A special master appointed by the Obama administration says 17 banks handed out “excess compensation” at a time they were receiving bailout money to keep their firms afloat. Translation: Taxpayer money paid executives at failing firms for their failures. Beautiful.
Author: hankkalet
Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.
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Hank Kalet 
Greed of the bankers??? Greed of the bankers you say!!? Well, pish posh, we should really be talking about the extreme ultra greed of the teachers and their avaricious unions and the greed of the retired teachers with their too generous pensions and their too generous social security. There, take that, you greedy teachers with your too generous salaries and too generous benefits. Teachers should be reduced to serfs like their counterparts in the private sector. (SARCASM ALERT).It's so much fun demonizing and swiftboating teachers to such an extent that we have private sector workers fighting against public sector workers while the super rich run away with all the wealth of the country. It's called divide and conquer and it's working with the help of the corporate media, the right wing hate spewers on talk radio and Foxed Noise.The BULLY governator of NJ loves to demonize teachers and their unions so that he can further enrich the rich and hand the state over to the private sector (the super wealthy multinational corporations).
Well as a little L libertarian, I'm against bailouts and handouts by the Gooferment. And, the Gooferment Skrules aren't a good answer as well.No bailouts for WallStreet and we can close the Fed.No welfare for companies or people, TANSLAFLNo Gooferment Skrules means no teacher's unions.p.s., \”Too big to fail\” is \”too big to exist\”. Since corporations are creations of the Gooferment, then they can say: (a) no balance sheet larger than 1T$ ; (b) no annual salary greater than the POTUS; and (c) All bonuses vest evenly over 25 years; bankruptcy wipes out that out. No additional bureaucrats required.
As we edge closer to the mid-term election in November 2010, this time voters of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District have a clear choice laid before them. Republican Scott Sipprelle, a successful entrepreneur, is a candidate we can rely on to get our nation's financial house in order. During this time of high unemployment, fiscal disarray, a mounting national debt, and burgeoning budget deficits, Mr. Sipprelle's successful private sector experience, financial skill sets, and a proven track record of corporate reform, are particularly useful attributes that a public servant must possess. It is very important, especially at this critical juncture, that our district, state, and nation, have a representative that is comfortable in dealing with the financial intricacies of an expanding and increasingly complex economy. Scott Sipprelle was a successful employee of a Fortune 500 corporation, and has also excelled in several successful business ventures. Mr. Sipprelle is in a unique position to experience the numerous burdens and concerns employees and employers are facing during this economic recession. This is the kind of personal determination, financial dexterity, and holistic perspective constituents need in a representative. We are fortunate that Mr. Sipprelle is willing to exchange the pleasantries of privacy for the rigors of public scrutiny. Challenging times require personal sacrifices. We need a representative that can competently discern, and prudently address, the complex uncertainties of a national and global economy. It is time to elect Scott Sipprelle because he will have our collective interest at heart. We do not need any more special interests, or favors, unduly influencing our representative. Our district, diverse as it is, deserves a public servant that serves the whole of it, and not just influential friends, associates, and former academic colleagues. For too long now, the 12th Congressional District has been poorly served by the current career politician. Representative Rush D. Holt, a plasma professor from Princeton University, has all too often, to the detriment of the district and nation, been led by the extreme liberal partisans, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who are now controlling the Democratic Party, and dragging it, and our nation, radically to the left. Rep. Holt has greatly contributed to the enormous debt being placed on us and posterity, and relies too heavily on, and zealously represents, the influential donors that feed his campaign treasure chest, and the most extreme elements within the Democrat Party.Scott Sipprelle, on the other hand, has a fresh and clear vision with practical solutions, an independent judgment attached to no other interest than ours, and a sturdy financial mind capable enough to rein in the enormous budget deficit and national debt, which are dangerous blemishes on our national complexion. A vote for Scott Sipprelle is a vote for fiscal responsibility. Let’s prop up our national government and seat Scott Sipprelle in November, a public servant that will represent all of our diverse interests.
As we edge closer to the mid-term election in November 2010, this time voters of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District have a clear choice laid before them. Republican Scott Sipprelle, a successful entrepreneur, is a candidate we can rely on to get our nation's financial house in order. During this time of high unemployment, fiscal disarray, a mounting national debt, and burgeoning budget deficits, Mr. Sipprelle's successful private sector experience, financial skill sets, and a proven track record of corporate reform, are particularly useful attributes that a public servant must possess. It is very important, especially at this critical juncture, that our district, state, and nation, have a representative that is comfortable in dealing with the financial intricacies of an expanding and increasingly complex economy. Scott Sipprelle was a successful employee of a Fortune 500 corporation, and has also excelled in several successful business ventures. Mr. Sipprelle is in a unique position to experience the numerous burdens and concerns employees and employers are facing during this economic recession. This is the kind of personal determination, financial dexterity, and holistic perspective constituents need in a representative. We are fortunate that Mr. Sipprelle is willing to exchange the pleasantries of privacy for the rigors of public scrutiny. Challenging times require personal sacrifices. We need a representative that can competently discern, and prudently address, the complex uncertainties of a national and global economy. It is time to elect Scott Sipprelle because he will have our collective interest at heart. We do not need any more special interests, or favors, unduly influencing our representative. Our district, diverse as it is, deserves a public servant that serves the whole of it, and not just influential friends, associates, and former academic colleagues. For too long now, the 12th Congressional District has been poorly served by the current career politician. Representative Rush D. Holt, a plasma professor from Princeton University, has all too often, to the detriment of the district and nation, been led by the extreme liberal partisans, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who are now controlling the Democratic Party, and dragging it, and our nation, radically to the left. Rep. Holt has greatly contributed to the enormous debt being placed on us and posterity, and relies too heavily on, and zealously represents, the influential donors that feed his campaign treasure chest, and the most extreme elements within the Democrat Party.Scott Sipprelle, on the other hand, has a fresh and clear vision with practical solutions, an independent judgment attached to no other interest than ours, and a sturdy financial mind capable enough to rein in the enormous budget deficit and national debt, which are dangerous blemishes on our national complexion. A vote for Scott Sipprelle is a vote for fiscal responsibility. Let’s prop up our national government and seat Scott Sipprelle in November, a public servant that will represent all of our diverse interests.
Who cares how great you think he is? All we have to know is that he's \”not Rush Holt\”. Out with the bad; in with the bad. Next election we can turn him out. Sort of voter based \”term limits\”. keep the \”revolving door\” revolving. That way there's not enough time to corrupt him and for him to set down roots. As a matter of fact, we should elect only \”congressional virgins\”. That way, it might be regarded as quick stop; not a life long career.p.s., building should only be named for dead service people who died in the line of duty. Let's remember what these things really cost!
It's Democratic Party not Democrat Party. I would not vote for the repub (tit for tat) party even under threat of having a hand grenade shoved up my left nostril. Rush Holt is a great representative and works in the people's interests. He gets my vote again. We don't need yet another corporate repub millionaire (tit for tat) in the House.