Ever Wonder Why Was AGI Rescued?

Terry Campbell

Terry Campbell

Member
Did you wonder why, in particular, was AIG rescued? Do you think this could be the answer? Just maybe.



Remember when this economic crisis hit, and Congress let Bear Sterns go
under, pushed a bunch of forced marriages between banks, etc.?


Then they bailed out AIG. At the time, I thought: "That's strange.
What does an insurance company have to do with this crisis?"


I think I just found the answer.

Among other things, AIG INSURES THE PENSION TRUST OF
THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS!!


No wonder they got bailed out right away!

To hell with the people, let's protect our future, said all our
Senators and Congressmen.
Nice to see where their loyalties lie!


(I'm from the government and I'm here to help you!)

Nope! Nothing unusual or sinister here. Just business in Washington as usual

It must be the New Era of Change :rolleyes:
 
Thats it I'm running for congress. Hell AIG insures a ton of things, they are investment company and have their hands in a ton of stuff that has nothing to do with insurance. There was a time insurance companies had to be JUST insurance companies, they were deregulated and could do anything they wanted to do and go after. You know what they say about jack of all trades..... Master of none....I guess they proved that
 
The sad part is I have stock in them through a Mutual Fund, they have their hands in everything. :eek: But it is funny how Congress makes sure their Retirement is Safe with OUR CASH.

I bet if you have Mutual Funds you will see them somewhere in the mix of things too.
 
TLC Sweeping & Maint said:
The sad part is I have stock in them through a Mutual Fund, they have their hands in everything. :eek: But it is funny how Congress makes sure their Retirement is Safe with OUR CASH.

I bet if you have Mutual Funds you will see them somewhere in the mix of things too.
Click to expand...

It doesnt matter who's in congress they always amaze me. The Republican get thrown out, then the dems get thrown out, then the Republicans and the Dems will be next. They have to much power and they get greedy, they have to many benefits and they get greedy. I wonder if it will ever end

I think the life time pension, life time benefits should be stopped anyway and term limits no one stays after 3 terms at most. Maybe in the next century, unreal

They all remind me of Baywatch, they all have these great tans :cool: They would be better at being beach bums
 
2 things kill me about our elected officials in washington. 1. No term lilmits 2. They vote on their own raises.

I dont know if you guys heard about Obama freezing all pay raises on white house employees making over $100k....only exceptions: Obama and Biden. You really have to be a special breed of hypochrite to be a politician.

Disclaimer: Jeff, this is not a slam on Obama; only an example of how politicians think. Please, for the love of all things holy do not berate me :p
 
Scott D. said:
2 things kill me about our elected officials in washington. 1. No term lilmits 2. They vote on their own raises.

I dont know if you guys heard about Obama freezing all pay raises on white house employees making over $100k....only exceptions: Obama and Biden. You really have to be a special breed of hypochrite to be a politician.

Disclaimer: Jeff, this is not a slam on Obama; only an example of how politicians think. Please, for the love of all things holy do not berate me :p
Click to expand...

Berate, I always thought it was debate LOL

Special breed for sure.

I'm running for congress
 
Your Right Jeff it does not matter who is in right now, they ALL HAVE BEEN IN TOO LONG for anybodies good ;) Term Limits but we will never see that in my life time anyways. They have to much power and would stop anything like that from going into effect.
 
Congress: Rank-and-File Members' Salary
The current salary (2009) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year.

Members are free to turn down pay increase and some choose to do so.


In a complex system of calculations, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, congressional pay rates also affect the salaries for federal judges and other senior government executives.


During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.



From 1789 to 1855, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session, except for a period from December 1815 to March 1817, when they received $1,500 a year. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1855, when they were paid $3,000 per year.
Congress: Leadership Members' Salary (2009)
Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.

Senate Leadership
Majority Leader - $193,400
Minority Leader - $193,400
House Leadership
Speaker of the House - $223,500
Majority Leader - $193,400
Minority Leader - $193,400

A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it.

Congress: Benefits

You may have read that Members of Congress do not pay into Social Security. Well, that's a myth.

Prior to 1984, neither Members of Congress nor any other federal civil service employee paid Social Security taxes. Of course, the were also not eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Members of Congress and other federal employees were instead covered by a separate pension plan called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act required federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal workers. The result was the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986.

Members of Congress receive retirement and health benefits under the same plans available to other federal employees. They become vested after five years of full participation.

Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984 all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching to FERS.

As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.

Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Member's of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

The amount of a Congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.

According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.
 
WASHINGTON – Unlike most American workers, who lost big money in their 401(k) retirement accounts last year, members of Congress can't lose in their gold-plated retirement plans.

Congress' bloated pensions are by far the single biggest perk offered lawmakers, a huge incentive for incumbents to cling to office and spend more of your money.

Cushy doesn't begin to describe their retirement plans. They are more like small lotteries.

As with private plans, politicians' retirement benefits rise with length of service. But congressional pensions provide double to triple the benefits offered by most private employers, studies show.

In fact, they are so generous that some former lawmakers' annual pensions are twice as high as their pre-retirement congressional salary. Among the major provisions:


Payout is based on a special formula. Most companies base pensions on the average of an employee's five highest-paid years, plus 1.5 percent. But lawmakers get the average of their highest three years' pay – inflating the total by giving more weight to peak years – plus as much as 2.5 percent.

Congressional pension payments rise each year under a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. Virtually no companies offer pensions that match a rise in the Consumer Price Index.

Both lawmakers and staffers can retire with a full, guaranteed pension at age 50 after 20 years of service, whereas most American workers must wait until they are 65.
Hold on for 20 years and you can retire with a full pension as early as age 50 and live the rest of your life in relative luxury – at taxpayers' expense. And that does not include your tax-deferred savings plan, which taxpayers match nearly dollar-for-dollar, or Social Security benefits (like all workers, members of Congress pay into the system on the first $80,400 of their gross income).

Many members who have recently left Congress will draw more than $1 million over their lifetimes. Some are expected to haul in more than $2 million, projects the National Taxpayers Union.

Voters may have put some old tax-and-spend bulls out to pasture in recent years. But that doesn't mean they stopped paying for their long and dubious service.

Take former House Speaker Tom Foley, D-Wash. He's collecting $123,804 a year, plus COLAs, for his 32 years of government service.

Then there's retired crook Dan Rostenkowski. After 36 years in the House, benefits for the former Ways and Means Committee chairman start at $96,462 a year, even though he was convicted of embezzling his office stamp allowance. (Only treason can strip federal lawmakers of their pension.)

For the roughly 85 percent of Americans working in the private sector, retirement won't be so golden.

Fewer than four out of 10 workers even have a pension, guaranteed or not. And the average worker with a pension qualifies for about a third of his or her pay, or about $7,500 a year – and that's fixed for life.

Just bringing congressional members' pensions in line with private pensions would save taxpayers some $100 million a year, Money magazine estimated not too long ago.

Some members, responding to criticism, have made noises about reforming the pension system, such as converting to 401(k) plans, the retirement option for most Americans.

But nothing comes of such talk. And why would it? Employees never cut their own benefits. And therein lies the problem: Congress sets its own pay and benefits.

At least one public-interest group wants to change that.

The Vienna, Va.-based Conservative Caucus, which urges Washington to live within the Constitution, proposes an amendment barring the U.S. Treasury from paying lawmakers a pension.

The Constitution lets Congress set its pay, but does not specifically provide for retirement benefits.

It wouldn't be the first time pay procedures were amended. The 27th amendment bars a congressional pay raise from taking effect until after an election.

Denying lawmakers their lavish taxpayer-subsidized pensions would go a long way toward discouraging them from treating election to public office as a career rather than a chance to serve their nation. It would also curb the pork-barrel spending that nourishes incumbency.

But until the retirement system is changed, Congress will remain a velvet coffin for big-spending lifer politicians.
 
I'm not saying there should be no benefits to being a congressman while they are in office, but it should be in par with what most working americans get.

Most congressmen are professionals when they come into office. Why when they get out cant they go into the private sector and get jobs and save like the rest of Americans. Give them a federal IRA or Savings plan

There should be a national drive to get the congressmen back to the real world. Term limits, decreased benefits etc etc. Do it to serve your country not to live a life of luxury

We are once again living in the days of Kings & Queens and we are just THEIR humble servants. Hell we are the court jesters and they are laughing all the way to the bank
 
jlpressure said:
I'm not saying there should be no benefits to being a congressman while they are in office, but it should be in par with what most working americans get.

Most congressmen are professionals when they come into office. Why when they get out cant they go into the private sector and get jobs and save like the rest of Americans. Give them a federal IRA or Savings plan

There should be a national drive to get the congressmen back to the real world. Term limits, decreased benefits etc etc. Do it to serve your country not to live a life of luxury

We are once again living in the days of Kings & Queens and we are just THEIR humble servants. Hell we are the court jesters and they are laughing all the way to the bank
Click to expand...

Jeff, you are right about one thing, most are professional when they come into office. They are professinal slick car salesmen who have structured their whole lives in a way that it always points to a position of power.

The object of public service is to STEP DOWN from your life and take some time out to serve the public.

There's not a single congressman in office today that deserves to chew on the jock strap of any of our founding fathers. Those guys put it all on the line and faced execution.

These guys today care about nothing but holding on to the power and prestige. What a bunch of losers.

And by the way. Good morning!:)
 
Where do I sign up for one of these Jobs? I want my retirement in 15 years :eek: at the rate 99% of us are going, We will be working until the day I fall flat on my face DEAD and could use some Pack Money for spending at the Beach :D
 
Scott D. said:
2 things kill me about our elected officials in washington. 1. No term lilmits 2. They vote on their own raises.

I dont know if you guys heard about Obama freezing all pay raises on white house employees making over $100k....only exceptions: Obama and Biden. You really have to be a special breed of hypochrite to be a politician.

Disclaimer: Jeff, this is not a slam on Obama; only an example of how politicians think. Please, for the love of all things holy do not berate me :p
Click to expand...


Please!! Dont get me started!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top