MattZ

I don't agree with you, but I won't argue with you either. Maybe if I knew what the hell a tractor rape chain or a goldheart mountaintop queen directory was. A fantastic album, no doubt.

You didnt think we'd forget, did you? Have a good one, bud.

chills

these damn politicians in the pockets of average working americans on Main Street. Damn them.

I know its a cliche, but I really think it's the greatest scene in television history.

here's some good news for all you haters of this country and Vampire Weekend fans: News Alert from The Wall Street Journal March 19, 2009 The House voted 328-93 to approve a bill imposing 90% taxes on employee bonuses from firms bailed out by taxpayers. The bill would tax bonuses paid by firms that received more than $5 billion from the TARP. The Senate is working on its own plan to try to recoup bonuses. The House bill is a response to the furor over millions in retention bonuses paid by AIG.

You are surprised that I read the article you posted and took seriously the claim in that article that Citi was downsizing its office space to move its executives to smaller offices to save money?

As I said earlier, if Citigroup is to believed. Look at my posts. If your point is that Citi is liars and you dont believe them, fine. That wasn't your point before. I can understand why you don't believe them. I don't take their word for anything. I was just pointing out what the article said. I don't need to post articles backing up what I said. I used yours.

futureage1 - again, I think you'd be surprised about how much we agree on. If you are going to take citigroup to task, something that I am very much in favor of doing, I think your case would be better served by finding your best arguments and using them. And not just throwing everything against the wall. btw, how about we talk about the fact that the country will be printing money to buy its own loans. Think about that for a second. We are buying our own loans (ie, treasuries). The good news is that we'll all be millionaires. The bad news? That sandwich at lunch is going to cost you

When did I ever say that? I said you are criticizing them for spending money and the example you used is an example of them saving money. And I got news for you, I am right. Then when you realized it (did you read the article before you posted it?), you changed the issue to whether they were saving enough to justify the move and/or whether the savings makes a bit of a difference to CITI's well being. I never took issue with either of those things. I don't see what there is to disagree with. ETA: if someone wants to disagree with me about what the article says, which was my only point in

The blurb from the article that you posted was misleading. Do you really not see that? $10 Million to refurbush offices for the CEO, etc.? And yet no mention of the fact that it will save money over time? Why do you continue to take potshots at others in this thread? According to you, everyone else is either naive or brainwashed or doesn't get it. You posted an article that presents a story that will save Citigroup money over time. And held it up as an example of profligate spending. Who here doesn't get it?

According to citigroup they will be saving money over time by doing this. In other words, if they can be believed, this is a profitable move. You can use that same line of thinking to apply to anything they spend money on. Including paper clips. Where does it end? Yes, they would be out of business without the bailout. We know that. They aren't out of business. Now you want to take them to task by posting a misleading article that insinuates profligate spending? And when you are called on it, you criticize them for saving money, but (apparently) not enough money to suit you?

People are officially losing their minds. From the same article: Cost Savings

I was thinking of SBS too.

Whoa. I just said that in the Wilco Vinyl thread.

I've said it before, and I will say it again, and I will continue saying it until someone with authority listens to me. I don't care how much better 180g sounds in theory or in practice. We need to get back to the single LP. Flipping the record every 3 songs is preposterous. There should be two sides to a record. Unless it's a double record, obviously. Blonde on Blonde, Exile, Being There, etc. This should be in the constitution. I'd give up sound quality for this. The flow of an album is just as (if not more) important than fidelity.

Well, this is interesting (and certainly solves the problem). from the NY Post: WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats vowed Tuesday to all but strip AIG executives of their $165 million in bonuses as expressions of outrage swelled in Congress over eye-catching extra income for employees of a firm that has received billions in taxpayer bailout funds. In the House, Reps. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, introduced a bill that would that would tax at 100 percent bonuses above $100,000 paid by companies that have received federal bailout money. "We will use any means necessary,"

Again, by law, when a company goes bankrupt, many of their debts are excused and obligations forgiven. That's the point of bankruptcy. Our laws incentivize companies to come back from bankruptcy by forgiving debts. It stinks if you are a creditor. But it's the law. Comparing the AIG situation to companies in bankruptcy is grapefruits to apples. AIG never declared bankruptcy. The bailout may have conveniently enabled them to avoid bankruptcy, but this is the reality we are faced with. Also, Winston, I read an article recently that said that the bonuses were not deferred comp. Apparent

If anyone in this country deserves free healthcare, it is our vets. Frankly, in my mind, they deserve free whatever the hell they want. From a policy perspective, I strongly disagree with Obama's proposal. I only pointed out that the issue here is a substantive one, not a legal one. As far as AIG goes, my "long diatribes" are not meant to justify the bonuses. My post was meant to point out the flaw in your logic. You are lumping apples and oranges together. Pre-existing contracts are not the same as the examples you gave. Obama and his administration have come to this realization as

Man, you have a lot of anger. As I said in my edit (maybe you missed it?), the govt could have and should have set pre-conditions on the bailout money. The AIG bonuses are nauseating and there WAS a way to fix this. The administration screwed this up and as an Obama supporter and voter, this is on his administration (and the one before it). They fumbled this issue badly. I am sorry to say it, but I am not living in never never land, and my view is not the corporate point of view. It may be a lawyer's point of view (guilty as charged). The whole point of laws and rules is that they do

The unions are (voluntarily?) renegotiating their contracts with the carmakers because they realize that if they don't they may be cutting off their nose to spite their face. Either way, as I understand it, that is one party to the contract agreeing to make concessions. It is not an example of a contract not being honored, as you insist. The unions could insist on honoring those contracts, but they may be forced to enforce them against a bankrupt carmaker. Wouldn't do them much good. The unions also understand that perception is important -- and they need the carmakers bailed out. Better

the heart is not a self-contained apparatus with only so much room for love. It just gets bigger to accomodate your newfound love for someone else. Or there's more than one in there. Mine has been stolen by several.

You shouldn't have to live with it for too long. If that opening snare kick doesn't convince you by 00:01, you can probably move on.

ylt did their annual WFMU pledge-a-thon/request-a-thon on friday night. I called and donated and requested and received VU's What Goes On. Twas a great time. There was a Kinkstastic run of Waterloo Sunset>David Watts>Village Green Preservation Society. Followed up by a song "for everyone who calls in and asks for songs from Pet Sounds." Kokomo. ETA: was sort of, almost, not quite, like a Tweedy LR Show.