Barack Obama: Gordon Gekko For the People
Tommy Christopher
Barack Obama has come under fire la
tely for using hardball tactics when dealing with businesses being bailed out by taxpayers. Not surprisingly, most of this comes from the right.
We all remember the Republicans' reaction to restrictions on bailed-out CEO compensation. Then, they showed solidarity with homeowner-mocking futures traders. And who can forget the sanctity of a bonus contract, versus a union agreement?
More recently, my nornally level-headed friend, Ed Morrissey, has been spinning a narrative of President Obama as "madman" loose cannon, abusing his power against poor, helpless CEOs. First, he likens President Obama's suggestion that the public might not be pleased with companies holding up the Chrysler restructuring to eke out a few more cents on the dollar to Dennis Hopper's mad bomber character in "Speed":
Unfortunately, that scenario played out in real life, only not in a runaway bus with a bomb on it. This past week, it played out behind the scenes during the negotiations to salvage Chrysler from the scrapheap. And the madman whose whims could get unleashed was the one person tasked by the Constitution and mandated by the voters to enforce the laws his representatives were attempting to pervert.
Now, he extends the madman metaphor, if he even means it as a metaphor, to the President's dealings with TARP CEOs:
Once again, the Obama administration sticks its fingers into the boardrooms, through the facility of TARP funding. Under normal conditions, of course, the US government would have absolutely no say in the hiring decisions and compensation practices in the private sector, leaving those policies to stockholders. This White House has shown itself adept at using TARP as a lever to force companies to bend to their will and dance to their tune. With Obama, that tune will undoubtedly sound populist and biased; think "Look for the Union Label" instead of Pink Floyd's "Money".The thing is, it's our money these guys are getting bailed out with. I'm glad Barack Obama is making these guys cry in the process of getting me some value for it. They have no bargaining position. Without my money, they are nowhere. In this case, greed really is good. I hope Barack Obama is greedy as hell with these guys.
Tommy on: Daily Dose: