The Way I See ItBy cj pollickHappy New Year - Prior to 1752 in England and many other European countries, the beginning of a new year was celebrated on March 25th. This day was referred to as Annunciation Day, a religious celebration relating to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Of course, this basis of starting a new year on March 25th related to the Julian Calendar, which pre-dated the Gregorian Calendar, which begins the new year on January 1st. Imagine, all of these modern-day holidays actually had a beginning much different than what we recognize on modern calendars. Big East Rules, Moves To Sweet Sixteen - On Thursday evening five Big East basketball teams will show why the Big East Conference was the best college basketball conference in the country. Louisville, Pitt, UConn, Villanova and Syracuse of the Big East have a chance to move to the final eight of the NCAA basketball playoffs. Of course, UNC, Memphis and Duke might have something to say about who has the best basketball team in the college ranks. Joe Biden Flies To Miami And Obama Says Welcome To Washington - VP Joe Biden flew to a posh Miami hotel to meet with several top union officials. The discussion? Union issues. President Obama later said with several union officials proudly standing at his side, "Welcome back to the White House." Of course, the White House message to unions was clear from Washington: Thanks for years of union funds to help elect Democrats. More importantly, union officials were smart enough to expect a quid pro quo for their financial support. Unions now expect high-end government contracts for companies that are unionized. Perhaps what is most interesting about all of the union support being dished-out in Washington is that 93% of American workers are not a part of any union. Many government contract employers are small, independent companies. However, Biden and Obama expect to change that mix of employer "independence" during the next few years. The proverbial political pendulum in Washington has swung in favor of more unionization of American workers. The next few years should reflect significant gains in the numbers of card-carrying union members throughout America. The first major corporation to likely become unionized? Wal-Mart. Why AIG Was Not Worth Saving - AIG was in deep financial trouble and most, if not all, of AIG's top management knew it could not survive. Credit default swaps with major European banks and other investment deals had gone "south" and the recipients wanted their money. AIG did not have enough cash to pay, thus, AIG sought taxpayer/US government bail-out funds of about $30 billion. If AIG did not receive billions of dollars of funds from the US government...it would be forced out of business. The shock of an AIG failure caused many Washington officials to try and save a large company that was thought "too big to fail." Ironically, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who had previously led Goldman Sachs, supported granting AIG bail-out funds. This sentiment was echoed by several other top US officials, and US funds soon flowed to AIG's coffers, no strings attached. Some people felt the financial matter could be resolved by selling several of AIG's subsidiary companies. Not true. Buyers knew they could pay pennies on a dollar and the few AIG pieces that were sold were sold at bargain prices. AIG's financial picture got worse, losses continued and more government bail-out money was needed. President Obama's team supported the bail-out and billions of more US tax dollars was sent to AIG (no strings attached.) AIG had the support of President Obama and over $173 billion of government funds were flowing to AIG. The goal? Save AIG, it was “too big to fail.” Then the news got worse, reports were made public that one-half of $93 billion of US tax dollars sent to AIG were given to pay credit default "insurance" contracts with Goldman Sachs-$12.9 billion, Society Generale (France)-$11.9 billion, Deutsche Bank (Germany)- $11.8 billion, Barclays Bank (England)-$8.5 billion, and a host of other financial companies in credit trouble. Yes, tens of billions of US tax dollars were being sent around the globe thanks to bad deals made by AIG. However, US debts remained unpaid. Worse, AIG then paid bonuses to top employees to the tune of $165 million for a job well-done. It has been stated that only one-half of those bonus payments might be recouped. AIG's management, and cooperating US officials overseeing AIG, has duped the President, Congress and the American taxpayers. AIG should have been sold in small pieces saving the US government about $173 billion. Bail-out money experts now say, might never be repaid. Why did Treasury Secretary Paulson and other leaders in Congress approve such a bailout? Could attachments to Goldman Sachs and other big firms have been an issue? If Goldman, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Society Generale did not receive AIG (US taxpayer) billions, it makes you wonder what financial shape they would be in today. The manner in which President Obama's financial team has handled the AIG mess reflects serious problems in Washington. How many billions of tax dollars might be wasted before officials decide it best to shore-up social security, Medicare, job creation, and other pressing needs in America? |