Swag Award December 21-27

In the wee hours of Christmas Eve, Senators on Capitol Hill took a landmark vote on the health care reform bill that they had been debating for months. It was the first Senate vote to take place on Christmas Eve since 1895. The House of Representatives voted and passed their version back in November, and the Senate vote was one of the remaining barriers that needed to be overcome in order for the dream of reforming our nation’s health care system to become a reality. The vote was split along party lines with all 60 Democratic Senators voting in favor of the bill, 39 Republicans against and one abstention from Senator Jim Bunning ( R) of Kentucky.

The bill would require most Americans to have health insurance, cover 15 million additional people under Medicaid, and subsidize private coverage for low and middle-income citizens. The budget office estimates that the bill would provide coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans.

Since the monumental vote occurred on Christmas Eve, I thought it would be only fitting to tell this story in a similar fashion as ‘Twas the night before Christmas.’ Enjoy!

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the House
All the Senators were anxious to vote and get the hell out.

The decision was split along party lines like a hair,
and President Obama hoped that health care reform soon would be there.
Two weeks ago, to most the bill was considered dead,
Months ago Joe Wilson wasn’t afraid to say he didn’t believe what the President had said.

Most Americans were off of work and nestled in their beds,
While visions of affordable health care danced in their heads.
A mom in her kerchief, and a dad in his cap,
Dreamed of the day when a routine trip to the doctors wouldn’t take all of their stacks.

When out of Capitol Hill, there rose such a clatter,
The Obama’s were on vacation, but rose to see what was the matter.
I awoke that morning and turned on the TV in a flash,
To see news anchors talking about the new bill that had just passed.

With the Senate Majority Leader looking pleased and content,
I said to myself “I can’t believe they finally passed it.”
So rapid to the microphone all the Democratic Senators came,
And Harry Reid, the leader called them all by name!

Now Specter! Now Kerry! Baucus and Franken!
On Chris Dodd! On Lieberman and the other Senators, he thanked them.
A major victory indeed for the Obama administration.

There’s no public option in the Senate bill,
And it has to be reconciled with the bill from the House of Reps.
But we can all agree that for reform to happen,
These were some important first steps.

Reducing the cost of care, and coverage for millions more,
Leveling the playing field for the average citizen and looking out for the poor.
The Senators rejoiced in unison, and then hopped on their various flights.
“Affordable health care for all, and to all a good night!”

President Obama on Leno

Last night, President Obama became the first sitting President to appear on a late night TV show when he graced 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.'

Obama and Leno had a pretty cordial back-and-forth, obviously discussing the financial crisis for the better part of the interview among other topics.

Obama is in California to engage citizens in a series of town hall meetings to discuss the economic crisis and how his financial plan will help. 

There has been a little commotion over one of the President's remarks. When asked about his bowling, President Obama likened it to the Special Olympics. His staff members have already apologized for the remark, and are hoping the fallout from such a comment is minimal. Come on Barack. Let Leno make the jokes. Your street cred already went up just by being the first to appear on Leno. Leave the funny business to the comedians. 

Here is Leno's interview with President Obama in its entirety:

Swag Award of the Week March 16-March 22

It is with a great deal of cynicism and a bit of remorse that I announce this week's winner of the 'Swag Award,' but I think the actions taken by Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, Senator Chris Dodd & AIG CEO Edward Liddy over the last few days warrant an award of some sort. 

In my first post, I said that swag was a loosely used term which has a different interpretation depending on whom you ask. The First Swag Award went to Manny Ramirez for turning down a substantial contract with the Dodgers, despite the fact that no other team was bidding for his services. The following week, Kurt Warner won for doing the polar opposite; agreeing to take less money to finish his career with the Arizona Cardinals. Last week, the Syracuse Orange basketball team won due to the tremendous amount of heart they displayed winning 3 games in 4 nights, 2 in overtime, as they nearly walked out of New York City with another Big East Championship. 

Tim Geithner, Chris Dodd, & Ed Liddy had that kind of swag this week that makes you say "I can't stand that ______(your choice of expletive). The kind of swag that makes you say "I can't believe they did that." Well guess what? They did it.

Over the weekend, it was announced that AIG intended to pay $165 million in bonuses to some of its top executives. This news coming 2 weeks after the government agreed to give the insurance giant $30 billion to stay afloat following its reporting the biggest quarterly losses in the history of American business.

The backlash from that move was widespread and extremely vocal. Leaders on Captiol Hill and average Americans alike were outraged that AIG, which has received a substantial amount of government dollars to stay afloat would then turn around and give bonuses to members of its financial products division; the same division that made the decisions that ultimately lead to the demise of AIG's financial stability. Tim Geithner's capacity to do the job has come in question, and many ask if he is a liability to the Obama administration. There have been protests on Wall St., and AIG executives and their families have been accosted near their homes by furious citizens.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has been taking heat since this news came out, because ultimately it is his job to make sure something like that does not happen. Prior to becoming Secretary of the Treasury, Geithner was President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where he made inroads and built relationships with all of the execs and firms he is now criticizing for their frivolous policies.

Senator Chris Dodd, (D) Connecticut, is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, and his group along with Geithner's bunch worked together to draft and pass the huge spending bill that was signed into law a few weeks ago.

When journalists began to dig to find out who inserted the loophole to allow AIG to distribute bonuses, Chris Dodd's name surfaced as someone who may know more. When questioned originally, Chris Dodd denied having anything to do with it, saying when he left the bill that language about bonuses was not in the bill. The very next day, he recanted those statements and accepted responsibility for the loophole saying he did it at the behest of the "administration" which he qualified as the Treasury Dept (Tim Geither & Co.) 

Watch Dodd's denial and correction here:

Chris Dodd is not the only one who has not been completely truthful this week. Originally Tim Geithner claimed that he was not made aware of the bonuses until last week, but we have since found out that the issue was raised on March 3 in a meeting with the House Ways & Means Committee.

As a result of all of this, President Obama has had to go on the defensive for Tim Geithner and his economic plans. He expressed his outrage over the bonuses earlier this week, and implored Congress to do what it could to try and recoup some of that money. Congress overwhelmingly passed a 90% tax on bonuses paid to execs at AIG and other rescued firms. Future rescues have also been placed in jeopardy as a result of Geithner & Dodd's actions, as congressional leaders may be wary of approving large amounts in the future.

I also have to bring Edward Liddy, CEO of AIG to the stage as well. After the bill had been signed into law, it was his decision to go ahead and approve doling bailout money for executive bonuses because they were contractual. Yes it was legal, but morally, was it really the right thing to do? The moral compasses of Geithner, Dodd and Liddy are about as accurate as Christopher Columbus' compass when he landed in the Dominican Republic & called it America.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I gave these guys the award with cynicism and remorse. There is a fine line between having swag and being an a$$ho!e. The brazenness, insensitivity, and irresponsibility Geithner, Dodd and Liddy have displayed over the last few days towards the American people is astonishing. Despite their shortcomings, every a$$ho!e has some redeeming qualities. America, and the rest of the world hopes that these men redeem themselves sooner rather than later. 

President Obama picks the Cuse in an upset!!

That's right baby! The leader of the free world just chose my alma mater over the #2 seed Oklahoma Sooners in his bracket.

ESPN ran a segment on the noon Sportscenter called 'Barack-etology." Obama knows more than just fiscal & foreign policy.

 

Here's the President's entire bracket on paper.

The Syracuse pick comes with 2:16 remaining..

Steelers owner Dan Rooney to become next ambassador to Ireland

Happy St. Patty's Day! Today, President Obama announced his plans to appoint Dan Rooney as the next U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. Rooney is the co-founder of the Ireland Funds; a fundraising network to help people of Irish descent.

Rooney, a lifelong Republican proved to be an invaluable asset to the Obama campaign as his support over Hillary Clinton and John McCain helped Obama carry the heavily contested battleground state. 

Following Pittsburgh's victory over Arizona in this year's Super Bowl, Rooney presented President Obama with a game ball.

 

Rooney has been leading the Pittsburgh Steelers organization since he took over from his father in 1975. The Rooney family has owned the Steelers since the teams creation in 1933. In that time, the Steelers have won 6 Super Bowls; more than any team in the league.

Dan Rooney knew the Kennedy's and has met other Presidents, but says he has never been closer to a President than he is to Barack Obama. Congrats Dan. Another achievement for your trophy case in addition to the NFL Hall of Fame induction and 6 world championships. 

Bobby Jindal, Kenneth the Page, & the bailout..

I awoke this morning to a winter wonderland...6 inches of snow outside my apartment in New York City. My family down in Georgia received about 4 inches.  I can't remember the last time it snowed in Georgia..in March. What is going on?  Significant snowfalls used to excite me, until I spent four years in Syracuse, NY; trust me, you haven't seen snow until you go to central New York this time of year. 

I also awoke to news that the insurance giant, AIG reported losses of $61.7 BILLION during the 4th quarter of 2008. These losses are the biggest quarterly losses EVER...in the history of the world...Since capitalism has been around.  Holy cow!

The U.S. government has responded by agreeing to give AIG another $30 BILLION in bailout funds to stay afloat. This new agreement is the fourth instance in which the government has infused $$$ to keep AIG from going bankrupt.

Last week, President Obama addressed Congress and the nation to offer words of encouragement and a plan to bring America out the recession as quickly and painlessly as possible. Shortly after the President's address, Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, and arguably the new face of the GOP offered his party's response to Obama's vision for our country's future.

Bobby Jindal got crushed!!  The talking heads across all major news outlets criticized Jindal's speech, calling it "cheesy," and a "flop," and also lacking substance. Ouch!

On last week's episode of NBC's show 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan's character appeared on 'Larry King Live' to discuss the economic crisis and how Americans should maneuver through these times. Tracy told Larry that he always hides cash and encourages Americans to do the same.  Tracy tells Larry that he has a stash of $$$ hidden "in the safest place in 30 Rock.."

We later find out that Tracy's cash is hidden inside the blazer of Kenneth the Page, and Kenneth uses some of Tracy's cash to "bail out"  30 Rock star Liz Lemon (Tina Fey).

I couldn't help but wonder, since a lot of comparisons have been made between Bobby Jindal and Kenneth the Page, and Kenneth came through in the clutch with some bailout funds, when people didn't expect much from him...can/will Jindal and the GOP ever change their tone and work with the President to make the bailout effective and efficient ??

The verdict remains to be seen, but in the mean time we can all get a good laugh out of it.