How far will YOU go?

[fantastic_jackie]

Do y'all remember when crazy cons like me were all outraged at the idea that the government would be controlling the salaries of corporations and the liberals were all like, "Oh, you fearmongers. It's only for companies that took the bailouts. It won't ever go any farther than that. You conspiracy therorists..."

Of course, they conveinently ignored the quote from... Barney Frank, was it? Who said that he wanted Congress to have oversight over all executive salaries and bonuses.

Well, the Fed - oh geez, I think I have libertarian-like knee jerks to just mentioning the Fed now... - is now stepping up to the plate with a plan...

Fed Outlines Plan to Police Bank Pay

The Federal Reserve would police banks' pay policies to ensure they don't encourage employees to take reckless gambles like those that contributed to the financial crisis, according to a proposal unveiled Thursday.

Unlike a Treasury plan to slash pay at certain companies that were bailed out with large sums of taxpayer money, the Fed proposal would cover thousands of banks, including many that never received a bailout.

The Fed would not actually set compensation. Instead, the central bank would review — and could veto — pay policies that could cause too much risk-taking by executives, traders or loan officers.

Okay. Exactly how FAR does this administration have to go before liberals finally say, "Uh... Hey... What? Now wait a second..."

You're going to tell me the only way you can ensure that this kind of economic recession won't happen again is for the federal government to control how much executives are paid?! You're going to tell me that such will even have an effect on preventing recessions?!

And it has to be the FED??!!

I thought we believed in freedom in this country!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CONSTITUTION?!

Comments

[patriot-jackie.livejournal.com]

It started with the last administration and those bailouts. True, I don't think the Bush Administration was pulling strings and forcing those banks into a room to say, "You're taking this money," but still. This ball we're on now started rolling then.

But you're wrong about no one trying to stop it, and this might be hopeful for you. The democrats have Super Majorities in both houses, right? They should be able to bulldoze anything through without a whimper of a fight. But they haven't been able to, and that's because the People are standing up.

The TEA Party movement and 9.12 organizations across America are making a real difference to slow this administration down. Talk radio, the internet, and Fox News are also making a dent in Congress's and the Administration's secretive plans - they expose it, we find it for ourselves, we act.

Did you know that 1.6 MILLION people protested in a march on Washington DC on September 12? ABC, NBC, and CBS reported it as a few tens of thousands, but they were really a million plus strong. And they left the place immaculate, too. The march was the biggest ever on DC.

So we're out there. We're fighting. :) And we're growing in number every day. You should check out the 912project.com (http://www.912project.com) and find your local 912 group and see what they're doing to make a difference.

And one last thing about the rich and middle class: the rich are actually taking heavy blows in this recession. Usually the rich are "recession proof," but they haven't been this time worldwide. There are some executives in prized positions, such as GE's CEO, who, despite receiving bailout money, will NOT be seeing his pay cut like the rest of the other bailout recipients. There are benefits to marching lockstep with this administraion and carrying their water...

[xxdesert-rose.livejournal.com]

Forgive me if I sound like a pessimist but America did this to itself. America gave up on what it was originally fouded on long before Bush or Obama came into office. We were headed for a cliff long before either of them became President.

It's easy to place blame on our leaders (past, present and even future) but we (I mean everyone) had a hand in this as well. I actually think the blame game is getting pretty old.

We all know America is screwed up as a country. We haven't exactly followed any of the founding fathers' advice now have we? We kicked God out of school, basically let marriage fall by the wayside (we've got a pretty high divorce rate), have done nothing positive or encouraging for our children (our eduacational system is a joke compared to other educational systems of the world), lied, stolen, cheated, raped, murdered and did anything else we could think of that wasn't morally right.

The bigger question is this, "Can we all put aside our differences and work together for a change?" I mean things aren't going to get any better if we're constantly divided. Not you and me or you and orphanage. I mean EVERYONE. It's easy for Republicans to be on one side, Democrats on another side, liberals to be somewhere in the middle, etc, etc.

Honestly I think we needed this economic downturn to teach us a lesson. We already had a bad reputation as a country and we were only making it worse. Now that we see how bad it's gotten, we suddenly want to jump up and try to do something about it. Too little, too late if you ask me.

America needed to learn their lesson the hard way and that's why everything is falling apart right now. Sorry for being so pessimist. Believe me I'm not saying everything is all honky dory and I'm not disagreeing with you or orphange. I'm just saying I'm of the opinion that this needed to happen for us to realize the shape our nation was in.

[xxdesert-rose.livejournal.com]

Girl please I'm not offended. Not in the least bit. If anything I thought I was going to offend you or Jackie. I have a bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth but you already know that and so does Jackie. I think I shall call you later on this evening. I've been meaning to call you but I've been busy with work and what not.

[patriot-jackie.livejournal.com]

We definitely did do this to ourselves through not holding our leaders accountable and by demanding every free thing from the government, among other things.

But any change is not good change. More and more people are finding out that the Change Obama promised is not the Change they were looking for. The TEA Parties and the 912 Project are about what you say - Americans coming together, regardless of party, united on 9 Principles and 12 Values:

1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

The 12 Values
* Honesty
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude

If you agree with 7 of those Principles and the 12 Values, then you should consider joining the 912 Movement. It's localized to every community. There's no one leader, nor is it a party; we're all just worried about the direction our country is moving in. I've met several democrats, libertarians, republicans, and independents at these events.

As far as what other nations think of us, I really couldn't care less. This nation has done more, given more, and sacrificed more lives than any other country on the planet for liberty and out of the goodness of our hearts. What other country in the history of the world helped to rebuild its enemies' nations after a war? What other country didn't simply overtake them and add to their empire? The UN wouldn't even exist without our funding it, and yet their only goal is to squeeze even more money out of us! Other countries don't hate us because we had a role in the worldwide economic downturn - it's just their latest excuse. We are the envy of the world for our success, and they are doing everything they can to punish us for that. You should check out the Copenhagen Treaty that President Obama may very well sign in December; it amounts to us relinquishing our soveriengty - we'll be paying taxes to a new world government which will redistribute that money throughout the globe.

[xxdesert-rose.livejournal.com]

I do agree with the Principles and the 12 Values but I think I need to have a separate conversation with you. Don't worry it's nothing bad. I just have a few issues I want to ask you about. I just think the world would be a better place if we all (all the countries and their leaders) tried to get along and actually worked for a better tomorrow. Did I make any sense here?

[fishphile.livejournal.com]

Eh. Truth is Democrats screw themselves over. I've been joking that whether I agree with Republicans or not, they know how to get things done.

Say the goal is to pass a bill to give all Americans a red balloon. Americans have been polled and say 57-71% agree that every American needs a red balloon, despite their ideology.

You put 3 Dems in a room:

1. Will think the red balloon idea is great.
2. Will think that Americans really need blue balloons.
3. Will argue whether or not Americans even need balloons.

They'll all vote differently. Nothing will pass. Or if it does it won't resemble the original red balloon for all Americans idea.

Republicans in a room:

All of them might disagree but if it's settled that Americans (even if there are a sizable number that disagree) need red balloons they are going to vote for red balloons, dang it!

And there is no way there were 1.6 million people during the tea parties in D.C. I watched most of Fox's coverage and C-Span's and Fox New's own Glenn Beck put it at tens of thousands.

[patriot-jackie.livejournal.com]

Nah. The republicans would agree to the balloons, but they would hem and haw over the budget costs of air to blow them up, let alone including string! They would make the case that they're willing to give the American populace what they need, but they're certainly not going to blow them up like the democrats! Fringe elements in the party would agonize and pontificate over the effects of helium as an inhalent, and Conservatives in the party would staunchly point to the Constitution asking for the clause. The whole lot of them would be labeled selfish, heartless scoundrels who hate smiles - and ribbon. ;)

And as for the 912 March, 1.6-1.7 million is actually the number Glenn Beck stands by. On the day of the march, he did say thousands - tens of, hundreds of. The numbers for these events always come out hours to days later, and he revised his quote over that time period. The estimate is actually between 1.2 and 2 million...

"Police agencies estimates the crowd at 1.2 million. ABC News, however, reported this afternoon that the crowd was estimated at 2 million." LINK (http://www.examiner.com/x-3704-Columbia-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m9d12-March-on-DC-draws-2-million)

But maybe pictures will help... This is, ah, "tens of thousands..."







Panoramic Full View of 912 March (http://romanticpoet.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/capitol-view-lo-res.jpg)

Heh heh. Tens of thousands. I've been in 15,000 in San Antonio and 30,000 in Dallas. That ain't tens of thousands.

[fishphile.livejournal.com]

I watched the protests live. Don't believe for a second that there were 1.6 million people, but that's cool. There were a lot of people, mind you, but I compared them to the crowds I saw during Obama's inauguration which was around 2 million and nope.

Nah. The republicans would agree to the balloons, but they would hem and haw over the budget costs of air to blow them up, let alone including string! They would make the case that they're willing to give the American populace what they need, but they're certainly not going to blow them up like the democrats! Fringe elements in the party would agonize and pontificate over the effects of helium as an inhalent, and Conservatives in the party would staunchly point to the Constitution asking for the clause. The whole lot of them would be labeled selfish, heartless scoundrels who hate smiles - and ribbon. ;)

ROTFL! So true. I get in debates on facebook with a group of Conservative friends and there is always one person who agonizes over the cost of a bill and one person who states that what's proposed in the bill can't be validated by the Constitution.

That said, I still think the Republicans would pass a bill quicker than the Dems. if they were working with a majority and polling of the American people was relatively high for something. A John McCain or Lindsey Graham type would just come out and say, "We need to get the American people their red balloons" and the votes would materialize.

[patriot-jackie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree. I don't believe that there were 2 million. 1.6 is my highest that I'll believe, thus the reason I use it. 1.7 maybe if you count all the people that came and went throughout.

LOL It's funny the idea you have of the Republican party. I've left it, but I was heavily involved before, even as a delegate. There are deep, deep divisions, and if Lindsey Graham hadn't just been re-elected, he would be in serious danger of losing his seat for the things he's said to his constiuents lately.

[fishphile.livejournal.com]

Well, Lindsey comes from a very, very red state. But truth is he's pretty moderate. Throughout the country and the entire Senate, Lindsey has a lot of influence.

Also, I've seen video of some of those exchanges between the Senator and his constituents and he is a better Senator than I could ever be not to just roll his eyes and walk off the stage. The stuff people have been bold enough to say at these Town Hall meetings is....special.

There are deep divisions within the Republican party. Mostly, it's struggling to find itself again. It really needs to connect to its earliest roots. That said, I still think they'd vote a bill in quicker than the Democrats. I really believe that. I think the Dems don't have the identity crisis Republicans are having, but they worry too much on pleasing every single person in their party.

I don't think Republicans do that. They come to a rough consensus and then go for it.