Again this week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said that executive pay at companies receiving TARP money would be capped...how much, we don't know. But again this week, not a word was said about the billions raked in by lobbyists, who have ascended on Washington like locusts, drawn to the billions of your tax dollars about to be spent. And listen to what happens when you suggest capping the pay of lobbyists.
Now, I like Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), but he's wrong when he says that lobbyists don't get money from taxpayers...that's why they're in D.C. Still, at least he's willing to think about capping the millions that his old buddies like Tom Daschle made as a rain-making lobbyist driven around in his tax-free limo.
And at least he'll think about whether Leon Panetta, the President's pick to head to the Central Intelligence Agency, should return the $84,000 he received from TARP recipients Merrill Lynch [now part of Bank of America (BAC)] and Wachovia Bank [now part of Wells Fargo (WFC)]for three speeches.
And then there's Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who, as head of the Senate Banking committee, continues to write bills that could benefit the folks at Countrywide, which gave him a sweetheart deal on his mortgage.
The folks inside the Beltway are tone-deaf about their own greed and avarice, which equals or outweighs the greed of those in the private sector, at whom they wag their fingers. Like the wise man said, the hardest thing of all to see...is that which is right before your eyes.
And that's the Final Score.
Government’s proposal for banks comes today
Investment Advisor in Hot Water Over Alleged TARP Fraud
