Obama on Leno last night explained the Aig fiasco in a very smooth talking way...

[xiamiam]

It left me a little unsettled..these guys are ultimately responsible for millions of Americans going belly up...a handful of guys really...when Leno asked if he thought someone should go to jail, he said well it was all legal....is it really legal to lobby congress to deregulate so that a handful can make billions and bring down the entire middle class in the process...I hated that answer...I love Obama..it just sounded so matter of fact without actually explaining that, yes, these financial instruments that they were allowed to create and then bet against, are the reason that homes are now worth half in some cases, and that millions are facing bankruptcy or foreclosure...

I just think that if he was going to explain what they did he needed to explain how they did it and how we are affected by it...I love Obama...love him...I just didnt like that answer...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. If I wanted somebody who told me what I wanted to hear I'd vote Republican.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. If you really want a clear understanding, read Matt Taibi's article in Rolling Stone.

It is incredible.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x434615


It is much too long and complicated for Pres Obama to have gone into on the Jay Leno Show. Perhaps on 60 Minutes or with Amy Goodman or Bill Moyers...but no way that would have been possible on the Leno show.

Read the article and I think you will agree.

[Fire1]

6. Absolutely, BrklynLiberal.

[xiamiam]

13. great article..thank you so much...i want to know WHO they are...

my suspicion is that it is a very small group who were not only lending the money...but betting against the mortgages which they were creating...i'm enraged..the banks still own the houses or will...they are just shuffling money and paper around...problem is, they are just shuffling it around among themselves...

[BrklynLiberal]

14. Yep. It may come down to pitchforks and flaming torches as the only way to get them out.

:evilgrin:

[xiamiam]

15. who are 'they'?..who are the lobbyists, congresspeople, wall street errand boys working for?

who paid and how much to lobby to deregulate glass-stengahl?..who actually got the billions that we just gave to aig..yeah..banks..but who?...without a face, its impossible to fathom..im sick of that..these are common well paid thieves who've figured out how to destroy us...best and the brightest, im sure

[xiamiam]

17. cuomo wins to release merrills bonuses..its a start

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/business/19cuomo.html?fta=y

[Delphinus]

3. Truth sometimes hurts.

But it's better to know the truth so that plans can be formulated based on REALITY.

[phantom power]

4. One thing I unconditionally dig about Obama is that he talks to us like adults.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. He's a natural teacher

His first instinct is to explain so that everyone can understand what's going on.

Unlike Chimpy Fucknuts, who had no idea what was going on.

I love Obama. Even if he weren't my President, I'd be dazzled by his gifts...............

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. I'm amused by this great big outrage over AIG -

Where was the outrage for all the no-big contracts that were given in Iraq? How much Halliburton make? KBR? Blackhawk, or whatever their names are these days?

A tiny fraction of what they got is called "AIG." But, here we are, barking up our President's ass - after all, we wanted him to win, right? - but not saying a word about the money that went away during the reign of Chimpy Fucknuts.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Democrats. I'll bet the Republicans, as disorganized as they are, must be having a lot of laughs about this. Cheney and Chimpy especially. I can just hear them: "We fucking GOT AWAY WITH IT! Look at them giving their precious Obama a hard time, and they don't have a clue!!!"

Way to go, all you lefties. Let's hurry up and find fault with President Obama. That's the ticket ...................

[xiamiam]

7. no you are missing the point...i had outrage over halliburton etc...

the credit default swaps have nearly bankrupted the country...i just would have liked for him to have said that...

[chill_wind]

9. 'Lefties" didn't go after Bush/Cheney's Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater??

Lol---Are you serious?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Really?

I was watching.

What were the results? I must have missed all those hearings and calls for the heads of those organizations to commit suicide, or, at the very least, give back the $$$.

So, enlighten me, please.

[chill_wind]

21. You mean our "Leftie" Congress and "Leftie MSM" under the Bush GOP?

I promise I won't laugh again-- I figured you had to be talking about the left blogosphere and had to be AWOL for the last 8 years. "Lefty" isn't a tag I would use to characterize the forementioned factions in any significant way- not with a straight face. Even so....there were probes and calls of corruption and outrage (ie Blackwater, Halliburton)and just like the probes and calls for hearings and the truth on virtually everything under the GOP gov't from 9-11 to Katrina and beyond, the outcome usually went like this:

GOP Kills Bill to Police Halliburton

By Bob Geiger, AlterNet. Posted June 20, 2006.

Republicans in Congress have made it clear they're willing to fight for military contractors' right to lie, cheat and defraud taxpayers.

http://www.alternet.org/story/37849/

Or..SOMETIMES like this...

FBI probes Blackwater as Congress moves on Iraq security firms

Oct 4, 2007


WASHINGTON (AFP) — US lawmakers voted Thursday to bring private security firms in Iraq out of legal limbo as the FBI took over an investigation into Blackwater, the contractor accused of gunning down innocent Iraqis.

However, officials were loath to say whether the FBI's takeover of a State Department probe could herald criminal charges against Blackwater, the best known of the well-paid US security contractors working in Iraq.

Currently the legal status of the shadowy security companies working independently of the US military in war zones is unclear and legally untested.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted 389 to 30 in favor of expanding the US Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, to make all security contractors in conflict zones subject to action in US courts.

The move came two days after Blackwater founder Erik Prince testified to a House committee that his guards had acted appropriately during a Baghdad shootout that killed at least 10 Iraqis on September 16.

Lawmakers had criticized the State Department, whose Diplomatic Security arm had been leading the investigations so far, for a lack of oversight of Blackwater, which reportedly has received US government contracts worth more than a billion dollars since 2001 to protect US diplomats and dignitaries.

A US Congress report this week depicted the company's employees as dangerously out of control, saying Blackwater was involved in nearly 200 shootings in Iraq in the past two years.

Contractors working under the Department of Defense are open to prosecution under US law for transgressions. But those like Blackwater working for the State Department or the US Agency for International Development are not.

Democratic Representative David Price, who sponsored the legislation, said it was hard to believe such a "gaping hole" existed in US law.

(...)

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j-JDedemHNNq6z0KByaqzbMRbrCw


Waxman on warpath over Blackwater payments
http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/519136.html

[Tangerine LaBamba]

22. I should have included

the "sarcasm" emoticon - but it was such a bald statement, I didn't think it was necessary.

Yes, you got it right, thank you. Watching these toads in Congress, including the Democrats, spewing outrage about the AIG bonuses just galls me. Once again, the lead is taken by a matter that's not particularly significant except in PR terms.

We're still getting our soldiers killed in Iraq. Does anyone notice?

Kids are hungry, people need to see doctors, and the collective panties of Congress are in a twist about bonuses.

Meanwhile, those thieves, like in the article you cited, so scot-free.

Maybe they don't have a leader or a coherent policy, but the GOPigs are still controlling the game. I think Obama can take it away from them, but he needs the Democrats in Congress to back him up - completely.

Mark Warner is my newest Senator here in Virginia. I read about him being one of the "ConservaDems" who are actively opposing Obama's efforts on the economy. I wrote to Warner, reminding him that I voted for him and sent him money because I wanted a Democrat in office, and that his actions were feeling like a huge betrayal of his supporters.

It's mighty dirty, all of it. Thanks for "getting" my meaning...................

[burythehatchet]

12. Prasie god for the ignore button...I can only imagine the mind-numbing post to which

you are replying.

[On the Road]

20. And it Wasn't Even AIG as a Whole

It was primarily the top executives and managers in certain branches who decided to get so heavily involved in mortgage-backed securities. 90% of management people were probably doing their jobs well and going about their business. I expect they're just as steamed as everyone else at what happened to their own company.

If you want to see an interesting depiction of why firms like AIG got into trouble, look at the current issue of Wired.

http://www.wired.com/wired/

[Tangerine LaBamba]

23. Thank you - I'll read that ...........

You will find this readable and horrifying: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/print

[On the Road]

24. That is a Good Article

and I hadn't seen it.

The article does seems to be inconsistent, though, in its claim that AIG knew perfectly well the CDOs and CDSs they were selling were "crap" and were bound to fail. If that were true, why would they put the whole company's future on the line by selling insurance to cover losses from similar instruments?

I think it's more of an example of groupthink that occurs when organizations follow a disastrous course and fail to correct it over a period of time.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. Don't forget arrogance ........

That's a lot of it. These people really did see themselves as Masters Of The Universe, untouchable, with fortunes that would continue to keep rising.

I think the reason for this - besides all the obvious - is that they had no idea what they were selling. They didn't understand how the inventions worked, and they were betting on others not understanding them, either. And they were right. No one really understands what these instruments were supposed to be, and without definitions, they can be anything.

So, of course they took it to an absurd extreme by selling insurance against them.

Madness coupled with arrogance, and the firm belief that they could do whatever the hell they pleased. It worked for them for so long, they can't really be blamed for thinking like this.

It's how they evaded all the alleged oversight that was supposed to be in place.

I've been shouting for a long time now to resurrect the antitrust laws and start breaking up these behemoths that are "too big to fail." That was the reasoning behind the antitrust laws in the first time - that no entity should ever get so big that it would be "too big to fail."

You're right about the groupthink, that's for sure. They were all ten feet tall and bulletproof and there was no one - absolutely no one - to tell them they were mortal.

[CJCRANE]

8. It's a smooth show.

The way Obama described it at the town hall was more hard-hitting.

[tangent90]

16. Well never quit loving him, he's counting on unconditional love.

...

[kentuck]

18. I wonder how history will judge these decisions?

I think Obama has been doing a good job on everything else but I have my doubts about these bailouts and bonuses...

[Mike 03]

19. Yes, but it's a little bit awkward to explain "credit default swaps" on the Jay Leno show.

This is not that easy to understand, and it WAS legal. It was reckless and stupid, but it was legal.