They just don’t get it
The latest outrage of the bail-out debacle has AIG executives getting big bonuses after the failing insuror took billions in tax dollars.
I’m just a simple working girl, but I think I speak for many. Every time this happens - and it seems to keep happening over and over - I’m left with the same question: Huh?
Say what?
Come again?
My ears must be playing tricks. Surely they didn’t say “bonuses!”
Most normal folks have no trouble seeing why it’s patently wrong to reward the folks who helped cause the economy’s problems. Most folks, but not the bigwigs who always offer the same lame justification: You have to pay top dollar to keep top talent.
Pulleez.
First, if they’re so great, their company shouldn’t be about to topple and bring the global economy down with it. And second, there are plenty of smart people in this world. A lot of them, as a matter of fact, could use a job right now.
Top talent my hind foot.
More like self-important vultures.
Time for someone in the Treasury Department to make like a raven and say “Nevermore!”
A penny for your thoughts
I took one look at the rain pounding down in the newspaper parking lot and decided to splurge.
Instead of hoofing it a hundred yards to buy a soft drink for 45-cents, I decided to stay dry and drop a whopping 60 cents in the breakroom drink machine.
Cha-ching! In went a quarter. Cha-ching! Another quarter.
Cha-bonk. Cha-bonk. Cha-bonk.
Three tries and the thin dime just wouldn’t drop. The machine spit it out faster than I would spit out a stale, lukewarm Diet Coke.
I scooped up the offending coin and stomped into the circulation office. It was bad enough to pay “extra.” Having to work at it was thoroughly annoying.
“Will somebody give me a dime?” I fumed. “The machine won’t take mine!”
Two very polite young men reached into their pockets, each producing a shiny dime. I thrust my hand forward for the exchange and gulped. There, between my thumb and pointer was the offending coin - a dull, brown penny.
Oh. Uh. Oh.
“Well, gollee,” I stammered, sounding like Gomer Pyle. “That Coke machine took my dime and gave me a penny.”
The polite gentlemen smiled, er, politely. Too politely.
I’d bet you a shiny dime they didn’t believe me.
Would you take a penny?
Throw away the key
Watching network coverage of Wall Street swindler Bernie Madoff going directly to jail, the soundtrack of an old TV western somehow kept echoing in my head.
A slow-talking fella in worn cowboy boots and a 10-gallon hat pulled a straw out of his teeth and allowed, “Hanging’s too good that guy.”
I wouldn’t argue that. A jail term of 150 years seems a pittance compared to the havoc Madoff wreaked.
Bilking billions - much of it from religious and charitable organizations - is as heinous as a so-called “white collar” crime can get. A criminal doesn’t have to be violent to be destructive. Madoff destroyed more lives than a serial killer.
But assuming he spends the rest of his days in the slammer, the new question is this: How could a high profile, ultra successful Wall Street tycoon operate for decades without ever making a trade?
Shouldn’t somebody have noticed? And I don’t just mean Mrs. Madoff.
Altogether now: “It doesn’t make sense.”
Maybe “hanging’s too good” for some of them, too.
Andrea Lovejoy can be contacted at editor@lagrangenews.com
Dont believe the Obama administration about them "Getting your money back" it isnt going to happen. He has already proven that he doesnt care what happens to your money. Just look at all the crap thats been shoved down our throats already by this idiot. The guy they "Installed" to run AIG is a Democrat so Uncle Obama is his best buddy. The White House and Congress knew these bonuses were coming down the pipe. Them acting all shocked and surprised is a load of crap.
Tim Geitner our new Secretary of the Treasury cant even figure out turbo tax (slong with several other Obama Administration menbers) much less help out with getting your money back. He cheated on his own taxes while working at the International Monetary Fund and told the IRS "I didnt know I had to" Dont trust this guy either.
The middle of this op/ed piece made no sense and was just some random babbling about a coke machine, Gomer Pyle, and a parking lot and a penny.
When it comes to Bernie Madoff the answer is YES sever people did notice and alerted the Securities and Exchange Commission and they never once launched an investigation. Ms. Madoff (who has 93 million dollars in her own account) and his sons made millions off of taking other folks' money and taking it straight to the bank. They all should go to jail for some type of ethics violation as well as money laundering.
Overall the point is there are greedy people in powerful positions that do not care about you or me. They want our nation brought to its knees so they can control every aspect of your life from cradle to grave. They tell you that they want to give you all this crap for free and then we get mad when our taxes go through the roof and yer left scratching yer head holding yer wallet wondering what the hell just happened. There isnt anything that free when it comes to our government. Someone pays ALWAYS! Guess who the payer is. YOU!
If you voted for Uncle Barry thinking that he was going to pay your mortgage, put gas in your car, give you a house because you ask him nicely amd give you free universal healthcare. Think again America. You have been lied to and are still being lied to. When you have a free all you can eat buffett everyone shows up and eats it all until everything is consumed. America has become a Socialist country and our liberty and freedom has died with thunderous applause.
WAKE UP AMERICA