Kari's scared of Allen Alley, so he attacks.

Pauline's scared of Greg Walden, so she writes a post with all sorts of snide left-handed compliments for his AIG vote.

When is someone on Blue Oregon going to write an attack post against Jason Atkinson? Perhaps he's the hoped-for Blue Oregon Republican candidate for Governor in 2010?

Walden voted left to preserve his options to run statewide -just like Smith before him, but Walden is far smarter about it. He won't alienate the Republican base like Smith did, despite your deepest desires, Paulie.

I think we can stop calling these bonuses now. The language of their contracts clearly makes them "retention awards." It looks as if AIG knew 1+ yrs ago that something bad was in the works.

If Congress (Dems and Gops) can, on a popular whim, take 90% of someone's money, when will they come for yours?
It is a sad day when Congress takes such an action to appease a distraught public.

Jason Atkinson, walking with a cane due to injury (something I can relate to--a little over a year ago, I was also walking with a cane due to a sprained ankle) is a more serious person now than he once was.

His video about an encounter with racism while he was on a weekend outing with a friend of a different skin color--sent out as part of a newsletter--is the sort of serious message old time Republicans (incl. John B. Anderson of Illinois back almost 30 years ago) used to give when they were upset about something.

Nothing I would like better than 2 intelligent parties competing over voters who are looking for intelligent answers to problems, not just ideology and attack ads.

Today I was watching an old videotape (one in a box of those I watch to see if they should be recorded over). On it there was a clip from an old news show (circa 1995) where the guest predicted "by the early 21st century, this country could well have a party of reform and a party of memory" but did not speculate on which party would be the party of reform or if it would even be one of the 2 major parties.

If the current GOP can't get off the idea that "they will raise your taxes" is the biggest scare line ever (if someone lost a job or is now only working part time, they are now in a lower bracket to begin with!), they should go off and become the Anti-Tax party and let the common sense people run the GOP. Groups like Club For Growth and Right to Life are becoming "constituent groups running the party" as the guest in the old news clip described the Democrats of the 1980s and early 1990s.

UPO, I am really tired of the idea that everyone is in one of 2 boxes (R, D).

I happen to be a big fan of St. Sen. Frank Morse on the state level and Olympia Snowe on the federal level, and was sympathetic to the pre-Reagan GOP, having grown up the grandchild of a Republican politician. But that was more the Ford type of GOP than Reagan or the Religous Right GOP.

As much as some people might like to think so, nothing happened in the 1980s to make all of us forget that there was a GOP prior to Reagan running for President. And the young parents of today (the ones with kids in preschool and kindergarten) are by and large people with little or no memory of Reagan as candidate or president. How many of those young people even register with a political party (except for the ones who registered D to vote for Obama in the primary but we don't know if they will keep that registration)?

Paulie, I respect your viewpoint but offer a somewhat different position regarding Congressman Walden and this vote. Could it be that like a whole lot of people he is ashamed and pi$$ed that the Senate allowed legislation with the loophole in that caused this in the first place?

Remember that it was Senator Dod, along with $100k in donations from AIG that pushed this through in the first place. Geithner could have stopped this and chose not to. Obama was unaware he says.

Personally, I think that we all should be scared to death of ANY retroactive tax action design to punish and based on public outrage. The outrage is not the problem. The "same-old-same-old" politics as usual that led to the loophole is the problem and those who presided over it should be held to the same level of accountability as we attempted for the FEMA Katrina public relations debacle.

Of course thats just one man's opinion:-)

Walden's vote may only offend Grover Norquist. If that happens it would be a surprise. Most expect that the Senate will do nothing with this because of the utterly feckless Harry Reid. Additionally it is likely to be found unconstitutional if it ever did become law.

DeFazio has said that section 5.3 of the stimulus bill gives authority to renegotiate but that seems to have faded.

Kurt wrote, "Personally, I think that we all should be scared to death of ANY retroactive tax action design to punish and based on public outrage. The outrage is not the problem." He is dead-on correct. This is the single scariest action taken in Washington, D.C. in my lifetime.
My post is in much the same vein as Kurt's comment.

This could signal what are many writing about---------- the ulimate demise of the Republican Party for a least a decade or more.

Getting ahead of ourselves a bit, eh? Remember 2000 when, after the longest economic expansion in 60 years, Al Gore could not defeat George Bush? (Yeah, yeah, he really won, but it shouldn't have even been close.) And then in 2004, when Bush had shown his true colors and had taken us into an unjustified war and everyone knew it, but still voted for the guy anyway? And 53 months later you're announcing that "GOP is dead"?

Obama won for a few reasons, but mainly because 1) he is an exceptional candidate and 2) Bush screwed up so badly. That confluence isn't going to create a new Liberal Consensus that banishes the opposition for 10+ years. In fact, I would argue that the Democrats have failed to do the groundwork that will sustain a new progressive movement the way that conservatives laid the groundwork for the Reagan revolution. There is time to catch up and do so, but declaring victory and patting ourselves on the back won't get us there.

<h2>This is article is as far reaching and wishful thinking as it gets:</h2>

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 328 - 93 to tax bonuses received from TARP recipients today. The U.S. Senate will consider a similar measure next week. Walden joined Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader and Wu with his vote. His vote is a distinct departure from his usual voting pattern as the lone "No" vote on most bills favored by his Oregon Democratic collegues in the House.

Ok, lets see? You fail to supply any sort of premise to support the conclusion of "departure from usual voting pattern" You support this conclusuion with one premise which is based on the no TARP vote! This is not a fully developed premise and only taken from short term experience. Had you made several goood supporting premises, you could have gotten away with at least looking competent!As it is you fail to support the conclusion. I suggest looking at project vote smart for a better historical perspective!

Next:

Walden, usually a dependable follower of the Grand "Old" Party even defied Rush Limbaugh with his vote. Despite the global financial mess, generally Walden embraces wealth creation, is anti-government and pro-tax cuts. A recent example is Walden's vote against the stimulus package and his comment that he did not believe 3 to 4 million jobs would be created and the economy would not be stabilized as a result. His vote against megamillion bonus jackpots is stunning.

"Despite the global financial mess, generally Walden embraces wealth creation, is anti-government and pro-tax cuts".

Ok so despite the global financial crisis Greg Walden still supports financial responsibility, limited government per the Constitution, and low taxation! The same ideals supported by the "Founding Fathers"! Hmmmmm, except for the weak qualifier of "despite the Global financial mess", this would be a correct statement.

The statement "despite the Global financial mess" hints to your embracing financial decadence, the wellfare state, One world order, and taxing our children to death. In fact, this statement qualifies you as WTO/unfair trade cheer leader! Next:

The usual solidarity among House Republicans seems to be breaking into different camps. This could signal what are many writing about---------- the ulimate demise of the Republican Party for a least a decade or more. Walden's vote may simply be a pragmatic move to the middle with this vote or perhaps the beginning of setting the table for a run for Governor.

Ok now you take a previously unsupported premise to conclude that republicans are breaking up into different camps.

Then you state "it must be a pragmatic move to the middle!" HHHmmmm making AIG curtail huge employee bonuses after receiving Tax Payer credit card style TARP funds is a "pragmatic move to the middle"

"Greg Walden voted against personal wealth today."

Then you make a condemning statement after Condemning him "despite the global finacial mess!"

Then you say some mumbo jumbo about 3 or 4 million jobs created when no one read the bill in congress and just voted on it!

"He will be reminded by members of his own party that he did not vote for those princely sums. He did not follow the wishes of his minority leader in the house."

Ok so Greg walden voted for accountabillity! Big deal!

Paulie have you had any logic and critical thinking training? Any college student with a 101 class would read this article and think a bright 8th grader wrote it. If this is considered quality Blue Oregon journalism, then I can see why "Empty yet Eloquent" change rhetoric was able to stimulated you so much!

I mean damn!

Well, regardless of the AIG money, do you really think the stimulus plan will work. I have some doubts, and am certain in the long term will raise the debt level as well raise the likelihood of huge inflationary pressure later on. I was looking the other day, at a site, http://www.recessioninfocenter.com where it was showing the cyclicality in the economy. Maybe we should just let the cycle take its course. Just my 2 cents.

Recent interviews with worker bees within that industry indicate they knew THREE years before it blew a year or so ago that it was going down.

So, the Dems can play Terri Shiavo politics as well as the Reps!

I think we should tax the bonuses of convicted felons, as a matter of course. If you're a felon, it must have had some impact on your good performance. Screw Jefferson. Let's bring back attainders! Pat Ryan, as usual, hits the nail on the head, then the pedantic whining continues, ignoring those core points. Climate Change, and inconvenient truth? Hell, any truth that stops Americans from spewing their rhetoric is inconvenient. That quintessential American, Ronald Regan said it best, "facts are stupid things".

It's not Constitutional. It's only happening because it makes most feel good. Fuck what it does to gov. Just like Terri Shiavo.

I know this gets confusing, so here it is simple. If Wu votes for it, it isn't progressive. He and the Speaker need to hold a retreat for folks that need to learn how to spot false, dangerous, progressives.

rlw, in the past 10 I interviewed for an AVP position with Enron, AIG, and Lone Star Gas. Each spelled out their fraud, during the interview. Everyone that's anyone has known all along. I told them they were crooks to their face and walked out. The fact is that those refusals have left me blacklisted an unemployed for this last decade. Now I am useless and spent. Cry me a river that the "worker bees" knew. The higher ups were, and are, positively gleeful and unrepentant. I haven't had one phone call that starts with, 'man, you said this exact thing 5 years ago, are you still interested'? It's all a litmus test, like drug testing. Will you drop your pants and bend over?

You and I will always be on the outs. Has nothing to do with the specifics. Has to do with kissing ass, and we don't get our quota in.

As we were to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, the Administration and Congress instruct us to pay no attention to real AIG problems. Bonuses contracted before bailout cash equal less than .1% of the $173 billion granted AIG. However, AIG quietly gave over $30 billion to foreign banks with Treasury and Federal Reserve blessing.

Politicians also obscure failures to supervise AIG’s entanglement in mortgage based Credit Risk Derivatives (CRD’s), and to control imprudence, and deception resident within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie and Freddie provided the subprime, high risk loans used by AIG.

Regulatory oversight routinely controls hosts of investments in commodity, stock, and insurance markets, where one receives a tiny current income compared to huge potential future loses. The CRD clouds with elegant language a situation like taking $5,000 for co-signing fifteen auto loans, and being at risk for $200,000 if they later go bad. Current hearings and speeches hide politicians from questions about allowing unregulated growth of CRD’s now exceeding $57 trillion. This total far exceeds the combined annual production of the 12 largest economies worldwide.

Bailouts giving government control over private businesses are central planning, socialist blunders. Private executives, politicians, and bureaucrats creating problems enjoy entrenched safe havens within remnants of organizations they crippled. Proper involvement means Federal Reserve, Treasury, and Justice apply brutal persuasion to private firms. Persuasion, approaching condemnation by Geneva Conventions, enables mergers and bankruptcies dismissing flagging management, and producing market clearing asset prices.

The torches and pitchforks are here! They've been a few months ahead. I say it starts here May Day.

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