September 25, 2008

City Democrats bemoan Wall Street riches

Area Democrats are livid that Wall Street executives who raked in a fortune are asking hard-pressed taxpayers to cough up $700 billion or more to rescue the firms they ran into the ground.
“They get multi-million dollar payoffs,” said state Rep. Frank Nicastro, a 79th District Democrat and former mayor. “That’s garbage.”
Mayor Art Ward called the compensation that some Wall Street traders and bankers stand to make “a reason to question government”
Both Ward and state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a 31st District Democrat from Bristol, said the bailout may be needed to salvage a strained economy, but the amounts pocketed by the wealthy in the process are outrageous.
“After the guys with the Cadillacs and the Lexuses and the bonuses and the lush mansions” have raked in billions, Colapietro asked, “now we have to bail them out?”
Then he answered his own question.
“Yeah, we have to do it,” Colapietro said.
Colapietro said that after Wall Street showed such “lousy management” that firms were ransacked, “we have to foot the bill” for the party that executives threw for themselves.
Nicastro said that despite their mistakes, those responsible for the problems on Wall Street are walking away with “exorbitant salaries" that are “outrageous and ridiculous.”
“No one needs that kind of money,” Nicastro said. “No one’s worth that kind of money.”
“They’re the ones who set the policy and it’s obvious they didn’t take the precautionary measures they should have,” Nicastro said.
“Maybe we should get tough with them,” he said.
Nicastro said it’s simply wrong that people can get rich ruining companies and then walk away with their wealth while taxpayers get stuck with the bills.
Ward, also a Democrat, said the issue amounts to a two-edged sword, because people can’t allow the ruin of the economy even though the rich benefit so much from the proposed deal.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who has contrlled Congress the past two years and what have they done?

Anonymous said...

Didn't Couture buy a Cadillac when he became mayor?

Anonymous said...

And Obama's top two financial advisers each made tens of millions of dollars at Fannie and Freddie. They started the whole problem and ran away with their big severance checks before they could be blamed. They both belong in jail.

And how about the sweetheart deal Obama got on his house from a guy who now is in jail?

Oh, I almost forgot. Joe Biden's how about Joe Biden's sweetheart deal on his house when an exec from MBNA bought it at more than market value. MBNA also gave his son a million dollar a year job eventhough he's not qualified. Could it be that MBNA is one of his biggest contributors, and Biden chairs the committee that oversees them? And how about his other son who is under indictment for fraud after scamming investors in a hedge fund out of millions?

Anonymous said...

Our senator Dodd, who is a DEMOCRAT, is the chairman of the Banking Committee.

What has he done the past two years?

Anonymous said...

multi-million dollar payoff! multi-million dollar payoff! multi-million dollar payoff!

Anonymous said...

Maybe Dodd will help the economy and give back his sweetheart mortgage deal?

Senator Dud that is

Anonymous said...

Nicastro and Colapietro talking about the economy: There's a pair that beats a full house.

After what Nicastro dod to the city finances as Mayor, he shouldn't be allowed near a budget.

Anonymous said...

8:36 Simple answer is Bush and his Veto threat!

Anonymous said...

Funny you republicans have something to say against anything whether it's the democrats fault or not but when you guys screw everybody royally , you still are too much of a coward or should I say cowards to admit when you are wrong. I'm still laughing !

Anonymous said...

"I'm still laughing !"

Good for you! You'll probably be the jolliest fellow in the poor house!

Anonymous said...

Nicastro collects three pensions at the taxpayers expense and he's talking about greed?

Colapietro and his greedy union drove New Departure into the ground and chased GM from Connecticut and the northeast forever, but he still lined his pockets with GM bennies and pensions, union money and taxpayer money.

What hypocrites!

Anonymous said...

Right next to you crybaby "Naysayers" I presume! 9:01

Anonymous said...

All should see these hatemongers at work . Useless but amusing! Kinda like reading a book with blank pages. I guess they have no accomplishments to talk about. Just plain old "hate mongers"

Anonymous said...

Read Todays (monday) Courant.
Front page alone is telling.

Super editorial cartoon by Englehart!

Anonymous said...

WOW!!!

That article was interesting.

Has anyone told Ward and Nicastro that Dodd is a DEMOCRAT???

Anonymous said...

I received this in an Eamil: can anyone verify its accuracy? Or not?

Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae executives who have brought down Wall Street.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregularities in Fannie Mae's accounting activitie s. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted, " Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that "mistakes were made" and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years." Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.

Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear. http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ . The Government noted, "The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulat o r and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner." These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

Net windfall . . . $190 million!

Tim Howard - Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies tha t would ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that, "Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,"

On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004.

Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million." Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.

Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.



WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON? Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee



IF OBAMA PLANS ON CLEANING UP THE MESS - HIS ADVISORS HAVE THE EXPERTISE - THEY MADE THE MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE. Would you trust the men who tore Wall Stre et do wn to build the New Wall Street

Anonymous said...

4:46 You're better off not saying anything at all . You sound dunber all the time!

Anonymous said...

8:04

Are you saying the facts are different????

Anonymous said...

I don't think Rowland was a Fannie Mae executive... didn't he get a hot tub?