Wall Street Defends Their Taxpayer Funded Bonuses

Plenty of scorn has been heaped upon the titans of finance in the last few months. Politicians and plebs alike have railed against the excesses of Wall Street and clamored for reform while making the effort to restart the economy. In the last days of a Republican White House, Democrats in Congress aided the President with $700 billion in relief for Wall Street, so that credit would begin to flow yet again. Now we learn that credit is still stuck and yet, these financiers that tanked our economy took in nearly $20 billion of bonuses last month. The public outrage was not unforeseen, but the reaction to it from bankers and traders is downright obscene.

From The NY Times:

“People come here because they want to work hard and get paid a lot for working hard,” one investment banker said Friday as he wended his way, lunch bag in hand, through the World Financial Center. “I think there’s a disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street.”

Oh yeah, there is a disconnect for sure. The realities for those struggling to get by and those who struggle to wait for a table at Jean Georges are worlds apart.

“My bonus is ‘shameful’ — but I worked hard to get it,” said John Konstantinidis, a wholesale insurance broker, lunching Friday at Harry’s at Hanover Square.

“I’m a HENRY,” Mr. Konstantinidis added. “High Earner but Not Rich Yet.”

Sounds more like a SCHMUCK than anything else to me. The delusion here is high while the nation suffers miserably in a time where tens of thousands are laid off in a single day. This guy should be grateful he has a job. Then there was the criticism of the President for daring to speak ill of their kind.

“I think President Obama painted everyone with a broad stroke,” said Brian McCaffrey, 55, a Wall Street lawyer who was on his way to see a client. “The way we pay our taxes is bonuses. The only way that we’ll get any of our bailout money back is from taxes on bonuses. I think bonuses should be looked at on a case by case basis, or you turn into a socialist.”

Mr. McCaffrey wouldn't know the definition of socialism if it smacked him open-handed in the face. What does he think the bailout money is, something out of the pages of Keynes or Locke? And then there's this callously-laden gem at the end of the article:

“On Main Street, ‘bonus’ sounds like a gift,” he said. “But it’s part of the compensation structure of Wall Street. Say I’m a banker and I created $30 million. I should get a part of that.”

“There’s got to be a better term for it,” he added, turning to Mr. Novello.

“Earned income credit?” he wondered aloud.

What about the trillions you and brethren have lost over the last couple of years? Where is your contribution towards fixing that? How do you justify being rewarded with bonuses when your company is losing billions upon billions of dollars? Really, there is no excuse, none at all. I swear, in another time and place, their actions would be criminal.

President Obama's Weekly Address

Here he is, our President:

Battle To Ban Carriage Horses In NYC Heats Up

Activists and horse carriage drivers have been at it for a while now, but today they are facing off at City Hall with legislation to ban the industry at stake. Quite a few cities have done away with horses pulling carriages already and in my opinion, it would be great if we'd follow their lead. Passions are high on both sides and it can clearly be seen by the amount of people at City Hall today.

From PolitickerNY:

At the start of a Council hearing on a proposed bill to ban the carriage horse industry, a collection of about 20 people stood outside the gates in consternation. They had been told that the hearing room was full.

"We're all in this together," said a distraught Pamela Seri, owner of a vegan restaurant on the Upper West Side. "This has to stop. They can't go on like this anymore." The hearing room inside was indeed packed, with PETA-sticker-sporting horse lovers and carriage horse drivers themselves.

At issue are two bills: one, spearheaded by Councilman Tony Avella, to ban horse carriages outright, which has been in the works for several years as the anti-carriage movement has bubbled up around the legislative fringes. The other, proposed by Councilman David Weprin, would raise the price of a carriage ride from $34 per half hour to $54 and impose other regulations for the health of the horses.

Of course, the newly minted teamsters are backing Weprin's bill. Perhaps that is because even with new regulations, they'll probably be left unenforced, just as the current ones are. Studies have shown that the agencies meant to police the horse carriage industry have failed again and again. The truth of the matter is, that despite the half-truths and lies spread by the people who work with these horses, it is cruel and inhumane for these creatures to ferry people around Midtown Manhattan. There are much better ideas that we can all get behind, such as utilizing classic cars to take people around the park that would provide just as many jobs as the horse industry does.

Dem Leaders Should Listen To Their Rank And File

The economic stimulus bill has passed the House with Barack Obama and the Dem leadership's concessions to the Republican party. However, the Senate is still working on it. They have the opportunity to right a wrong here that will not only show they have some spine, but most importantly help the American people get back on their feet.

From The Huffington Post:

Rank-and-file Congressional Democrats had been willing to give Republicans the business tax cuts and other provisions they wanted in the stimulus. That is, up until every single one voted against the bill on the House floor Wednesday.

Now, in both the House and the Senate, angry members are lobbying Democratic leaders to yank those tax breaks back.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was asked Thursday by the Huffington Post why the business tax cuts, whose purpose was to garner Republican support, would be left in the bill if no Republicans supported it regardless.

The Democrats in the Senate feel the same way, yet as the article points out, the leadership is not ready to go back and fix the bill so that it doesn't bend over backwards for Republicans that won't support it anyways. I know that some GOP Senators say wait, but really, why should we trust them and above all, why should we continue to listen to their policies after they've failed us for the last eight years. It is time for Reid, Durbin, Pelosi, Hoyer and the rest of the Congressional leaders to snap out of it. We aren't in the minority anymore, we have the Senate, House and the White House in our hands, and if Republicans do not want to compromise, then we must lead the way ourselves.

John McCain Needs To Worry About Himself, Not Rush Limbaugh

Senator John McCain took the time to go on Fox News and defend Rush Limbaugh's status in the Republican party over at Fox News this morning. He basically told Obama to lay off, but really Senator, don't you have more important things to worry about besides the king of hate radio, like saving your own skin?

Finally, A Vice-President That Cares

For eight long years not only did we have a terrible President in George Bush, we had a sinister Vice-President that went along with him. Cheney's abysmal poll numbers only told part of the story. The man was pre-occupied with expanding secrecy in the Executive branch, torture, corporate power and war. When asked about how people felt about him, he could care less. Our new VP however, well, it's like night and day.

From USA Today Op-Ed by Vice-President Biden):

For years, we had a White House that failed to put the middle class front and center in its economic policies.

President Obama has made it clear that is going to change. And it's why he has asked me to lead a task force on the middle class.[...]

One of the things that makes this task force distinctive is it brings together — in one place — those agencies that have the most impact on the well-being of the middle class in our country. We'll be looking at everything from access to college and training with the Department of Education, to business development with the Department of Commerce, to child care reform with Health and Human Services, to labor law with the Department of Labor. With this task force, we'll have a single, high-visibility group with one goal: to raise the living standards of middle-class families.

Over the upcoming months, we will focus on answering those concerns that matter most to families. What can we do to make retirement more secure? How can we make child and elder care more affordable? How do we improve workplace safety? How are we going to get the cost of college within reach? What can we do to help weary parents juggle work and family? And, above all else, what are the jobs of the future? Here, we'll be looking at green jobs, better-paying jobs, better-quality jobs.

The only jobs Dick Cheney cared about were those of private contractors, especially those that worked for Halliburton. Everything was done in secret and strictly for the sake of a profit...at the expense of the country. Now our Vice-President is willing and wanting to listen to us, to hear our ideas and implement the best plan to move the middle class forward and expand it once again. Too many people have suffered under Bush and Cheney. The time to reverse that is now.

M.T.A. To Get Busy On Fulton St. With Fed Stimulus

Congress and Barack Obama have tentatively found $819 billion dollars to spread around to start the economy moving again. I'd prefer a higher percentage of it to be going to infrastructure than the tax breaks that were meant to appease Republicans but alas, that is another story altogether. Anyway, New York got a nice chunk of that money and subsequently, so did the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Out of the $1.5 billion or so dedicated to them, Elliot Sander and friends have decided to spend a third of it to finish the Fulton St. transit hub.

From The NY Times:

The additional financing would allow the authority to move ahead with plans to erect an architecturally dramatic glass building atop the transit hub, said Elliot G. Sander, the authority’s executive director. However, it was not clear if the final design would include the project’s signature feature, a conelike skylight, known as an oculus, that would channel daylight into the lower areas of the station. Mr. Sander said the oculus could add about $40 million to the cost.

“The pavilion has to be many things to many people,” Mr. Sander said, referring to the glass structure. “It has to be a building of vibrant design with as much new retail activity as possible.” He called it “a highly visible portal to a modern transportation complex.”

Mr. Sander, who spoke at a State Assembly hearing in Lower Manhattan, said that he estimated the authority would receive $1.5 billion to $2 billion from the economic stimulus bill that is working its way through Congress. He said he planned to spend $497 million of that to complete the downtown transit hub. He did not say how the remainder would be spent.

Well it sounds nice that the M.T.A. can actually go ahead and finish the hub but doesn't Mr. Sander think that there are other projects that are just a little more pressing than a giant glass dome? I know, it'll look nice and fill in the giant hole down there created by the demolishment of several long-standing buildings. I get that argument.

I also get the argument that the Lexington line is ridiculously overcrowded (especially since I ride it) and that the never-ending saga that is the Second Avenue line is just a little more important. The money for that is about to run out and this is the perfect opportunity to ensure that at least Phase I can be completed. Aesthetics are important to the downtown folk and the millions that pass through the hub down there but they can manage without for now. It would be much better and make a lot more sense for the M.T.A. to finish the underground portion of it and opens Phase I of the T line to ease the overcrowding on the Lexington line.

Rove Subpoenaed Again, Ignores It, Again

Surprise, surprise, Karl Rove will not comply with the latest Congressional subpoena from John Conyers. The difference of course this time is that the Attorney General will now be Eric Holder and not Bush apologist Michael Mukasey. Will he force Rove to show up after he is held in contempt of Congress?



He better.

The Power Of The Wind

I still remember when my Mom or Grandma would drive us out from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. It was a long ride for an impatient kid such as myself, but I loved to see the windmills as we got close to our destination. Watching the giant turbines spin around and around added a degree of activity to the deserts and the mountains along the Interstate. They were all by themselves out there, but I had no idea how many people it took to build or maintain them. Now in 2009, the workforce dedicated to the industry is better than ever.

From The Green Wombat:

Wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, a 70% increase from the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday from the American Wind Energy Association. In contrast, the coal industry employs about 81,000 workers. (Those figures are from a 2007 U.S. Department of Energy report but coal employment has remained steady in recent years though it’s down by nearly 50% since 1986.) Wind industry employment includes 13,000 manufacturing jobs concentrated in regions of the country hard hit by the deindustrialization of the past two decades.

The big spike in wind jobs was a result of a record-setting 50% increase in installed wind capacity, with 8,358 megawatts coming online in 2008 (enough to power some 2 million homes). That’s a third of the nation’s total 25,170 megawatts of wind power generation. Wind farms generating more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity were completed in the last three months of 2008 alone.

Another sign that wind power is no longer a niche green energy play: Wind accounted for 42% of all new electricity generation installed last year in the U.S. Power, literally, is shifting from the east to west, to the wind belt of the Midwest, west Texas and the West Coast. Texas continues to lead the country, with 7,116 megawatts of wind capacity but Iowa in 2008 overtook California for the No. 2 spot, with 2,790 megawatts of wind generation. Other new wind powers include Oregon, Minnesota, Colorado and Washington state.

Although wind power only accounts for a small percentage of our total energy usage, the increasing numbers (both in jobs and percentage of new energy) portends a promising future. There are so many prime areas still out there to be utilized by the growing industry and as a result, more green jobs. We still have a long way to go, but the bigger wind power gets, the harder it will be to stop it's emergence and eventual dominance (in conjunction with solar and geothermal power) over fossil fuels.

Good News And Numbers For Unions

These are exciting times now for unions in America. For decades, corporations have chipped away at their power and their ability to organize, resulting in a precipitous decline in membership. Despite that corporate dominance over workers, the total amount of Americans in unions rose in the highest amount since 1983. It sounds great, but only because many of the new recruits work in government where union busting is not much of a problem. Now imagine if private companies had to let workers have their say about joining a union in the same way the government does. Well it can be a reality soon, as long as Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act.

From The NY Times:

Most Democrats support the bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, saying that making it easier for unions to grow will help strengthen the nation’s middle class during tough economic times. But Republicans denounce the bill because it would give workers the right to gain union recognition as soon as a majority signed cards saying they wanted a union, rather than through secret-ballot elections.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 36.8 percent of government employees belong to unions, compared with just 7.6 percent of workers in the private sector. Typically, state and city officials do not fight unionization efforts, while private-sector employers, fearing higher labor costs, often vigorously resist organizing drives.

The bureau noted that the percentage of workers in unions has dropped from 20.1 percent in 1983, with the decline especially noteworthy among private-sector workers because of a sharp drop in manufacturing jobs as a result of plant closings and pressures from imports. The bureau said 11.4 percent of manufacturing workers, once the heart of organized labor, were in unions.

It is true that many of those losses in membership are due to declining manufacturing jobs. Yet plenty of other industry sectors have blossomed but have not seen much in the way of unionizing. Passing the EFCA would be instrumental in helping to make that happen. Finally we could start to shift the balance of power back towards the people in this country that actually produce the goods and services that the corporations exist off of. After this battle is won, an increase of 428,000 union members a year will seem miniscule.

#39's Advice To #44

Jimmy Carter was on CNN with Wolfman Blitzer to give President Barack Obama some useful advice:



Thank you President Carter! Obama tried reaching out to Republicans, but clearly they do not know the meaning of compromise. For the GOP it is either their way or no way and when you are put in the minority by the American people...the message should be clear on what to do if you are Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress.

A Shoe Statue Iraqis Can Be Proud Of

Remember when the Iraqi people U.S. military tore down the giant statue of Saddam Hussein and the giant crowd watched and the lapdog media snapped pictures to show how great things were? George Bush was so proud of himself, he probably thought one day soon that the Iraqis would name streets and boulevards for occupying liberating them. Well that hasn't happened yet, but an artist in Tikrit commemorated him in a bronze statue this month though not as he might have liked or imagined.

From The NY Daily News:

A sofa-sized statue of the shoe was unveiled Thursday in Tikrit, the hometown of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari described the fiberglass-and-copper work as a tribute to the pride of the Iraqi people.

The statue is inscribed with a poem honoring Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who stunned the world when he whipped off his loafers and hurled them at Bush during a press conference on Dec. 14.

The ex-President (ah, so good to add that "ex" part) successfully ducked both shoes, but Iraqis and billions of people around the world aren't forgetting al-Zeidi's throw any time soon. Especially now in Tikrit, they can walk by al-Amari's statue and remember it every single day.