Liddy: We Can Threaten US Taxpayers but They Can’t Threaten Us
When Barney Frank asked AIG CEO Edward Liddy to send him a list of the people who got bonuses, Liddy said he’d only do so if Frank could promise they’d remain secret. He read from a threat letter that disgustingly threatened the children of AIG employees.
I agree with Barney Frank: those threats are disgusting and inappropriate. Those who send those threats should be turned over to law enforcement.
That said, the white paper AIG submitted to explain why AIGFP employees should receive their bonuses was, itself, a massive threat: pay these bonuses or AIGFP employees will trigger a default event that will bankrupt AIG and cause American taxpayers to lose billions–if not crash the entire financial market.
No one should be physically threatening AIGFP’s derivatives traders–at least not with anything short of legal investigation and, if appropriate, indictment.
But at the same time, neither should we tolerate threats issued on behalf of traders holding a gun to our economy.
Transparency! Sunlight! Name names!
Bob in HI
Greg Sargent reports that Rahm Emanuel characterizes the AIG problem as a “big distraction”. Rahm would.
As Sargent points out, it is anything but. It is symptomatic of both Bush and Obama’s bail-out process: Give Wall Street the keys to the Treasury and hope that it spends our money wisely to prop up the existing system – as is, warts and all.
“Prop up” means taking our money and giving us nothing in return except higher debt, and higher-cost, less effective, less regulated financial markets for everything from credit cards (charging 30%) to major corporate loans. As the Democrats wisely accused Bush: hope is not a plan. And the existing system is rife with corruption and needs a major overhaul, with lots of people losing their senior management jobs and a few of them going to jail. As with Bush, this isn’t about vengeance. It’s not personal, it’s strictly business. It’s about breaking the law and abusing the public trust.
With a few comments like that, Rahm will be giving Rove stiff competition for Manipulator of the Month. And Obama’s only been in office two months.
But at the same time, neither should we tolerate threats issued on behalf of traders holding a gun to our economy.
Once upon a time, the US had a policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
Rahm is a former hedge fund trader too!!! So he also has a conflict of interest. He doesn’t want any of this to come out, either.
It was reported earlier that a judge has reversed a previous ruling and the Merrill Lynch bonuses (before BofA took over) will be made public!!!
Nice comparison, huh.
Bullseye.
Marie Antoinette felt the same way about the French Revolution
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW, RAHM !!!
Knowing that there soon will be room at the Guantanomo Inn should give these clowns pause with their threats to our national security.