Congress Gets Pay Raise

#1
volinbham

volinbham

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#1
So much for putting your money where your mouth is...Bastiges

Members of Congress Due to Award Themselves $4,700 Raise in 2009 - MarketWatch
:realmad:

Although legislation to halt the Congressional raise has been introduced, the most supported bill (H.R. 5087) has just 34 co-sponsors, far short of the 218 necessary for passage.
"As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain," said Daniel O'Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). "This money would be much better spent helping the millions of seniors who are living below the poverty line and struggling to keep their heat on this winter."
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#6
#6
Ah, that's just what they needed. You know, because they're doing such an extraordinary job and all. Seriously, elected officials and public school teachers have absolutely no common sense whatsoever.
 
#7
#7
wbailey7 said:
Ah, that's just what they needed. You know, because they're doing such an extraordinary job and all. Seriously, elected officials and public school teachers have absolutely no common sense whatsoever.
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really?
 
#10
#10
allvol123 said:
They are worse, the CEOs don't force your money from you.
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Sure, but if the company they are heading is big enough (big 3, financial sector), then it is either give their companies a taxpayer funded bailout or risk a deep recession or worse. Not "forcing", but almost as bad.

Check out the latest on the TARP watch thread.
 
#11
#11
rjd970 said:
Sure, but if the company they are heading is big enough (big 3, financial sector), then it is either give their companies a taxpayer funded bailout or risk a deep recession or worse. Not "forcing", but almost as bad.

Check out the latest on the TARP watch thread.
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Can you please explain to me, apparently a simple and ignorant person, how allowing the Big 3 to fail, thus filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, would lead to a deep recession???

The argument that allowing those three to go under, restructure, and reset their enormous debt-to-equity ratios would lead to nationwide economic turbulence is nothing more than populist BS.
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#12
#12
rjd970 said:
Sure, but if the company they are heading is big enough (big 3, financial sector), then it is either give their companies a taxpayer funded bailout or risk a deep recession or worse. Not "forcing", but almost as bad.

Check out the latest on the TARP watch thread.
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What would me checking out the TARP thread do to reverse my opinion of them being worse than CEOs? It would only strengthen my opinion.
 
#13
#13
therealUT said:
Can you please explain to me, apparently a simple and ignorant person, how allowing the Big 3 to fail, thus filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, would lead to a deep recession???

The argument that allowing those three to go under, restructure, and reset their enormous debt-to-equity ratios would lead to nationwide economic turbulence is nothing more than populist BS.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
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OK, easy. Calm down, nobody called anybody ignorant or simple.

I didn't say that, that is what we are being told. Loss of supplier jobs, nobody wanting to buy a car from a company in bankruptcy, etc...that is what I keep hearing. I don't know if it is true or not, all I know is it is more of the same scare tactics so these guys can stay in business, and we can give "bailout loans" to the finanical sector.
 
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#14
#14
allvol123 said:
What would me checking out the TARP thread do to reverse my opinion of them being worse than CEOs? It would only strengthen my opinion.
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Did you read how much money those guys made in bonuses last year, and how far that money could have gone to hold off the need for a bailout?
 
#15
#15
rjd970 said:
Did you read how much money those guys made in bonuses last year, and how far that money could have gone to hold off the need for a bailout?
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They make as much money from a for profit business as they can, I and anyone else would do the same. Again, why would I consider them worse than the thieves in DC?

Also, look what happens when they don't make their money. Hilarious.

FOXNews.com - Lost Goldman Sachs Bonuses Costing New York $178 Million in Lost Taxes - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

Paterson says it was the right thing to do, but the result is a further hit to the fiscal crisis of state government.
"Things could go even more south in a big hurry," Paterson told reporters.
Losing tax revenue from bonuses was a big hit to New York's finances because Wall Street taxes accounted for 30 percent of state revenue in the last fiscal quarter.
"I think it was the right urge," he said, but "the state lost $178 million in that moment
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#16
#16
allvol123 said:
They make as much money from a for profit business as they can, I and anyone else would do the same. Again, why would I consider them worse than the thieves in DC?

Also, look what happens when they don't make their money. Hilarious.

FOXNews.com - Lost Goldman Sachs Bonuses Costing New York $178 Million in Lost Taxes - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
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I love how people on here like to put words in my mouth. I specifically said it wasn't as bad, and for that matter, made no attempt to say that you would consider it worse.

And the Goldman Sachs taxes thing is really good. First, if they weren't inflated so much the previous years, and some of the money that was paid for the extras (personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships, professional money management) was instead saved as liquidity, numbers like that $178 million wouldn't look near as dramatic.

Second, since when did you become a pro-tax guy? It would also be interesting to see how much tax revenue was lost as a whole by the middle and upper middle class due to this mess, compared against that of what we would have seen just from top executives.
 
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#17
#17
rjd970 said:
Second, since when did you become a pro-tax guy? It would also be interesting to see how much tax revenue was lost as a whole by the middle and upper middle class due to this mess, compared against that of what we would have seen just from top executives.
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I'm not. Just found it hilarious how Paterson said it was the "right urge". Pure politics.
 
#18
#18
therealUT said:
Can you please explain to me, apparently a simple and ignorant person, how allowing the Big 3 to fail, thus filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, would lead to a deep recession???

The argument that allowing those three to go under, restructure, and reset their enormous debt-to-equity ratios would lead to nationwide economic turbulence is nothing more than populist BS.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
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I can't imagine that they truly want to reset their debt equity ratios. Their capital structure isn't near the problem that their cost structure is.
 
#19
#19
The real irony is that the big three continue to say that bankruptcy would cause people to lose confidence in their brand.....the problem is that that acutally happened about 20 years ago.
 
#23
#23
Lexvol said:
The real irony is that the big three continue to say that bankruptcy would cause people to lose confidence in their brand.....the problem is that that acutally happened about 20 years ago.
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Good point.
 
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