” one questioner asked. “Did he talk to the president about it? And why didn't the president start talking about it until, you know, yesterday and officials over the weekend?”

That was followed up with questions about whether Geithner failed to foresee the public relations problem the situation created. One reporter said “clearly somebody dropped the ball,” while another, frustrated with Gibbs’ responses, said “maybe I’m beating a dead horse here, but I’m not hearing the answer.” - CBS News

I guess it isn't as easy when you are the one taking the heat. Blast away at the people who stood before you, now you own the hot seat.

Caterpillar Laying off More Workers

CHICAGO--Caterpillar Inc (CAT: 26.83, 0.41, 1.55%) the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, notified an additional 2,454 workers in three states on Tuesday that they were losing their jobs as the company continues to try to bring production in line with plummeting demand.

The bulk of the job cuts -- nearly 1,600 in all -- will come in Illinois at the company's plants in East Peoria, which makes track-type tractors and pipe layers, and Aurora, where it makes hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders.

The company also said it is closing a fuel systems factory in Jefferson, Georgia, and moving production to two other Caterpillar plants. It is also cutting jobs in Indiana.

In January, Caterpillar announced 22,000 layoffs and in February, the company offered voluntary early retirement packages to another 2,000 production workers - FOX News

What happened here? Remember this comment from President Obama:

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar has informed him it will rehire some of the thousands of workers it has laid off in recent weeks if Congress passes an economic stimulus bill.

"The time for talk has passed," Obama said. - NBC News

I think I vaguely remember something about the Stimulus passing. Didn't it?

TAX the AIG Bonuses

Senate Democrats want to tax the controversial bonuses doled out to AIG employees who work for the division that led to the company's downfall.

Congress is looking at ways to deal with the outrage surrounding AIG's controversial bonuses.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Tuesday that the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee will pursue a legislative fix in such a way that the "recipients of those bonuses will not be able to keep all their money -- and that's an understatement."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, will propose a special tax within the next 24 hours, Reid said.

"I don't think those bonuses should be paid," Baucus said Tuesday.

AIG has received $173 billion in U.S. government bailouts over the past six months. The provision would help the government get back the money in the form of tax revenue.

The special-tax idea was first floated Monday by Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

At an unrelated hearing Tuesday at which IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman was testifying, Baucus asked the nation's top tax official, "What's the highest excise tax we can impose that's sustainable in court?"

Shulman did not respond directly, but Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, chimed in to suggest the tax could be as high as "90 percent." - CNN

I am just as angry as everyone about these stupid bonuses being paid to the Morons who drove their Companies into the ground. But, I am afraid of what this may do in the long run. Congress has a knack for writing good intentioned laws that backfire. Who else is this going to hit? We will have to see the law first I guess.

Obama Angry with Critics

President Barack Obama on Tuesday accused critics of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal of taking a "just say no" approach to his plan and offering few ideas of their own.

Obama spoke after meeting with two key lawmakers who will play a key role as Capitol Hill begins to debate the fiscal 2010 budget plan.

"If there are members of Congress who object to specific policies and proposals in this budget then I ask them to be ready and willing to propose constructive alternative solutions," Obama said. "'Just say no' is the right advice to give your teenagers about drugs. It is not an acceptable response to whatever economic policies are proposed by the other party."

Obama, after dealing with blowback from revelations that bailed-out AIG would be doling out millions in bonuses, was trying to get back to the business of promoting his sweeping budget proposal Tuesday. He defended it as a blueprint for "real growth and real prosperity" and said now is not the time for "political tactics."

"The American people sent us here to get things done," he said. "Let's pass a budget that puts this nation on a road to lasting prosperity."

He said the plan would make historic investments in health care, education and energy research, and defended himself against charges that the plan tackles too many issues at once.

"What I say is that the challenges we face are too large to ignore," Obama said. "To kick these problems down the road for another four years or another eight years would be continue the same irresponsibility that led us to this point. That's not why I ran for this office."

Obama met Tuesday with Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., chairman of the House budget committee. - FOX News

Obama is increasingly getting mad at people who disagree with him. He sends his attack dogs after anyone who says something he doesn't like. As President you have to understand that there is always going to be a big number who disagree with you.

His comments on the budget just sound like a kid in grade school. Lots of people came at him with other ideas during the stimulus and the omnibus, and in true leadership form he laughed and said "I Won". Kind of hard to get people to work with you with that attitude. You did win, now you have to live with it. The decisions are yours as is the criticism.

President drawing fire from wihtin

President Obama is facing growing liberal anger over his handling of the economy, with prominent voices on the left voicing concerns that taxpayer-funded bailouts are enriching corporate America while doing little to right the nation's economic ship.

The revelation over the weekend of massive bonuses being awarded to employees of AIG -- despite repeated federal bailouts engineered by the Obama and Bush administration -- is igniting fresh outrage among liberal lawmakers and bloggers.

Several prominent Democrats are pointing out that Obama aides were more than willing to press auto workers to renegotiate contracts as a condition of bailouts for car companies -- but are now citing the sanctity of contracts in AIG bonuses, saying they can't be canceled.

"People have no confidence in what's happening right now," Jane Hamsher, the founder of the liberal blog FireDogLake, said Monday on ABC NewsNOW's "Politics Live."

"People on the right and the left are looking at all this money being shoveled to banks [by] friends of Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers ... and they're not seeing any accountability," she added. "They don't know where the money's going, they don't know how much is gone, and it's all nontransparent and extremely suspicious."

Hamsher is organizing an online petition drive to press lawmakers to block further bank bailout funds. The Obama administration has signaled that it anticipates needing more funds to stabilize the nation's banking system. - ABC News Story

Where is all the transparency that Obama promised? Obama also bashed Bush and his Administration on the way the TARP funds were handled prior to him coming into office. Obama promised a change in the way things were going to be done.

Well, it sure looks a lot like business as usual from the White House. Obama's people have been about as transparent as wall. Reports coming out of funds going to friends banks, family members benefiting from bailout funds and now the big bonuses. If there was oversight like Obama promised this wouldn't have happened.

Congress Plays Role in AIG Bonuses

If President Barack Obama wants to find a scapegoat for the mess at American International Group, he needs only to look east from the White House to the halls of Congress.

That's where the legislation was enacted that laid the groundwork for AIG's collapse, its subsequent multibillion-dollar bailout and even the millions of dollars in bonuses being paid to AIG executives that have so outraged Obama, members of Congress and taxpayers.

Call it the law of unintended consequences.

The controversy boiled over Monday when Obama took aim at the bonuses going to executives who oversaw the risky bets that sank the giant insurer.

"It's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay," Obama said. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"

AIG has taken out $170 billion in federal funds, and federal officials overseeing the company say it is not out of the woods yet. The backlash intensified over the weekend when the company, now 80 percent owned by U.S. taxpayers, said it was locked into paying $165 million in bonuses to key executives.

Members of Congress Monday echoed voter outrage at the big rewards being reaped by the architects of the financial flameout of one of the world's biggest insurance companies.

“We've asked the car dealers to restructure their organization, including workers restructuring their union contracts in order to save the auto industry,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “We ought to be asking the leadership at AIG to make the same kind of concessions to save AIG and the taxpayers' dollars.”

But experts in executive compensation say those contracts, written before the government stepped in to bail out AIG, would be difficult, if not impossible, to break. Challenging those contracts might end up costing AIG and the government even more money including legal fees, according to attorney Aliza Herzberg of Olshan Grundman Frome in New York.

“These are contracts from a year and a half ago," she said. "We have to live by them.”

The employment contracts became so complex, with pay packages consisting of stock options and other forms of deferred compensation, largely because of Congress' attempts to control soaring executive salaries. In 1993, Congress limited the tax deduction companies could take for cash payments to $1 million. The result was a cottage industry of lawyers, consultants and advisors who structure even bigger pay packages with creative legal strategies that now make the AIG bonuses difficult to rescind.

“Before Congress got involved we used to give them a $2 million salary and a corporate jet,” said Lynn Stout, a UCLA professor who specializes in corporate governance and securities regulation. “And it was much cheaper and safer.”

Congress played an even bigger role in the mess that forced the government into a taxpayer-funded bailout of AIG to stem a potential global financial meltdown. - MSNBC Story

That is the Problem with Big Government. They want to solve all of the problems in the world for us. But they just don't think things through. They do something that sounds good and boom it creates something else. Then they do somehting to fix that, and yep something else. Pretty soon is so complicated you can't figure out what exactly it is that we were solving.

Obama Paying back Union Labor for Support

State governments that contract jobs paid for with stimulus money will be required to pay workers on construction projects union wages rather than market rates -- good news for workers but good news for not as many of them.

The Office of Management and Budget included in the $787 billion stimulus bill the Davis-Bacon provision, a 1931 law typically only used on federal highway projects. But under the new spending plan, Davis-Bacon will apply to all state and local jobs on energy, housing, agriculture or construction.

Higher costs per project mean fewer projects completed, especially since some "shovel ready" projects were bid as non-union jobs. Some local officials and economists say the union wage mandate means taxpayer dollars won't be stretched as far as otherwise was planned.

"All this recovery money being spent, you have a lot of hands out," said economist Jack Kyser. "And so people have said OK, this has to conform to Davis Bacon, which means prevailing wage. And so you get hung up. So as I say, you're going to have projects, but you're not going to have the money go as far as you'd wanted it to go."

Los Angeles County officials who received $8 million in Community Development Block Grant money to weatherize homes for low-income people said they typically bid the job low and pay about $15 an hour for a worker to caulk windows. However, under union scale, that job pays $25 an hour and $5 in benefits, so instead of repairing 100 homes, they might do 50 homes for the same price.

Elsewhere, the union wage for a plumber in Long Island is $45 an hour, the market rate is $30. In Las Vegas, the Davis-Bacon wage for a glass worker is $57 an hour, a job the Nevada State Housing division currently pays $15 to do.

On the flip side, organized labor says it is about time workers were making higher wages, and people should not have to work three jobs to live a middle-class life.

"That's plantation capitalism, how do you justify working two or three jobs? Is that what we want is that what a middle class is all about, is that what this stimulus money supposed to be used for?" asked Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

Organized labor insists the inclusion of the higher rates is not payback by the White House for its widespread support of President Obama in the campaign. But some critics are not so sure. Non-union builders' associations say since Democrats took control of the House, more bills coming out with Davis-Bacon attached.

In the past, cities and states got around the Davis-Bacon provision by diluting federal money with local cash, but with the stimulus, that's not allowed. One think tank estimates that with about $200 billion in the stimulus set for construction projects, Davis-Bacon raises costs by about $17 billion. - FOX News

Instead of paying the higher wages, wouldn't it be better in this economy to put more people to work? $17 Billion is a hell of a lot of money. That is a lot of work that could be done. That is a complete infrastructure project plus. But hey, the President owes it to the Unions.

Obama using McCain's Rhetoric

"Stubborn."

"Out of touch."

"Incapable of understanding" the economic crisis.

That's how Barack Obama and his presidential campaign team described John McCain last year when the Republican candidate famously said "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."

But now President Obama and his advisers are adopting similar rhetoric as they try to build public confidence in an economic turnaround.

"Of course the fundamentals are sound," Obama economic adviser Christina Romer said Sunday.

The administration is now keeping the focus on "all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy," Obama said Friday.

Romer explained on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the country is in a temporary "mess," but that the president is focusing on fixing up those fundamentals, which she defined as "the American workers."

That's the same line McCain used last September -- before the worst of the economic crisis emerged -- to explain his confidence.

The rhetorical shift is just the latest in which Obama has shown strains of the views and policies of the man he defeated in November, even though in some cases he once criticized those views.

"Senator McCain, what economy are you talking about?" Obama asked in Colorado last September after McCain expressed his economic optimism.

So what's changed? Obama has pushed through a $787 billion economic stimulus plan and announced new help for homeowners and the financial system -- but the Dow is down about 35 percent since mid-September.

"We're not in an election, so, of course, Democrats can flip-flop," Republican strategist Andrea Tantaros said.

In the case of the economy, analysts note that Obama is trying hard to tamp down the gloom-and-doom rhetoric he used in the weeks following Inauguration Day.

But Obama also seemed to weave in some of McCain's wait-and-see approach to winding down the Iraq war when he announced his troop withdrawal plan last month. - FOX News Story

It is amazing how you can say one thing, do another and they call in a flip flop. It is a lie. You tell me one thing to get my vote then do whatever it is you want to do. The sad part is the American people are so stupid that they just go with the flow.

Obama Team Concerned about Backlash

The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama’s agenda.

The administration’s sharp rebuke of the American International Group [AIG 0.8986 0.3986 (+79.72%) ] on Sunday for handing out $165 million in executive bonuses — Lawrence H. Summers, director of the president’s National Economic Council, described it as “outrageous” on “This Week” on ABC — marks the latest effort by the White House to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger.

“We’ve got enormous problems that need to be addressed,” David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, said in an interview. “And it’s hard to address because there’s a lot of anger about the irresponsibility that led us to this point.”

“This has been welling up for a long time,” he said.

Mr. Obama’s aides said any surge of such a sentiment could complicate efforts to win Congressional approval for the additional bailout packages that Mr. Obama has signaled will be necessary to stabilize the banking system. - CNBC Story

Obama Losing Focus - Advancing Wrong Agenda

We've been hearing a lot of criticism of Barack Obama in recent days from pro-Obama corners -- from celebrity investor Warren Buffett, from moderate conservative columnist David Brooks, from one of the Democratic Party's deepest thinkers, William Galston -- all along the same lines. Put aside your plans, announced in your budget, for national health insurance, for a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gases, for effectively abolishing the secret ballot in unionization elections. And, they might have added, for higher taxes on, and a reduction in, their charitable deductions to channel money away from charities and nonprofits and toward the government. Pay attention to the first thing on your platter and the nation's, Buffett and Brooks and Galston say: the financial crisis.

The answer Obama has given, in advance, is that we can only solve our economic problems by advancing these other programs. But the real answer came from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in November: "Never let a serious crisis go to waste."

None of the issues addressed in the Obama budget was in any way a cause of the financial crisis. We did not have a housing bubble collapse because we don't have a national health insurance program. We don't have toxic waste clogging the balance sheets of the banks and other financial institutions because of carbon emissions. The Bush tax cuts were not a proximate cause of the giant public debt being run up under the Toxic Assets Relief Program or the 2009 stimulus package. - Rasmussen Story

Obama Dips in Polls yet Again

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 36% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-two percent (32%) now Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +4, his lowest rating to date - Rasmussen

These are interesting numbers as the economic numbers are showing more and more good news.

AIG Bonuses are an Outrage

An official tells CBS News that the administration continues to negotiate with the insurance giant to bring any payments "in line with our priorities."

"It is unacceptable for Wall Street firms receiving government assistance to hand out million dollar bonuses, while hard-working Americans bear the burden of this economic crisis. That is why Secretary Geithner has made it clear to AIG that their bonus structure for senior executives is inappropriate," the official said.

The official said the bonuses have "long been known about inside and outside AIG" but that the administration didn't want to accept them.

The White House now is seeking what are described as "mechanisms" to recover money spent on bonuses, the official said.

The White House is clearly concerned that public reaction the bonuses could affect the president's overall economic goals, reports Maer. But the company insists some of the bonuses are part of legally binding contracts signed before the government's AIG bailout.

Meanwhile, on NBC's "Today" show this morning, Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the bonuses amounted to "rewarding incompetence."

"These people may have a right to their bonuses. They don't have a right to their jobs forever," Frank said. "Maybe it's time to fire some people." - CBS News

This is an outrage. How can a company receive bailout funds from us and then pay out bonuses. A bonus is suppose to be a reward for achieving objectives. How can failing be an objective?