Obama Received a $101,332 Bonus from AIG

Obama Received a $101,332 Bonus from AIG

www.examiner.com

Senator Barack Obama received a $101,332 bonus from American International Group in the form of political contributions according to Opensecrets.org. The two biggest Congressional recipients of bonuses from the A.I.G. are - Senators Chris Dodd and Senator Barack Obama.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well this does explain a lot. No wonder Obama wanted to save AIG while letting other big institutions fail. Apparently this entire AIG bailout is nothing but payback for the campaign contributions.

I'm sure the main stream media will not cover this angle because it would portray Obama and top Dem's in a bad light.

www.examiner.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Its not the first time big corporations have contributed to their candidates of favor.

Same has happend on the Republican side.


Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by RFBurns
Its not the first time big corporations have contributed to their candidates of favor.

Same has happend on the Republican side.


Cheers!!!!

I guess you forgot about the huge amount of money given to AIG in the form of a bailout in order to prevent them from failing while ignoring other institutions. You seemed to have glossed over that point.

[edit on 3/17/2009 by WhatTheory]

reply to post by WhatTheory


Senator Obama was also in a Presidential campaign in 2008; why wouldn't he receive a larger chunk of money than other senators?

Incidentally, George W. Bush received $160,000 from AIG in the 2004 political contribution cycle according to OpenSecrets.org and John Kerry that year got about $56,000. In 2008 John McCain got about $60,000.

So I'd say we can deduce two things:

AIG bets on winners, and GWBush needed more help to win in 2004 than Obama did in 2008.

You wanted change right?
Obama has lots of change now.

Some here keep glossing over and missing the point. Of course both sides receive contributions. The sinister point the article illustrates is that Obama and his cronies just happened to give AIG tons of money to save them from failing. Wow, what a coincidence.

reply to post by WhatTheory


You would have a point if the 2008 political donations had been out of line with previous election cycles. But they clearly are right in line with previous giving.

Of course politicians are scrambling to save the banking sector because they get donations from them. But that's not a Democratic/Republican thing; that's a political thing. Equal guilt on both sides of the aisle.

Originally posted by americandingbat
Equal guilt on both sides of the aisle.

Yeah, but right now, only one of those sides is running the white house, congress, and senate. That's where I take issue. Not which side is doing it, but which side is in control and doing it.

Of course AIG bet both sides of the race. And in this case, they certainly got their money's worth. Does the sum of money not seem triflingly small compared even to the annual bonuses they managed to pay out because of the bailout?

It's really disappointing seeing people here defending Obama when they must have spent the last eight years attacking Dumbya for doing exactly the same things.

Originally posted by rich23
Of course AIG bet both sides of the race. And in this case, they certainly got their money's worth. Does the sum of money not seem triflingly small compared even to the annual bonuses they managed to pay out because of the bailout?

But this is the basic point. The OP is trying to paint campaign contributions to Obama as a big scandal. I'm not defending the campaign contribution system, or questioning whether money buys favors in the Senate. I would be interested to see what kind of campaign contributions Lehman Brothers had a history of, since they were allowed to go into bankruptcy, but I'm not having any luck finding out at that site.

Yes, the sum of money seems absurdly small compared to the bailout. They weren't buying the bailout, they were buying the business as usual, in my opinion. And if Republicans were in control of the House, Senate, and Presidency, they would be scrambling just as hard to cushion the blow to the financial sector.

It's really disappointing seeing people here defending Obama when they must have spent the last eight years attacking Dumbya for doing exactly the same things.

I didn't see anyone here defending Obama, just objecting to the spin put on this story by the OP and his source, which tries to paint this as something new and different. Senators get campaign contributions. Powerful senators get bigger campaign contributions. Powerful senators who are about to be president get still bigger campaign contributions. It's a disgusting system, but Obama didn't invent it, isn't even a particularly egregious player of it (Dodd may be another story, in my opinion), and this story is just making mountains out of molehills in an attempt to make Obama look bad.

Just hold your horses. There will be plenty of mud to wallow in over the next four years I'm sure. To make a big deal out of a pretty standard campaign contribution seems petty.

And no, I have spent the last eight years with my head buried in the sand politics-wise, hoping it would just go away, not bashing Bush.

Originally posted by americandingbat
And if Republicans were in control of the House, Senate, and Presidency, they would be scrambling just as hard to cushion the blow to the financial sector.

But, alas, they aren't, so guess who is in my main critical focus? It isn't the republicans anymore.

Old news really. Check this website.

American International Group: Recipients

Senate Dodd, Chris $103,100 Senate Obama, Barack $101,332 Senate McCain, John $59,499 Senate Clinton, Hillary $35,965 Senate Baucus, Max $24,750 Presidential Romney, Mitt $20,850 Senate Biden, Joseph R Jr $19,975 House Larson, John B $19,750 Senate Sununu, John E $18,500 Presidential Giuliani, Rudolph W $13,200 House Kanjorski, Paul E $12,000 Senate Durbin, Dick $11,000 House Perlmutter, Edwin G $10,500 House Rangel, Charles B $9,000 Presidential Edwards, John $7,850 Senate Corker, Bob $7,400 House Smith, Chris $6,900 House Neal, Richard E $6,500 Senate Rockefeller, Jay $6,500 Senate Reed, Jack $6,000

Before the Fall, AIG Payouts Went to Washington

Nothings to see here folks, moving on.

Why would a brand new president risk his newly-achieved social and professional status only to quite possibly see his entire administration go down in flames over a hundred grand after only 3 months in the white house???

That doesn't make any sense...
Honestly, that sounds more like Rush Limbaugh vomit to me than anything else. I am not a Democrat, but I really wish Republicans/conservatives would get over losing the election already. We haven't even given the man a chance yet. Alot of Republicans won't even give him that..

Speculation is one thing. I'd be willing to read more into it if there was some kind of proof/evidence of any wrongdoing.. Other than Obama trying to be president of a pissed off nation.

-ChriS

[edit on 18-3-2009 by BlasteR]

Originally posted by americandingbat
The OP is trying to paint campaign contributions to Obama as a big scandal.

Well it could be since AIG was one of the biggest contributors to Obama and it just happened that AIG is the one they decided to bail out instead of other similar corporations.

Originally posted by WhatTheory

Originally posted by americandingbat
The OP is trying to paint campaign contributions to Obama as a big scandal.

Well it could be since AIG was one of the biggest contributors to Obama and it just happened that AIG is the one they decided to bail out instead of other similar corporations.

Do you have an example in mind of a comparable corporation in the same situation as AIG that didn't get bailed out so that we can compare their campaign contributions?

Originally posted by grimreaper797

Originally posted by americandingbat
And if Republicans were in control of the House, Senate, and Presidency, they would be scrambling just as hard to cushion the blow to the financial sector.

But, alas, they aren't, so guess who is in my main critical focus? It isn't the republicans anymore.

Focus on Obama and his policies all you want. I just call the spin when it's out of control.

There is also the fact that they are getting the bailout money back from AIG (I think this is a breaking news story right now).

AIG to Repay Taxpayers

Geithner: AIG must pay back bonus money

Bonus-paid AIG employees who have already quit should probably leave the country at this point if they haven't already. They're set for life anyway some of them.

-ChriS

Originally posted by BlasteR
There is also the fact that they are getting the bailout money back from AIG (I think this is a breaking news story right now).

AIG to Repay Taxpayers

Geithner: AIG must pay back bonus money

Bonus-paid AIG employees who have already quit should probably leave the country at this point if they haven't already. They're set for life anyway some of them.

-ChriS

The people who received the bonuses are not paying it back. Geithner said he will subtract the bonus money from their next bailout. What a load of crap.

You and I have had alot of arguments. We've found it quite difficult to find common ground on many political issues. But as time passes, and as more information comes to light, I find myself agreeing with you, with one caveat. I'm tired of both parties. We need a third or we need to scrap this antiquated, primitive system of organization, and find something truly revolutionary.

This just goes to prove my suspicions, and that is that change will not come from any politician, as politics do not address the technical problems humans face.

Chris Dodd and Barack Obama were the number 1 and 2 recipients of campaign donations from AIG.

That is not surprising.

Chris Dodd and Barack Obama were the number 1 and 2 recipients of campaign donations from Fannie Mae.

You know, the FNMA at the core of the housing crisis.