Friday, May 22, 2009

It's Pity Party Time


Poor Ed Liddy... apparently by criticizing his statements, we little people hurt his feelings. Douglas A. McIntyre chastises us,
Liddy had committed one unpardonable sin, or at least that was the story that several members of Congress wanted to believe. He had agreed to previously planned bonuses for AIG employees who worked in the part of the company that had created many of the insurance firm's losses. Liddy was clear in making the point that AIG had a legal obligation to make the payments. He would have been better off to hold his tongue. The minute he gave an explanation for his actions, no matter how rational it was, his interrogators seized on it as another act of either bad faith or stupidity on his part.
Well, gosh... there you have it. So what can I really say, but this: "Mr. Liddy, I'm so sorry that when you, an insurance company executive and former CEO of Allstate, started lecturing the country on the sanctity and inviolability of contracts, I didn't thank you for telling me that it was raining."

Update: Jane Hamsher takes on the various "factual" assertions in McIntyre's editorial.

3 comments:

  1. Based on Ms. Hamsher's comments (failure to disclose conflict of interest) Liddy's conduct goes from "good old rich boy screwing the tax payer" to criminal.

    Of course, given that this may be the "most fat-cat banker friendly" administration of all time (yes, even more so than the last one) I'm guessing that won't be a problem.

    CWD

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  2. Obama pushed cram-down for fist mortgages, and credit card reforms that have the banking industry apoplectic. Geither may be the most bank-friendly Treasury Secretary in history (although he mostly seems to be continuing his predecessor's policies), but that doesn't extend to the administration as a whole. And it's fair to note that the Democratic Party shot down cram-down, and seems hostile to new regulations of the banking industry and hedge funds....

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  3. . . . and somebody in the WhiteHouse told Dodd to put language in to preserve the bonuses at company's receiving Federal funds . . .

    I don't disagree with your comments about the cram-down and credit card provisions, but a) they haven't become law (or been pushed to hard once there was push-back) and b) the Treasury Secretary is not only part of the administration, when it comes to the policy on "fat cat bankers" he is the biggest part . . .

    CWD

    ReplyDelete

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