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$838 billion stimulus bill passes Senate


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QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 12:04 PM)

LOL at "Joe Biden, D-Amtrak".

 

Good though, that if we are going to go on a spending spree (which I am not convinced on yet), that we are putting more money that originally planned into mass transit. One of the better places for it to go.

 

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So, interestingly, the final version of the stimulus bill has an important amendment added to it, restricting executive compensation. It was added by Senator Dodd, and is actually much MORE restrictive than Obama/Geithner's original plans.

 

Details:

 

• Firms taking more than $500 million from TARP would be required to restrict compensation paid to the 20 top-earning employees and other key executives. For companies getting $250 million to $500 million from TARP, that includes senior executives and the top 10 earning employees. The number of affected employees would go down from there for companies taking less than $250 million from TARP.

 

• Severance payments known as "golden parachutes" for senior executive officers or the next five most highly compensated employees would be banned at companies receiving TARP funds, ending those often sizeable severance payments for departing executives.

 

• Top executives at TARP-funded firms would be barred from receiving bonuses exceeding one-third of their annual salary. For many top executives, that would mean a dramatic reduction. The Wall Street Journal cited as an example the 2007 compensation of Bank of America Corp. CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, who was paid a salary of $1.5 million that year, but actually earned a total of $16.4 million including a bonus, stock-option awards and restricted stock. At the same salary level, Lewis' 2009 compensation would be restricted to about $2.25 million under the Dodd provisions, the Journal said.

 

• The secretary of the Treasury must review past compensation paid to the top 25 employees of TARP recipients and seek reimbursements "if those payments were contrary to the public interest or inconsistent with the purposes of the [stimulus package] or the TARP," according to Dodd's statement.

 

I applaud this, personally. Only, however, for companies received TARP funds, which is the case here. If it went past that, I'd be strongly against it. But in this case, we (the taxpayers) had to bail these people out. They now report to us, as far as I am concerned.

 

The article also contains some laughably ridiculous criticisms from industry folks.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 07:47 PM)
So, interestingly, the final version of the stimulus bill has an important amendment added to it, restricting executive compensation. It was added by Senator Dodd, and is actually much MORE restrictive than Obama/Geithner's original plans.

 

Details:

 

 

 

I applaud this, personally. Only, however, for companies received TARP funds, which is the case here. If it went past that, I'd be strongly against it. But in this case, we (the taxpayers) had to bail these people out. They now report to us, as far as I am concerned.

 

The article also contains some laughably ridiculous criticisms from industry folks.

 

I also noticed an amendment by Senators Sanders (I-VT) and Grassley (R-IA) which disallows companies using TARP funds to layoff workers and replace with outsourcing and such.

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QUOTE (mr_genius @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 04:56 PM)
I also noticed an amendment by Senators Sanders (I-VT) and Grassley (R-IA) which disallows companies using TARP funds to layoff workers and replace with outsourcing and such.

That one I'm not sure I'd agree with. If they need TARP funds, they probably need to be spending less money, not more. I could see not allowing outsourcing overseas, but not allowing them to terminate employees seems like a dangerous railroading to me.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 05:00 PM)
That one I'm not sure I'd agree with. If they need TARP funds, they probably need to be spending less money, not more. I could see not allowing outsourcing overseas, but not allowing them to terminate employees seems like a dangerous railroading to me.

 

They can release employees, just can't replace with with H1B visas and such unless there is no one that in the US that can fill the position I guess. Probably doesn't have much teeth to it though, I would imagine.

 

probably in response to an AP story

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_...foreign_workers

Edited by mr_genius
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QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:13 AM)
LMAO. Every time someone from his administration or the almighty himself speaks, Wall Street tanks.

 

O-BAMA! O-BAMA! O-BAMA!

and the day Apple released the first iPhone.. Apples stock tanked. The stock market is a persnickety irrational beast.

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QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:13 AM)
LMAO. Every time someone from his administration or the almighty himself speaks, Wall Street tanks.

 

O-BAMA! O-BAMA! O-BAMA!

 

I was just coming in here to post that honestly. It seems like anytime he says or does anything of relevance, the stock market takes a significant tumble.

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QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:28 AM)
and the day Apple released the first iPhone.. Apples stock tanked. The stock market is a persnickety irrational beast.

 

I totally agree with the bolded, but I just find it weird that anytime Obama seems to do something, the stock market reacts poorly. We shouldn't completely trust Wall Street though, their shenanigans (along with the housing crash and many others things) are reasons we are in this mess in the first place.

 

On a side note, the more I think about this stimulus and the bailout bill and so on, the more I realize why it's having problems with Joe Public. When I have had financial problems in my life, the LAST thing I wanted to do was spend money I didn't have, and I'm sure that's true for most people too. Yet our government is dying to spend money they don't have (and considering the GWB administration passed the first bailout bill, both parties are guilty of this), thinking it will fix things. It's weird, and in my opinion, that's not a spending vs. tax cut debate (I don't think tax cuts would fix this at all), it's just a life experience statements we can all relate to realistically.

Edited by whitesoxfan101
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QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:28 AM)
and the day Apple released the first iPhone.. Apples stock tanked. The stock market is a persnickety irrational beast.

 

http://www.webtvwire.com/iphone-disappoint...ck-price-falls/

 

IPhone Disappoints | Appleâ€s Stock Price Falls

Posted in: AT&T, Apple, News, YouTube by Kevin Groppe on July 24, 2007

 

AT&T, the sole U.S. service provider for Appleâ€s first phone, said it activated 146,000 iPhone subscribers in the first two days after launch on June 29. Apparently, this was well below analysts expectations for the device, resulting in over a 6% drop for Apple†stock price in one day.

 

The much hyped iPhone is supposed to revolutionize the cellular market, providing easy access to online video through YouTube and the iTunes video store. I am surprised that the iPhone did not meet analysts expectations in light of the intense marketing campaign and non-stop press coverage.

 

By all accounts, iPhones were selling out throughout the U.S. on the weekend of its release. I wonder how many of those sales were by people looking to make a quick buck on Ebay, similar to the release of the Sony Playstation 3. A quick look on Ebay shows iPhones being sold for over $1,000. Ouch!

 

One interesting side note to the Apple story is that the stock price for AT&T, Appleâ€s partner with the iPhone, was up for the day.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:34 AM)

exactly why the stock market is a joke. They set their expectations SO high that when Apple blew everyone away with the iphone... it wasnt good enough for wall street... they demanded and expected more. So, apple went down. it's dumb.

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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 02:43 PM)
http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state

 

See where all of the money is going.

 

 

Geezus, we have $6.1M coming to my hometown to fix up about 10 roads, newly pave them, and add/repair curbs and sidewalks.

 

This is needed, but not urgently by any means. This is the type of spending that really has no reason to be in the "stimulus" package. (Not to mention the million dollars we're getting to renovate the elevators in city hall). This is obviously a pet project from our congressmen so i'm sure there are countless others of these around the country too.

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QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 08:42 AM)
Geezus, we have $6.1M coming to my hometown to fix up about 10 roads, newly pave them, and add/repair curbs and sidewalks.

 

This is needed, but not urgently by any means. This is the type of spending that really has no reason to be in the "stimulus" package. (Not to mention the million dollars we're getting to renovate the elevators in city hall). This is obviously a pet project from our congressmen so i'm sure there are countless others of these around the country too.

Do those roads fix themselves or are people hired to do so?

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 11:45 AM)
Do those roads fix themselves or are people hired to do so?

 

 

They are hardly in need of "fixes" so badly that they had to be included in that bill. It is a local issue that should be fixed locally, not something that the rest of the country should be paying for.

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