Comments on: A Huntin’ We Will Go: AIG Throws Itself a Hunting Party After the Public Bailout

By: Kirk

Kirk — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:24:02 +0000

U guys have got to be kidding do you not realize that the Clintons are responsible for the mess were in the economy was fine when clinton took it over he destroyed it and handed this mess to bush and bush made it worse instead of better he is the first republican to F$%^ up the economy in history but the clintons did the most damage and now obama is spending money like a drunken sailor on what GOVERNMENT!! no working man will see one penny of the stimulus package unless you work for the government

By: terrydarc

terrydarc — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:53:03 +0000

And today it’s announced that AIG execs after driving their company deep underground are in line to get $165 million bucks. Breathtaking arrogance, eh?
=Terry=

By: Mike Spindell

Mike Spindell — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:38:22 +0000

One great American myth is that we are a society not ruled by class. We are really among the most class governed society’s in the Western World. The easiest way to discern this is to watch our TV commercials and/or go through the ads in various magazines. The underlying message of a Lexus ad is quite different than the ones for Fords. The personae in these ads are also quite different based on the class being catered to. The people in the beer ads are quite different than those in the ads for premium liquors. These underlying messages are absorbed by all of us and effect our purchasing and our voting patterns. We are sheep being herded by industrial psychologists and are mostly unaware of how much our actions are affected.

The first popularization of this effect was Vance Packard’s “The Hidden Persuaders” in the 50’s. What I think is missed in this is that this is an effect that has been around for ages, except that in the past it was openly a guidepost of societies. In the Middle Ages “sumptuary laws” prevent the small emerging merchant class from dressing like nobles. Today those same laws are expressed by the cost of things and the color of your credit card. If we use this perspective to analyze the happenings in our society things like people voting against their own interests begin to make sense.
We are indeed livings with class warfare, but as usual for human events, it is the privileged class making war on those they consider to be less deserving.

By: Kent

Kent — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:01:41 +0000

Abercrombie and Kent doesn’t give refunds on short notice, so it would have been a waste not to go. Besides, how did they get such a good price, everything A&K does is like $20,000 a person.

By: Patty C

Patty C — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:38:50 +0000

Y’all

I have been searching on ‘B.Net’ for the live interview article I read, just recently, which was done in the early Fall (November 2007, as I recall) of 2007, with AIG’s former CEO, Hank Greenberg wherein he eludes to ‘upcoming events’ and for everyone to ‘ stay tuned’…

What was he talking about then?
Sounds ominous to moi!

http://search.bnet.com/index.php?t=0&s=120&o=0&q=hank+greenberg&tag=content;col1

I dunno. In retrospect, is it so surprising THAT article is mysteriously, and only recently, no longer readily available
- since I have been posting on it, nationally, whereas it just
‘popped up’ before – ie when nobody else, but moi ‘, was interested and prepared to make some noise?

p.s. Hey mespo and JT – have you guys seen THIS
- from ‘Stove’ Emerson…???

PDF]
JONATHAN TURLEY
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML
Al-Arian Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg Profiled « JONATHAN TURLEY. Patty C has done a nice job of distilling the point. My problem is that you obviously do not … Gimme a break!

Yo – can’t post more than two URL’s at the same time
= CHECK ‘IT’ OUT!

http://www.investigativeproject\

.org/documents/misc/178.pdf – Similar pages

—=

———

By: rafflaw

rafflaw — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:50:30 +0000

Jill,
I like that term. It isn’t hope, it is an aspiration of better things!

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:40:18 +0000

rafflaw,

I think there should be something called the aspirational income index!

By: rafflaw

rafflaw — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:18:53 +0000

Jill and Mojo,
This fact of people voting against their own economic interests has confused me for several years. It is evidence of the brain-washing that the Republicans have been spewing for years. Hopefully Obama can close the deal and win back the White House and bring some sanity back to our politics.

By: Mojo

Mojo — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:11:33 +0000

Jill -

You make a great point I’ve often considered to be a strong (if also wrong) reason that middle-class people often vote against their own economic best-interest. Because they are ‘for getting rich’ they will often vote Republican, not realizing they are burdening themselves with higher taxes while relieving wealthy corporations and their fat-cat owners.

Perhaps some people believe that their voting record will determine whether they ‘make it big’ someday or get promoted to that dream-job.

“I’ve voted Republican my whole life, so I don’t understand why I’m not getting ahead and my kids can’t afford to go to college …”

By: Jill

Jill — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:34:09 +0000

This is from poster Tony D on another thread today:

“Indiana was giving people FREE rides to the BMV if they needed to get one. And just a regular photo ID is like $10.
If someone complains about a price like that, then maybe they shouldn’t be voting anyways.
People would be surprised at what they can afford if they just quit spending money on unnecessary items such as soda, fast food, video games and players, cds, ipods, nail salons….the list could go on.”

I give it the most ironic post of the day (so far)! It is indicative of a profound hatred of the poor in this nation. AIG welfare kings/queens were getting their nails done and a whole lot more, but the outrage is directed at poor people. As Mojo mentioned, Joe, really Samuel, knows all about this! The middle class keeps themselves in line when they buy this classist bull shit. As long as someone thinks they’ll “make it big”, maybe via the lotto, they keep identifying with economic interests that are not really their own. Meanwhile, this stategy allows real wages to decrease since 2000.

The middle class could become a powerful force in correcting the economic injustice of this society should they wake up and stop hating the poor. I hope they do so before it’s too late and they wake up to find themselves the poor.

By: Mojo

Mojo — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:41:34 +0000

The AIG attitude reminds me of Alec Baldwin’s character on the great comedy ‘30 Rock’. Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is the head writer of a show and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is General Electric’s “corporate suit” and man-in-charge. Liz stands in Jack’s huge, high corner office staring at Jack with confusion;

Liz: Why are you wearing a tuxedo?

Jack: It’s after five. What am I, a farmer?

By: Mojo

Mojo — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:31:01 +0000

Well what do you expect of them? To live like the rest of us?!! If they don’t set the proper example, how are we to know what to aspire to? “Joe the Plumber” understands what I’m talking about …

By: AIG’s Bailout Finances Partridge Hunting Party « BuelahMan’s Redstate Revolt

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:28:05 +0000

[...] Posted by BuelahMan on October 16, 2008 Seeing how $60K would basically eliminate my debt and avoid bankruptcy, this REALLY pisses me off (h/t Jonathon Turley): [...]

By: mespo727272

mespo727272 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:02:31 +0000

Fitzgerald purportedly had said to Hemingway, “The rich are different from us.” To which Hemingway ostensibly had replied, “Yes, they have more money.” And it appears more cajones!!

By: openfire06

openfire06 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:24:21 +0000

In the past, when a company suffered, frivolous expenditures were the first things to be cut. It almost seems as though there’s simply an expectation that there is a standard of elitism that isn’t pierced, regardless of the circumstances.

However, that leads me to think – since this was apparently for “customers”, would the high rollers (the major breadwinners for AIG) still use AIG if that standard of prestige was diminished? This might possibly be an attempt to maintain some element of normalcy that will allow them to retain their biggest and most profitable customers.

Other than that, this simply infuriates me.