Bailout News: AIG Is A Warm, Cuddly Puppy With A Red Bow And A Chew Toy That Is Shitting All Over The House (Video And Links For 3-17-09)

Everything is inside.  Why ruin a moment of puppy-induced calm.

For clarification: we are the chew-toy, Obama's feigned speech this morning is the red ribbon and the shit all over the house, well that's AIG.

By contractual obligation with myself and enforced by Sullivan & Cromwell, all AIG stories must begin by mentioning that Joseph J. Cassano is a great human being who deserves to spend the rest of his days in federal prison.

There are 3 sub-dramas to this weekend's AIG story.

1) AIG Bonuses and Reaction

As most readers already know, AIG is involved in a bonus payment scandal related to their financial products division.  The same division that emasculated AIG and taxpayers.  It's all over but the crying, because the $165 million in bonuses WERE paid yesterday.

NY Times on AIG Bonuses-Saturday

NY Times on AIG Bonus Outrage-Sunday

The Sanctity of AIG Contracts Glen Greenwald Salon.com

Bonus Blabber from Barney Frank CNBC

Letter from AIG Chairman Ed Liddy to Geithner

Send Geithner And Summers To Guantanamo Bay

2) AIG Payouts to Counterparties

A more detailed list of payments to AIG counterparties was released this weekend in an attempt to create a diversion for the AIG bonus payments.  Make sure to read the Felix Salmon piece below.

AIG Petition-Sign it

AIG Payments to Banks Stoke Bailout Rage   Reuters

AIG Counterparty List   NY Times

AIG Faces Growing Wrath Over Payouts   WSJ

AIG's Not Very Transparent List of Counterparties   Felix Salmon

Goldman Sachs Still Needs to Explain Its AIG Exposure

Goldman Wins Big In Secret Bailout Via AIG

Tim Geithner Needs To Answer For His Role in AIG Bailout

Bracing For A Backlash Over Wall Street Bailouts    NY Times

3) Obama Thinks You Are Stupid

Everything is public relations.  Politicians generally deserve their loathesome reputations and Obama's clever speech this morning re-affirms my belief that most are impertinent scoundrels.  They smile and genuflect accordingly, while they run roughshod over the truth.

My anger this afternoon is directed at Presidnt Obama for whom I voted, not incidentally.  And I highly doubt it would be any different under McCain-Palin, except then I would have to worry about Sarah usurping control after she had McCain poisoned.

Listen to his speech.  If you were not paying close attention you would think that Obama was getting tough and was telling Tim to not allow the bonuses.

You would be wrong.

The bonuses have already been paid.  It's done.  This speech was nothing but public relations Clinton style.  Apparently Slick-Willie is back in business.  Semantics, people.  Pay attention to the words.

Ah, so it's about future bonuses says Reuters.

"The president told Secretary Geithner ... to take every legal means that he has to push back against this, to figure out who put this in the contracts and when, and to make sure this doesn't happen again," Austan Goolsbee, a member of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, told Reuters Financial Television.

Comments

[Big Macke]

If only it were so easy to make everything better. Great post.

[DailyBail]

The Felix Salmon article is very interesting. Everyone should read it.

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/03/15/aigs-not-very-transparent-list-of-counterparties

Also this from Gretchen at the NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15gret.html

[DailyBail]

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/03/16/does-larry-summers-get-things-right

And the above is from Felix Salmon about Larry Summers. Very good read.

[DailyBail]

The AIG petition:

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/Transparency

[DailyBail]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/politics/17obama.html?hp

"Obama Orders Treasury Chief to Try to Block A.I.G. Bonuses "

A sampling of the NY Times bullshit on Obama's speech.

[DailyBail]

Here's another great piece from Glenn Greenwald:

"The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal"

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/14/portugal/index.html

[DailyBail]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/health/policy/16mass.html?em

Massachusetts Faces Costs of Big Health Care Plan

[DailyBail]

Krugman worrying about Europe:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/opinion/16krugman.html?em

"A Continent Adrift "

[DailyBail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123705585093130641.html

Congresswoman Maxine Waters Says Help to Bank Was Proper

[DailyBail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123717148665837323.html

Proposed financial regulatory framework changes

[DailyBail]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/business/media/16cnn.html?_r=1&ref=business

CNN to focus exclusively on the economy this week

[DailyBail]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29719052

Citigroup's Pandit got $11 million

[DailyBail]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29714550

Requiem for Bear Stearns: The First Domino to Fall

Includes video

[DailyBail]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29719477

FASB grants more leeway on MTM accounting. Mark To Market

[DailyBail]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ar8GMXGDnlws

FASB re-defines Fair Value for the umpteenth fucking time.

[DailyBail]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a72q7hFPu5Cs&refer=home

AIG Told Congress That Failure May Cripple Banks, Money Funds

[Ain't Bullshittin']

The banks are crippled ANYWAY....Mark To Market was just proof positive. Abandon the truth and .....PRESTO-Profitability. (With MASSIVE capital injections, per the FED like TALF, TAF, and just straight CASH)

[hula]

Thanks for the puppy photos. They made me smile. When are you going to post a podcast of your radio appearance?

[Roach]

AIG sucks, but Obama is spending trillions. This stuff about bonuses is junk food for the masses; the real crime is the $160B paid to Goldman and the various counterparties. Let them lose their money, they had the upside, they should also have the downside. All this talk about bathrooms and bonuses is typical political symbolism that misses the big issue: taxpayers are being fleeced based on a dubious theory of systemic risk, deficient understanding of bankruptcy and receivership, and contempt for free markets all around, not least by Wall Street.