Rangel and his cohorts in Congress have taken the boldest step yet.....proposing through HR 1586 to apply a 90% tax rate to any income in excess of $250K or $125K for individuals employed by any company in receipt of TARP funds......that will surely help retain good talent in these firms at the time when they are most needed. Entry level positions for top-tier business school recruits is in the neighborhood of $125K.....excluding bonuses. They are clueless....this is like the "terror" in French history. Now we have them managing our financial system. This is sheer madness..... Isn't Rangel currently under investigation for misconduct in his own financial affairs......am I the only one who is struck by the absolute absurdity of this?
You're right. Congress is now the "mob" depicted in a "Tale of Two Cities". These are the same charlatans that panicked in September and started throwing hundreds of billions around like confetti to these shlock outfits with no conditions. Nowe they realize they have been subsidizing con artists and losers and they want it back.
We'll obviously debate that premise forever, but what is happening is capital allocation by the central government.....a concept that has proven to be disastrous in every situation in which it is employed in the history of mankind. If you are a top grad in any business school in the world, is there going to be any possible incentive to work in finance? What rational human being is going to be attracted by a career in finance? Where do we need the most skilled, energetic and innovative minds that we have to offer? Look what these imbeciles are doing to our country.....the effects of which may be felt for generations. The lefties have been in power for a very short time and we may not recover in my lifetime......this is very scary stuff. As I heard someone say today, the transition to a socialist economy can be a very messy thing......this is sheer stupidity.
I've had penny stock hustlers phone marketing me at my office for 30 years. That is a timeless profession.
Congress is passing bills that they haven't read and afterward don't agree with. Congress is giving hundreds of billions of dollsars worth of authority to the secretary of the Treasury with absolustly no regulations about the funds distrubution. Congress is putting this country further and further into the hole of debt than it has ever been before. Congress just got a pay raise. Now is the time for them to piss all over corporate CEO's that don't know how to run an efficient business entity.
I heard that execs at Fanny Mae/Mac are getting bonused...has Obama complained about that yet? Has he asked his buddy Franklin Raines for his money back yet?
....from my perspective, this is the most absurd political moment in my lifetime. It truly is surreal bordering on the bizarre. I wonder if I'm not going to wake up and realize it was all a mightmare. Even the libs have to be embarrassed by this politcal and national debacle.
I'm not too young to remember that one of the first things that Clinton did was retroactively increase the inheritance tax. I recall it being passed and going into effect.
I agree wit B.T. These may be the darkest times in our history. It started with the initial unconditional panicked bailout of AIG and has simply snowballed at breakneck speed under Obama. I don't think we can even discern a reference point at this juncture. We are a ship adrift in a financial sea without compass or captain.
Well put Krebsie.....it's a complete leadership vacuum at a time when strong, competent leadership is vital. From the outsourcing of the budget to Comrades Reid/Pelosi after the pork elminating campaign promises to the unfocused appropriations in a time of national financial crisis, to the clear direction towards a socialist democracy, to the ad hoc, rudderless and uncoordinated policy actions from the Fed and Treasury to the populist war he wages daily in the press against the investing class which have the very real effect of undermining the tactical policy mechanisms his administration is trying to put in to place.....to the storming of the barricades to lynch the AIG nobility through unconstitutional and ill-conceived mechanisms of a congress adrift.......we need a leader. We have none......surely he must see this. If he can't or does not act to fill the vacuum, our problems have only just begun.
I can't see where the followers of any party....right or left.... have anything to be proud of at this moment in time.
The leadership of this government is firmly in the hands of the libs.....the House, the Senate and the Executive. This Congress reacted to the crisis by passing the largest collection of earmark-filled pork pushing us down the path towards socialism at a time when we could least afford it.....this President has reacted to a crisis in the financial system by waging a populist war on the very sector that is most vital for good health to address the fundamental issues. He's raising taxes during a period of extreme economic distress, he's limiting deductiblity of mortgage interest during a time of collape in the housing markets, and he's trotted out a Secretary of the Treasury who has exhibited all the leadership ability of an autistic cockroach. There is no response on the part of this government that shows any shred of a coordinated, well conceived policy response to the issues we face......there is a vacuum in leadership, they are in charge......they are failing and we will pay possibly for generations. You got what you wanted....how's it working out?
You are right too, Dave. Both parties are equally complicit in this mess. How could anyone vote for an incumbent in the next election?
Not liking the wonderful promised CHANGE Dave? "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
Haven't seen enough of Obama's administration to know what he might be able to accomplish.....not even two months have gone by. He sure as hell didn't lead us into this mess.
As a semi-active member of the US Senate for about two years Obama is complicit in this mess to some degree. As a President with no executive experience he is now responsible for it. He entered into office screaming "Fire!" and helped ramrod a debt package through a friendly Congress eager to cover its own ass at breakneck speed and with little or no review by those voting on it. Now he is screaming "Fire!" yet again while Congress re-writes an already egregious tax code with wealth confiscation tactics aimed clearly at the income brackets he wants to demonize. And he was able to create all this havoc in only 60 days! Imagine what this socialist can do in four years!!
Oh...I can imagine George. If he keeps this up I could lose my job! :shock: Lest we lose track of when this mess all started: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_081113.htm Oversight Of Bailout Funds "A Mess" In a front-page story titled "Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged," the Washington Post reports "the Bush administration has" already "committed $290 billion of the $700 billion rescue package." But "for all this activity, no formal action has been taken to fill the independent oversight posts established by Congress when it approved the bailout to prevent corruption and government waste." Treasury Department inspector general Eric M. Thorson said, "It's a mess. ... I don't think anyone understands right now how we're going to do proper oversight of this thing." The CBS Evening News broadcast a similar report last night, in which it said "the public may feel like victims of a bait and switch. The original idea was spend $700 billion tax dollars to buy troubled mortgage-related assets from struggling banks, but the actual bailout calls for nothing of the sort. Instead, your tax dollars are buying massive shares in some of the nation's biggest and most successful banks with virtually no strings attached."
I could contend that it was government interference in economic matters that created this mess which created the bailout mess. You're looking at this in all too narrow of a scope. Of course, when you want to look at the big picture people will start telling you that you just want to play the 'blame game.' And once again, nothing gets done because no one is accountable. How about Congress enact a 90% tax on their own wages when they screw the pooch? At least they truly have no one else to blame.