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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
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Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 17, 2009
/ 21 Adar 5769
Paying the piper as an act of self-preservation
By
Jack Kelly
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
American International Group, an insurance company that has received
about $180 billion in taxpayer funds, last week paid $165 million in
bonuses to executives whose bad judgment is largely responsible for the
financial mess we're in.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee,
wants the government to take back the bonuses. This is a change of
heart for Mr. Dodd, because it was he who inserted in the "stimulus"
bill an amendment which specifically protected from restrictions on
executive compensation "contractually obligated bonuses agreed on or
before Feb. 11, 2009."
The amendment applied principally to AIG.
This apparent hypocrisy was not helpful to Sen. Dodd, who has been
criticized for receiving a cut rate loan from Angelo Mozilo, CEO of
Countrywide Mortgage, one of the worst of the subprime mortgage lenders,
and for his purchase of a $160,000 Irish "cottage" with the assistance
of an insider trading felon for whom Sen. Dodd had arranged a pardon.
Why might Sen. Dodd have been so solicitous of the welfare of the AIG
execs? Perhaps because last year he was the single largest recipient of
contributions from American International Group's political action
committee and its employees, $103,100, according to opensecrets.org,
which derived the information from Federal Elections Commission records.
The second largest recipient of AIG largesse? Barack Obama, $101,332.
Sen. Dodd says the language in the stimulus bill was the Treasury
department's idea. Treasury is saying Secretary Geithner didn't learn
of the bonuses until March 10, and didn't tell President Obama about
them until March 12.
It's difficult to say whether it would be worse if Secretary Geithner
were lying, or if he is telling the truth. Let's assume he's telling
the truth. The Wall Street Journal reported March 1 Treasury had
approved the release of an additional $30 billion in Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP) funds for AIG. Even in the Obama administration,
$30 billion is still real money. How could the Treasury secretary have
approved of an expenditure of that magnitude without knowing what the
money would be spent on? Is anybody minding the store?
Associated Press reporter Julie Hirschfeld Davis suggests Mr. Geithner
may be more dishonest than inept:
"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," she wrote Tuesday. "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."
A billion is a thousand million. Some suspect the belated sturm und
drang in Washington over the $165 million in bonuses is an effort to
distract attention from what AIG did with the thousand times more money
it received in federal bailout funds.
AIG released last Sunday (March 15) a list of its counterparties (the
firms to which it owes money). These were major European banks, plus
U.S. giants Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan
Stanley. There may be a good reason why these financial giants
especially the foreign financial giants should be made whole at the
expense of taxpayers who've lost about 40 percent of their life savings
thanks in large part to the machinations of these financial giants, but
to date, no one in Washington has offered it.
"The AIG bailout has been a way to hide an enormous second round of cash
to the same group that had received TARP money already," wrote former
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer in Slate Tuesday. "AIG was nothing more
than a conduit for huge capital flows to the same old suspects, with no
reason or explanation."
Perhaps there's a hint of an explanation in this: Employees of Goldman
Sachs contributed $955,473 to the Obama campaign. Employees of
CitiGroup contributed $653,468; employees of JP Morgan Chase, $646,058;
employees of Morgan Stanley, $485,823.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a
deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan
administration. Comment by clicking here.
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© 2008, Jack Kelly
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