« “Suze Orman IS FLAT OUT Not Telling the Truth!” | Home | President of BB&T “Goes Political…” »
Why Congress is Telling Bush/Paulson “NO!”
By Sherman Ragland | September 24, 2008
A week ago Thursday evening, US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in a closed door session with the leadership of Congress finally disclosed that the mortgage meltdown that started in August of 2007, now threatened to shut down the entire US Economy. Further Paulson told the members of Congress in this closed door session that if Congress did not act within days, the damage would be “of a permanent nature, with long lasting repercussions”.
Paulson then told Congress that he would have a proposal to them within days. This weekend Paulson, Fed Charman Bernanke and SEC Commision Chair Christopher Cox met with Congress and presented their plan to salvage the US Financial Markets. It was a three page <- you read this correctly THREE PAGES, that asked for Congress to APPROVE a $700 Billion Bail Out and included language that stated that the “DECISION OF THE TREASURY SECRETARY WOULD NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANY REVERSAL BY THE COURTS OR OTHER BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT…”
In other words, the Treasury Secretary asked for a $700 Billion “Blank Check” with No strings attached.
Congress immediately “PUSHED BACK” and said “NO!”
Ultimately this bill will get passed and we will be having a SPECIAL LIVE SESSION of This Week’s REALINVESTORS’ TALK RADIO in which we will cover the hearings currently taking place on Capitol Hill.
However, I thought it important to share WHY CONGRESS IS TELLING PAULSON “NO!” on Rubber Stamping his plan “AS-IS”.
The following information will be published tomorrow in the Baltimore Business Journal Tomorrow on the Executive Compensation received this year by the heads of those firms that have been BAILED OUT by the Federal Government under the guidance of Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke:
From the Baltimore Business Journal – by Mike Sunnucks and Chris Casacchia Contributors
“What CEOs involved in financial meltdown made…”
As Congress considers a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street and the banking sector, there are calls to restrict the pay and severance packages for CEOs at investment houses, banks and mortgage lenders poised to be benefit from the plan put forward by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
Executives from some of the major investment and commercial banks involved in the financial upheaval and bailout earned hefty paychecks last year, according to proxy statements outlining their salaries, bonuses and stock options:
Lehman Brothers Chairman and CEO Richard Fuld Jr. made $34 million in 2007. Lehman (OTC: LEHMQ) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), which Sunday gained Federal Reserve Bank approval to become a bank holding company, paid its chairman and CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, $70 million last year. Co-Chief Operating Officers Gary Cohn and Jon Winkereid were paid $72.5 million and $71 million, respectively.
American International Group’s chief executive, Martin Sullivan, got a $14 million compensation package in 2007. He was ousted in June. The insurance giant (NYSE:AIG) is on the receiving end of an $85 billion federal bailout. Edward Liddy took over as AIG’s chief executive earlier this month.
Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack earned $1.6 million. Chief Financial Officer Colin Kelleher got a $21 million paycheck in 2007. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) also received approval to become a banking holding company, a shift that allows Morgan and Goldman to bring in bank deposit assets which offer more-solid financial footing.
Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was paid $17 million in salary, bonuses and stock options in 2007. Merrill (NYSE: MER) is being acquired by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). BofA CEO Kenneth Lewis earned $25 million in 2007.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO James Dimon earned $28 million in 2007. Chase (NYSE: JPM) acquired troubled investment house Bear Stearns earlier this year with the federal government promising to take on as much as $30 billion in Bear assets to help get the deal done.
Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd received $11.6 million in 2007. His counterpart at Freddie Mac, Richard Syron, brought in $18 million. The federal government announced earlier this month it was taking over the mortgage backers with Herbert Allison to serve as Fannie CEO and David Moffett the new CEO at Freddie.
Wachovia Corp. Chairman and CEO G. Kennedy Thompson received $21 million in 2007. He was succeeded by Robert Steel as CEO in July. Steel is slated to get a $1 million salary with an opportunity for a $12 million bonus, according to CEO Watch. Wachovia (NYSE: WB) is one of the banks that could be sold in the midst of the financial crisis.
Seattle-based Washington Mutual (NYSE: WAMU) will pay its new CEO, Alan Fishman, a salary and incentive package worth more than $20 million through 2009 for taking the helm of the battered bank, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.
CEOs of large U.S. corporations averaged $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, according to the latest survey by United for a Fair Economy. In 2007, the CEO of a Standard & Poor’s 500 company received, on average, $14.2 million in total compensation, according to The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm. The median compensation package received was $8.8 million.
Popularity: 92% [?]
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: bernanke, christopher cox, hank paulson, members of congress, mortgage meltdown, realinvestors, realinvestors talk Radio, repercussions, sherman ragland, us treasury secretary
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.