Banks Prepare for Bigger Bonuses, and Public’s Wrath

[kpete]

Source: New York Times

Banks Prepare for Bigger Bonuses, and Public’s Wrath

By LOUISE STORY and ERIC DASH
Published: January 9, 2010

Everyone on Wall Street is fixated on The Number.

The bank bonus season, that annual rite of big money and bigger egos, begins in earnest this week, and it looks as if it will be one of the largest and most controversial blowouts the industry has ever seen.

Bank executives are grappling with a question that exasperates, even infuriates, many recession-weary Americans: Just how big should their paydays be? Despite calls for restraint from Washington and a chafed public, resurgent banks are preparing to pay out bonuses that rival those of the boom years. The haul, in cash and stock, will run into many billions of dollars.

Industry executives acknowledge that the numbers being tossed around — six-, seven- and even eight-figure sums for some chief executives and top producers — will probably stun the many Americans still hurting from the financial collapse and ensuing Great Recession

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10pay.html?hp

[NJmaverick]

1. President Obama warned them about the people with the torches and pitch forks

[DisgustedInMN]

9. Yessirreeeeee..

... and lookie how well that's working...

Maybe he should put them on "Double Secret Probation" next!

:applause:

[avaistheone1]

25. Obama has more than winked his approval about this in the past

I don't expect anything to change on Obama's part.

[avaistheone1]

26. .

[bitchkitty]

41. Sad, but true. n/t

[closeupready]

47. Not when they gave more to his election campaign than any other industry or individual.

n/t

[TheEuclideanOne]

24. Somebody might want to warn Obama as well.

and they won't be Republicans either.

[wordpix]

106. they're considering 8 figure bonuses? That's 10's of millions for one year

One year after the year we bailed them out.

These thieves don't get the idea that they should maybe save for a rainy day, instead of asking for a handout when that day comes. Next time, the answer is NOOOOOOOO

[Vidar]

32. It should be the National Guard that marches on the banks, but some

corrupt fool has them stationed in Afghanistan

[Juche]

67. I'm sure they laughed at that

As if people trust Obama to stand up to the bankers anymore.

[Zhade]

70. Or trust him at all. Getting caught in a blatant lie (PO) tends to eliminate trustworthiness.

NT!

[last1standing]

68. Was that before or after he fought against banking regulations?

Just asking... :shrug:

[pinniped]

73. The President won't be picking up his torch or pitchfork.

.

[KillCapitalism]

105. Nope

He'll have his hands full handing them suitcases filled with cash.

[bjobotts]

89. By any means possible, they should not be allowed to spend it.

[tango-tee]

95. And they're shivering in fear.

Yup!!

[UpInArms]

2. it's time for

:FRSP:

[salguine]

38. Which would be what, exactly? For those of us who don't speak Acronym?

[UpInArms]

75. a picture

:FRSP:

French Revolutionary Severance Package

:hi:

[salguine]

82. Oh, sweet Jesus, yes. I've been saying that for years now. Please let it come soon.

[vssmith]

87. Aux Barricades!

[wordpix]

102. reminds me of David Faber's interview at the mansion of a Wall St. a-hole

---can't remember who he was, but the guy was part of the whole subprime mortgage, chop 'em up and sell toxic "assets" for huge profits, and he met Faber at this gargantuan mansion. Every question, he ducked and looked like he was hiding something very big. Yet we're bailing guys like him out so they can keep their mansions.

[Tansy_Gold]

51. And I found a stash of yarn in the workshop the other day.

Just in time????


:hi:



TG

[Cleita]

3. Well, I already have switched to a credit union in my area.

Everyone should look for a community bank or credit union to do their banking business in until we go back to the system we once had that chartered banks in one state only. It's the only way we will rein in the excesses and send the foreign banks packing back to their own countries.

[ananda]

5. Me too. CU forever.

nt

[rambler_american]

98. CU's rock

Been a member for 15 years. If you have your money in one of the banks that are too big to fail, move it.

[jtrockville]

10. I hope many others do the same. I switched last spring.

It was much less of a hassle than I thought it would be. I'm very pleased with my new (local) bank.

[Jakes Progress]

13. Remember that CU's did the "screw the public" thing

a few years ago. The fact that they are decent alternatives now is not because they are so righteous. Because of the government bail out for CU's that tanked, they had strict regulations and limits put on them. Many are now trying to get those restrictions lifted so they can be "free to serve the people" again. Strange that the regulations got handed out by bush one admin while ours just lets the banks run free - puts the theives in charge.

[Jackpine Radical]

29. Acdtually, I don't recall a major credit union debacle.

You're not confusing them with S&Ls, are you? Different animals entirely. CU's are actually co-ops.

[katkat]

39. credit unions are good guys

I have no recollection of a credit union problem either, like Jack I think you may be confusing them with S&Ls. I have "banked" at my credit union for a long time and been very happy. They treat their customers like human beings.

[Jakes Progress]

84. Been with my CU for 35 years

but there was the problem (not the S&L's) that got solved by regulation. Watch out for the CU's that want to become brokers and investment sources. it used to be that you belonged to a credit union. When the self-imposed regulations regarding membership and scope started getting eased, there were a number that had problems. To protect their turf, banks leaned on state regulators to tighten up the regs on CU's. It was the best thing that could happen to CUs. But now there is a group of CUs that are feeling chafed by the regs and want to become more like banks. i think that some "entrepreneurs" have started moving in on CUs because they are more laxly overseen.

The signs to watch for are CUs that begin open enrollment and the ones that send you letters asking for help in getting their state regulations relaxed.

Agree that they are good guys, but they are as susceptible to greed as anyone.

[FedUp_Queer]

91. Credit Unions are thieves, too....and they got TARP funds.

credit unions received TARP funds (or funds from a program just like TARP). I was shocked after a very close relative of mine (who's a manager at a CU) mentioned to me about the "TARP funds that we received."

[No Elephants]

30. Ah, the good old days, when bailouts came with meaningful conditions.

We are not likely to see them again.

On edit: Poor sentence. I meant we won't see meaningful conditions on bailouts again. I have a feeling we will see more bailouts, though.

[liberation]

36. I we send foreign banks packing...

... foreigners will stop buying our debt, which has been our main export this decade. And then, we will be a 3rd world country.

I think we should have sanity reinstated and a strongly regulated financial system would be a great start, I just don't see Mr. Obama interested in affecting the status quo as much as he is just interested in stabilizing things to allow the status quo to prevail.

[Cleita]

37. We became a third world country in 1980 when the first homeless

were thrown out on the streets. Then the welfare to work program threw more people under the bus in the eighties under Clinton. Now homelessness is practically institutionalized as much as it is in any third world country. I can't see where letting foreign banks bleed our money out of this country for their investments helps us. They are not investing in the community and creating commerce and jobs. I hope they stop buying our debt. Maybe we can restructure our economy then back to something similar to where we were when we were a superpower economically.

[girl gone mad]

43. I agree.

I think a few failed treasury auctions might represent the best chance we have to change life for the better for most Americans and reign in the control that the MIC, banking cartel and multinational corps. have over us.

[liberation]

69. I am not completely disagreeing with you...

... It is that I am baffled by some people's attitudes that think it was them "foreigners" who have put us in this pickle. It reeks of xenophobia and a lack of willingness to assume responsibility. Also, remember... we were the super economic power we were back in the 50s because the rest of the world was in ruins. Once foreigners start to beat us at our own game, we have a tendency to bitch and moan. It seems to me that as Americans we have never been able to develop an actual game plan, an actual long term vision.

When I got my PhD in engineering, I was literally the only American in my graduating class (and this was at a top 10 engineering school, and I have dual nationality to boot). All my friends in highschool went on to get degrees in stuff like English, psychology, etc. Not saying those degrees are useless, but the percentage of people who we graduate with those degrees is ridiculous. One can't sustain an leading economy with graduates in English, psychology, and business.

Do you ask yourself this question: Do you think the majority of Americans are even willing to contemplate the actual compromises they have to make in life style that would lead to return this country into a place where people actually make stuff, take care of each other, and have a social view that goes further than their doorstep? In my personal opinion, I don't think that is the case. As such, blaming "foreign banks" for this shit storm is just another attempt at not wanting to look at ourselves in the mirror.

[Cleita]

77. No other industrial country in the world has the lack of balance of trade

that we have and that includes banking. Even China protects it's own industries and banking from foreign raiding of their assets because that is what is going on. No I'm not blaming Robobank or USB. They see an opportunity and are using it to their advantage. I am blaming our leaders for allowing this to happen, first our manufacturing, then our jobs and now our financial infrastructure. It has to stop.

[Zhade]

72. Sadly, even CUs aren't immune from corruption.

Mine still does the debits-before-credits scam the megas like BOA do.

[SpiralHawk]

4. "Smirk." - Republicon Crony Banksters

[DemReadingDU]

80. lol!

[pattmarty]

6. My belief is that this whole sordid banking affair will be the big............

............political story this year. AND the one that potentially could fuck the Dems in the mid-terms. I know, I know, that the Republicans are much worse in these matters, but to the uneducated/uninformed electorate they will just "switch" to Republican.

[shadesofgray]

7. Awww, don't worry, guys. Geithner and Obama are looking out for you!

[dotymed]

17. They sure are...

I want to puke. At least FDR had the sense to tax these huge salaries at 90% after a reasonable amount. If we keep allowing this to happen, and the wealth remains in the hands of a few, then there will never be any chance that our economy will improve. Maybe for wall street, definitely not for main street. Like they say; it will never be a class war unless we fight back. It is way past time. Remember, FDR had the "bonus Army" camped out in his back yard. Maybe, we should raise a "Progressive Army" to camp out in Obamas. He is quickly ensuring his "lame-duck" status.We need to draft Bernie Sanders to run in 2012.

[Dappleganger]

8. Every company, name, address and amount of bonus $$ should be printed

and put in the newspaper and the internet.

[democrank]

11. "Bank bonus season".....

for banksters. Bet they all have flag pins.

[change_notfinetuning]

40. "flag pins" - good one! And a very good bet. For a couple of bucks, you

too could be part of the Bullshit Brigade.

Remember when Obama decided to start wearing one, in the middle of the campaign? I accepted it, meaningless stupidity notwithstanding, as just another one of those thing he had to say or do to appeal to enough Americans to get elected, so that he could then work on bringing about that change we wanted to believe in. Silly me? Maybe.

Just wondering, do people in any other country wear their flag pins like so many Americans, or is this another of those "uniquely American" things?

[glitch]

12. I hope they feel they have to use it all to pay for body guards.

A tiny improvement in employment numbers anyway.

[JackInGreen]

42. With any luck

folks will show them that they NEED body guards. "If this goes on...."

[47of74]

14. Take your money out of such banks

And put it in more responsible institutions.

http://moveyourmoney.info/

[TheEuclideanOne]

31. MOVEYOURMONEY.INFO - Spread the word!!!

Keep publishing that URL. I think it is a good idea and I am going to do it myself. I bank with Chase and hate them with more than the heat of a thousand suns. FUCK YOU CHASE!!!! I might even do it tommorrow. The next on my list to tell to fuck off is AT&T. Okay, not related to this, but they piss me off just as much.

[barbtries]

49. know what's kind of funny/sad?

i just recently switched to at&t, because i hate time warner more! there's no good option as far as i can tell. i'm talking phone and internet, my cell's t-mobile and i don't pay for tv. netflix.

[TheEuclideanOne]

53. I have a good option for you.

This is something that is on my list to do this month. Basically, using Google Voice to use the internet to avoid paying these cell phone companies their exhorbinant fees. I just don't like having to pay what is the equivalent of the price of a nice used car whenever I need to use the phone overseas. T-Mobile is who I am switching to, btw. Just curious, do you mean that you use Netflix instead of paying for TV? Please elaborate.

As an FYI, I am having an issue with AT&T where they made a series of mistakes that caused me some serious financial problems. Their mistake. Their seriese of mistakes, actually! Will they resolve them? Hell NO! Sadly, they actually did come close to resovling them, but then they needed Chase to help and Chase took the ball and dropped it a few times. There is so much incompetence in these companies. Now I am caught in the middle of both of them which is a pretty shitty place to be. I am looking forward to dropping the both of them by the end of this month, which is why I like that URL. I really hate the way that banks can make it so easy for a company to take funds out of your account, but when it comes to putting them back, it takes 3-4 business days. Fucking scumbags! After a few calls with these people, I have fantasies in my head of literally reaching through the phone and choking the life out of them in a very graphic way, then using my forefinger to transfer my call to the next idiot, until I finally reach somebody who can give me a correct answer to even the simplest question. I had to hear so many times, "We are sorry that you are going through this inconvenience, but there is nothing we can do" when it comes to mistakes that they created.

[barbtries]

97. i'm sorry you're going through that too

after only a couple of months i discovered that instead of my having unlimited long distance at&t was charging me by the minute. i had to ask the person at at&t who admitted it was their error, "will i have to call you again next month, and the month after that?"

how long will it take the bank to give you back your money when they take it out instantaneously? this is a very small example. i thought the fast food place had overcharged me and mentioned it at the window. at first they just shrugged then the mgr asked for my card again and said she was going to give me a credit because i was right. ok fine. a week goes by and all i see is two charges instead of one, so i went back to the fast food place, showed the printout to the mgr, and was given a free breakfast to make it right.

the next day, over a week later, the credit showed up on my bank statement. that is just bullshit, which i noticed on the front page of DU yesterday, is resulting (along with other skanky practices) in the banks having so much money they can hardly figure out how much to pay themselves.

there should be laws!

to answer your question, yes i use netflix (and hulu) for tv watching. $10 a month and i can watch instantly - i am never without something to watch when in the mood. i might be behind the times and i don't care for a lot of very popular programming anyway. and i hate commercials.

good luck on getting your situation rectified fairly. i am also planning to move my money, even though i thought i had, i'm going to try to find a credit union in the area.

[wordpix]

103. thanks for this!

[Luciferous]

35. Thanks for the link

It's nice to see that my current bank is on their list of good banks :)

[Hansel]

45. I'm not so sure about this list

In Zip Code 55479 - TCF Bank is widely purported to be the institution out of which John Hinderaker runs the Power Line Blog and is largely believed to lean heavily right in its funding and support.

Also, they do not have US Bank on their list, which is a bank that was forced to take money in the bailout and was one of, if not the 1st bank to repay it saying they didn't need the money and wanted nothing to do with it. It's CEO does a great deal for the community and he is a rags to riches story. He grew up on public assistance, started at the bank as a teller 30 years ago, and was just hailed as one of Minnesota's top executives for his handling of the bank's finances, putting solid policies in place, and avoiding the risks many of the other large banks took.

This list is is too simplistic. In this instance moving money from US to TCF would hurt the more progressive well run bank while potential lining the coffers of the right wing. We should not assume that because they are a community bank that we should put our money in them. Be sure to do your research.

[rhett o rick]

55. Yes very important to research. I personally have money in my Credit Union.

Wouldnt it also be safe to say that moving money from the big four bank cartel would be wise?

[Hansel]

62. Well I work at one of them

so I can really can't give an unbiased opinion on that. I work at Wells Fargo.

I know Wells Fargo is more fiscally conservative than others and was a sound bank when it was forced to take the bailout money and has gotten a bad rap in the press. Also that it saved Wachovia from collaspe along with 10s of thousands of jobs in the process. Wells Fargo hates to lay off people and works very hard to find other jobs for workers displaced.

For me Wells Fargo has been a is a great place to work. I have some money there and at US Bank and I'm not moving my money out of either. I don't get bonuses but get a decent wage but not the top for my field. I'm a programmer. I enjoy working there and am treated with great respect so I cannot complain and it makes the more modest wages worth it. I was out with a disability for 6 months recently and I couldn't have asked for better support than I got from them. They were wonderful and have been very strong in assuring me that my employment is sound. Ironic that it might not be if this boycott works. Progressives will help to destroy a company that is rather 'blue' in the way it treats its everyday employees.

Our department also brought back jobs that Wachovia outsourced to India after we merged to avoid laying off Americans. I haven't heard of any gigantic bonuses but I work in operations so I wouldn't know. I know that we are not giving bonuses to some of the people at the top this time and that the bonuses given were never as big as some of the other banks.

It's important to know that Wells Fargo, for all practical purposes, is a bank that has a Minnesota management culture. It's executives are largely from Minneapolis, the old Norwest, so it's not part of the Wall Street mentality. As far as the anecdotal stories about loans and such, there is always going to be problems in every large institution. But I have no reason to believe that Wells Fargo is engage in systematic predatory lending and every reason not to believe it. I have my own stories that would counteract some of the criticisms but am not allowed to share them. Wells Fargo operates on a decentralize model and asks its managers to run their department like they own it. So is there potential for problems, yes. Are they happening? Not institution wide.

I'm just saying, if people are going to use that website to decide where to put their money they need to be careful not to inadvertently boost a bank in favor of another without knowing about them.

[wordpix]

104. anyone know about Union Savings Bank in CT? They just merged with my community bank

and I'm not happy about it. I like my community bank ---it's small and friendly.

[Blue_Tires]

86. thanks for this...

[golfguru]

15. Why not? The banks probably received more money than

the military! We need to keep Wall Streeters happy! If we bring them
down to our standard of living, it is no good! They are the new Royalty!
How many Billions were sent to Wall Street bankers via TARP & BAILOUTS?
It was not their fault that they got greedy and over-leveraged their bets.

:sarcasm:

[scentopine]

16. War on Terror vs.War on Wall Street

Wall Street conspired to destroy our wealth. They cause worldwide disaster, 10s of millions of jobs, sold our intellectual property to China and India for pennies on the dollar.

We punished them by giving them a trillion dollars.

It is like capturing a terrorist, giving him a trillion rounds of ammunition, sending him off with a pat on the bottom, telling him to stay out of trouble.

[midnight armadillo]

81. Wall St killed more Americans too

How? Early deaths due to loss of health insurance, stress, suicides from the recession that Wall St foisted on us. I can't quote you facts, but at some point some knowledgeable person will do it.

[Ready4Change]

18. I'm preparing to move my money.

My current banks interest rates are crap. If their heads get big bonuses then I am out of there.

[davidwparker]

20. You know they will, so don't hold back. I opened up two

accounts with a credit union on Friday, during lunch.

I should get a direct deposit to one of the accounts Friday -- just did a portion of it to make sure everything is fine.

Then, I will close by bank account out after my tax return is deposited.

Next, I will move my AMEX balance to a credit card with the credit union. There is a 6.9% rate for a year, then it goes to an APR that is still less than what AMEX raised me to just because they could.

Bye-bye banks.

[RadiationTherapy]

19. 'Public's wrath' HAAAAHAHahahahah. Yeah. Right.

[davidwparker]

21. ... then work to make Move Your Money a success. One tells

one and so forth.

[crim son]

22. "Public's Wrath"?

You mean some fiery words blogged and a few spoken over the water cooler? Wonder what kind of preparing is necessary for such an onslaught.

[avaistheone1]

23. .

.

[avaistheone1]

27. How many times a year do they give these idiots bonuses?

It's an abomination!!

[earth mom]

28. "The largest and most controversial blowouts the industry has ever seen."

Or in other words, the biggest payout EVER.

:grr:

:mad:

:argh:

[yurbud]

33. it's time to turn banks into co-ops and put customers and mid-level and below

employees on the board.

It's clear now that the financial elite has become so small and inbred that they have lost touch with not just the reality of working Americans, but the reality of businesses that make things and provide services as opposed to their business of Ponzi schemes and pump and dump.

Real businesses create wealth. Financial institutions steal it.

[alp227]

34. There's a mention of extra regulation:

Many executives are bracing for more scrutiny of pay from Washington, as well as from officials like Andrew M. Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, who last year demanded that banks disclose details about their bonus payments. Some bankers worry that the United States, like Britain, might create an extra tax on bank bonuses, and Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, is proposing legislation to do so.

Good. But overall, the bonuses just sicken me, when millions of Americans can't find work or feed their families! Where are the working Americans' bonuses?

[Solly Mack]

44. k/r

[closeupready]

46. These banks own the country, so this story will not take off, because what they want,

they get, and if they say "sweep this under the rug", the bank's lapdogs in the media make sure it gets swept under the rug. End Of Story.

[barbtries]

48. i'm so sick of this

i'm about ready to burn down their buildings. aaarrgh

[Zhade]

74. After BOA stole money from my best friend the second time, I started feeling the same way.

I even promised her that, should society collapse, I will travel to the nearest BOA and burn the fucker down once I ensure everyone is out of the building.

An idle threat, of course -- unless civilization falls. Then all bets are off.

[Jackpine Radical]

50. What public wrath?

Wouldn't people have to hear about it in order to get mad? Hey, ya hear the latest about Tiger Wood?

[rhett o rick]

52. It's been said above but deserves repeating: moveyourmoney.info.

Also move your credit.

[Hansel]

54. Before you move any money do your research on who you

are moving your money from and to.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

56. The public? Who, us? Don't worry ... nobody is looking out for us.

Wish someone where, but simply not the case ... neither at the WH or among Dem leaders. They seem more than willing to sacrifice 99.8 % of Americans to the bankers and corporations. Meanwhile, the promise of America that I grew up with continues to be a memory and more and more likely out-of-reach for my daughter. Too bad, because *WE* are the future of this country, not the upper 0.02%.

[deutsey]

60. I hate to agree with you, but that's how I feel too. n/t

[Faygo Kid]

57. Pitchforks and torches.

It has come down to that.

[emsimon33]

58. Yes, this IS the CHANGE to believe in!!!! Thank you, Obama!

[deutsey]

59. The mask is dropping off and we're seeing the raw, piggish greed that's behind it.

The American aristocracy couldn't give less of a fuck what we peasants think about what's being exposed, either. They know all they have to dangle some bright shiney objects in their bought-and-paid-for media and we'll remain too distracted to do anything about it.

[Stinky The Clown]

61. This is the same group that failed to show up when Obama invited them to the white house

[waronbanks]

96. "Invited them to the White House"

This is the problem...as long as Obama plays this bullshit wishy washy game with these fuckers nothing will change. It is Obama who needs to forcefully lead on this and he refuses. Hes clearly incapable or unwilling to be the leader we need right now in America.Someone has to lead the fight against the banks and Wall Street robbers. When Obama puts those same robbers in charge of his economic its pretty clear he has no intention of leading.

If Obama wont take a strong leadership role in this and do the right thing he is useless amd in fact part of the problem...a BIG part of the problem.

[Alamuti Lotus]

63. Public Wrath? Public Executions would be more in order

[azul]

64. I'm waiting for some whistle-blower to bring out a document

that spells out exacctly how much of these taxpayer-sourced bonuses must be donated to political campaigns. Like it really needs to be publically displayed, the circle of corruption. Media must be looking under their desks in wonderful merriment.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

65. A bank bonus season.

Like flowers blooming in the spring.

[pleah]

66. K&R

[Initech]

71. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I'm ready for the pitchforks and torches at this point.

:grr: :argh: :nuke: :banghead:

[OhioChick]

76. Fucking insane. n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

78. My sock that I keep my dough in never asks for a bonus!

My sock is the only bank I trust.

[Goldstein1984]

79. This is good news!

Can you even begin to imagine how much of that bonus money is going to trickle down!?

We're all going to be rich!

(The good news and the long-term solution may be how pissed-off the masses are getting.)

[unabelladonna]

83. i am speechless

do they even care that there are millions of middle class families with young children who are just about at the end of their rope? what do they buy their ill-gotten gains. how many furs, cars, grotesquely huge mansions do they need.
they are sickening.

[FedUp_Queer]

92. Put the blame where it belongs.

On our Congress and last two Presidents. They should NEVER have bailed them out. Every single last time of "profit" (how any industry that doesn't actually produce anything can make a "profit" is beyond me anyway) they have made came from OUR MONEY!!!! Those "profits" they "earned" on investments they made were made with OUR MONEY. We all know what's going on, but we are just too scared or overwhelmed to do anything about it. They steal right in front of our faces; they don't even try to hide it any more. When are we going to march down Broadway to Wall Street and rally 2,3,4,5,10 million strong in front of the NYSE demanding their heads on sticks?

[flyarm]

94. and the buck stops with the people Obama put in his cabinet that gave our tax dollars to the people

who raped our economy!

Shortly after taking office..Obama asked Henry Kissinger..knick name.."The Butcher of Cambodia"..to represent his administration in Talks with Russia..

lets look as some serious connections here of Geithner , Kissinger and Obama...shall we..( edit to add: much of this i have posted many times in the past.)


TIMOTHY GEITHNER

Biography

Early life and education
Geithner was born in Brooklyn, New York.<2> He spent most of his childhood living outside the United States, including present-day Zimbabwe, Zambia, India and Thailand, where he completed high school at International School Bangkok.<3> He then attended Dartmouth College, graduating with a B.A. in government and Asian studies in 1983.<4> He earned an M.A. in international economics and East Asian studies from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in 1985.<4><5> He has studied Chinese<4> and Japanese.<6>

Geithner's paternal grandfather, Paul Herman Geithner (1902–1972), emigrated with his parents from the German town of Zeulenroda to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1908.<7> His father, Peter F. Geithner, is the director of the Asia program at the Ford Foundation in New York.

During the early 1980s, Peter Geithner oversaw the Ford Foundation's microfinance programs in Indonesia being developed by S. Ann Dunham-Soetoro, President Barack Obama's mother, and they met in person at least once.<8>

Timothy Geithner's mother, Deborah Moore Geithner, is a pianist and piano teacher in Larchmont, New York where his parents currently reside. Geithner's maternal grandfather, Charles F. Moore, was an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and served as a vice president of Ford Motor Company.

Early career

After completing his studies,

Geithner worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, D.C., for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1988.

He went on to serve as an attaché at the US Embassy in Tokyo. He was deputy assistant secretary for international monetary and financial policy (1995–1996), senior deputy assistant secretary for international affairs (1996-1997), assistant secretary for international affairs (1997–1998).<5>

He was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (1998–2001) under Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.<5> Summers was his mentor,<10><11> but other sources call him a Rubin protégé.<11><12><13>



In 2002 he left the Treasury to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Fellow in the International Economics department.<14> He was director of the Policy Development and Review Department (2001-2003) at the International Monetary Fund.<5>


In October 2003, he was named president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.<15> His salary in 2007 was $398,200.<16> Once at the New York Fed, he became Vice Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee component. In 2006, he also became a member of the Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty.<17>


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Timmy's dad :


Peter F. Geithner, is the director of the Asia program at the Ford Foundation in New York. During the early 1980s,

Peter Geithner oversaw the Ford Foundation's microfinance programs in Indonesia being developed by

S. Ann Dunham-Soetoro,

President Barack Obama's mother, and they met in person at least once



Geithner's maternal grandfather, Charles F. Moore, was an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and served as a vice president of Ford Motor Company.

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now this should alarm every true democrat on these boards!!!!!!!


and From an April post of mine here at DU: and please, don't believe me ...click the link..it was in the CFR publication!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Remarks by National Security Adviser Jones at 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy

Published February 8, 2009




Speaker: James L. Jones


U.S. National Security Adviser Jones ( edit to add: new advisor hired by Obama!!!!) gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on

February 8, 2009.





"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through General Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.




Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/18515/remar ... ...

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Report: AIG bailout money behind banks' recent profitability

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009 /...

snip:
The financial blog Zero Hedge has posted an "exclusive" that claims that according to an insider's account, AIG (yes, that AIG) "was responsible for the banks' January and February profitability."


Saying it is "rarely speechless," ZH offered "a moment of silence for the phenomenal scam that continues unabated in the financial markets, and now has the full oversight and blessing of the U.S. government, which in turns keeps on duping U.S. taxpayers into believing everything is good."


ZH says the insider perspective came in an email from "a correlation desk trader." Unless you're a finance whiz (and who is these days?!) you might get lost in the explanation of how AIG supposedly engineered this feat of profitability. But ZH tries to explain the "mumbo jumbo" in "layman's terms":


AIG, knowing it would need to ask for much more capital from the Treasury imminently, decided to throw in the towel, and gifted major bank counter-parties with trades which were egregiously profitable to the banks, and even more egregiously money losing to the U.S. taxpayers, who had to dump more and more cash into AIG, without having the U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner disclose the real extent of this, for lack of a better word, fraudulent scam.


In simple terms think of it as an auto dealer, which knows that U.S. taxpayers will provide for an infinite amount of money to fund its ongoing sales of horrendous vehicles (think Pontiac Azteks): the company decides to sell all the cars currently in contract, to lessors at far below the amortized market value, thereby generating huge profits for these lessors, as these turn around and sell the cars at a major profit, funded exclusively by U.S. taxpayers (readers should feel free to provide more gripping allegories).

[annm4peace]

85. Top Wells Fargo Mortgage Sales people meet in San Francisco Feb 3,4,5

Instead of the big extravagant big events on cruises or resorts.
The top sellers and top brass are meeting at the
Hilton San Franciso Union Square.

should be some an interesting time for them. I wouldn't be surprised if 1/2 the people who work in and around that hotel are losing or lost their homes.

[CoffeeCat]

88. The bankers and Wall Street are talking to us...

...and they're saying, "You don't matter. We don't give a damn what you think or how we look to you. We
aren't even trying to hide our greed or our power, or the fact that we own your government. Watch us
get multi-million dollar bonuses. We want you to. Then maybe you'll understand how powerless you
are and how meaningless your whining is. We could CARE LESS. And thanks for the bailout. You don't
reallly think we paid back that money do you?"

[wordpix]

101. or in short, fuck you, middle class

[FedUp_Queer]

90. Remind me.

Why should I pay taxes?

[flyarm]

93. Pity the poor bankers in Britian..they don't have Obama's gifts that keep on giving!!

but do pity the bankers in Britian..they don't have Obama and his band of crooks running things!!

“You can only push people so far.”By: Teddy Partridge Sunday January 10, 2010 8:01 pm
http://firedoglake.com/2010/01/10/sunday-late-night-%e2%80%9cyou-can-only-push-people-so-far-%e2%80%9d/

Pity the poor American bankers in Britain!

Atop a 50% tax on their earnings, passed by a Parliament overwhelmed by populist anger, American bankers in Britain now face a ‘vesting’ requirement that allows them to take only 40% of their taxable earnings this year, with the rest paid out over the next three years — if financial circumstances warrant.

And they do not like it. Not one bit. They are, in fact, fed up.

Especially the American-bank-employed British bankers, who watch their counterparts back home rake in big bucks without a peep from anyone in the United States government.

Why, they might even move to Switzerland!



edit to add..waaaaaaaaaaa...too bad they are not on our shores..they could be raking in billions!! On our backs!!

[LiberalEsto]

99. Too bad we don't have guillotines. nt

[wordpix]

100. we bail them out, we lose jobs & homes---and the banks make off with the loot

:puke: Is there any more blatant Congressional-Executive-Financial Corporate Clusterfuck example than this?

[Doctor_J]

107. oooooh. I bet they're scared of public's wrath

:scared: