Headline DS #69 - Big Banks May Need More Help

"Big Banks May Need More Help" is from the April 20, 2009 edition of the Express. You know, at some point, unless we want to federalize all the failing banks, some of them are just going to have to fail. Period. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Headline DS Edition #51 - Bank Rescue May Cost $1T

"Bank Rescue May Cost $1T" is from the March 23, 2009 edition of the Express. The Obama administration wants to create a new government agency, the Public-Private Investment Program, that would be tasked with buying up toxic assets. The price tag could total up to $1 trillion. That's a lot of zeros. I've never understood how the government can spend money when it owes so much in the first place. I'm a bit uncomfortable with using tax payer money to buy up bad loans, but I honestly don't know what would work at this point.

Headline DS Edition #50 - Bonus Tax

AIG week ends here at Headline DS with "Big Bonus Tax Ok'd by House" from the March 20, 2009 edition of the Express. The House passed a bill yesterday that would levy a 90% tax on bonuses paid out to workers who earn more than $250,000 in annual income and who work in companies that received more than $5 billion in bail out money. A similar bill goes up for vote in the Senate.

This sounds a bit crazy. Certainly the measure reflects public outrage against AIG. But this sets up a dangerous precedent for singling out companies just because we don't like them. Congress should be a little more cautious than to respond directly to mob outrage. Setting up an additional tax structure like this could create more future problems than it solves. At this point, it'd probably be easier to let AIG fail.

http://www.headlineds.com

Headline DS Edition #49 - AIG Gives Back

AIG week continues here at Headline DS with "AIG CEO: Bonuses Returned," a headline from the March 19, 2009 edition of the Express. AIG CEO Edward Liddy requested that any AIG employee who received $100,000 or more in bonuses to return at least half that money. According to Liddy, who came out of retirement to help clean up AIG's mess receiving $1 annually in compensation, many have given back their entire bonus. I have to say, I'm surprised and impressed. Shouldn't have happened in the first place, but I'm impressed they're giving the money back. I guess they're not all evil on purpose.

http://www.headlineds.com

Headline DS Edition #48 - Give Back Bonuses

I figured it was going to be an AIG week and the headlines do not disappoint. "Dems Say Give Back Bonuses" is from the March 18, 2009 edition of the Express. Congress is asking AIG execs to voluntarily give back the $165M in bonuses they paid out last Friday. According to the NY attorney general, 73% of AIG employees received at least 1 million dollars in bonus checks last Friday. Congressional Democrats are threatening to tax the crap out of them if they don't give up the bonuses themselves. Gee, who'd have thunk that AIG would act irresponsibly with billions of dollars of bail out money. Oh, how about anyone with a freaking brain! No good could have come with handing these idiots a sack of free cash! Distributed by

http://www.headlineds.com

Headline DS Edition #46 - AIG Fat Cat Bonus

"AIG to Pay $165M in Bonuses" is from the the March 16, 2009 edition of the Express. It's upsetting to say the least to know that tax payer money is going to pay the bonuses of these execs who are responsible for getting us into this mess in the first place. Shouldn't they be fired rather than rewarded? I guess I don't understand the intricacies of the banking world, but it seems backwards to get bonuses for utterly failing.

http://www.headlineds.com

Headline DS Edition #37 - Fat Cat Stress Test

http://www.headlineds.com -- "19 Banks to be Given 'Stress Tests'" is from the February 26, 2009 edition of the Express. I always picture banks as unwieldy, greedy fat cats. They have yet to prove otherwise. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Headline DS Edition #32 - Banking Fat Cat

http://www.headlineds.com -- "Housing Plan a Windfall for Banks" is from the February 19, 2009 edition of the Express. *sigh* So now banks will get paid to give people a break on their mortgage. Great. Give the institutions that screwed us in the first place even more money. No kids, it really doesn't pay to follow the rules. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Headline DS Edition #17 - Fannie Mae Wants $16B More

"Fannie May Says $16B Aid Request Could Be Coming" is from the January 27 edition of the Express. Obviously, the bailout annoys me to no end. Banks are being rewarded for extremely bad practices. If any individual tried the same things, they'd be in jail for a very long time. So whenever I hear about my money going to the banks, I always think of a greedy exec lining his/her pockets just because they can. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Headline DS - "Fed Plans to Buy More Fannie, Freddie, FHLB Debt"

"Fed Plans to Buy More Fannie, Freddie, FHLB Debt" is from the January 22, 2009 DC Examiner. Am I the only one who thinks of a stripper when they refer to "Fannie" on the news? The bail out really annoys me because basically, corporations are being rewarded for bad behavior. If any individual tried to pull what the banks did, they'd be rotting in jail for a good long while, not getting millions of dollars of tax payer money. I would almost prefer my money go to a stripper. At least then I'd know I'd be putting someone through college. Distributed by Tubemogul.