Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

House Passes Bill Taxing Wall Street Bonuses
Lieberman, others lose Conn. eminent domain case
Fed launches bold $1.2T effort to revive economy
The Real Scandal at AIG by Eliot Spitzer
$5 Billion in Lobbying for 12 Corrupt Deals Caused the Multi-Trillion Dollar Financial Meltdown
Two Faced: Dodd Protected Bonuses, Now He Wants Them Out
Mark Steyn: Welcome, kids, to the Brokest Generation
Brian Gray suggests faulty interpretation of US Constitution being used regarding AIG�s award of $165 million in bonuses
Vets Recoil at Idea of Using Insurance for Service Injuries

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Are You Opposed to the So-Called "Stimulus Bill"?

Do You Believe the "Mortgage Bail Out" Rewards Bad Behavior?

Are You Willing to Make Your Voice Heard?

JOIN THE TEA PARTY

RSVP to:� mttaylor1959@gmail.com

RIDGEFIELD: �� March 21, 2009 at 10 AM

Assemble at Ballard Park, Ridgefield

Public Parking is available off Bailey and also off Prospect St. one block away

STAMFORD: March 28, 2009 at 10 AM

Assemble at 96 Broad Street, Stamford

WASHINGTON:� April 1, 2009 Mail a Tea Bag to Washington to Arrive by April 15, 2009

Mail to:� President Obama, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington , D.C. 20500

Learn More, Much More at the Following Website!� http://taxdayteaparty.com/

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The Hartford and New Haven events can not officially be announced until all permits are in place. Organizers are working hard to get everything in place! Stay tuned for more news.� Pamela Fowler, CT Coordinator

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A Message from the Tea Party Organizers: �You are invited to attend a "tea party" being held in downtown Ridgefield, CT and Stamford to make your voice heard. We want to encourage other like-minded citizens to oppose giant government programs that will reach deep into our pockets, creating huge economic burdens for ourselves and our children.

Just as a few patriots did in 1773, we are protesting an irresponsible and unresponsive government. We plan on a cheerful, constructive demonstration. Please join us!

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House passes bill taxing Wall Street bonuses, March 19, 2009

Posted: 02:47 PM ET, WASHINGTON (CNN) � The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to try to recoup bonuses paid to Wall Street executives with taxpayer money.� The measure passed, 328-93; most Democrats supported the measure while Republicans were sharply divided.� A two-thirds majority among all members voting was required for passage.� The measure would tax individuals on any bonuses received in 2009 from companies getting $5 billion or more in money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Bonuses for people with incomes over $250,000 would be taxed at a 90 percent rate.� The measure now moves to the Senate for further consideration. Continued �. http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/19/house-passes-bill-taxing-wall-street-bonuses/

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Lieberman, others lose Conn. eminent domain case

Associated Press , March 17, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn. - The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled against U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and others in an eminent domain case in East Haddam.
Lieberman is an executor of his uncle's estate, including property taken by East Haddam following a town vote to take land for a new school. The state Appellate Court had ruled in favor of Lieberman and others saying there a question whether the property would be used for a school. However, in Monday's ruling the state Supreme Court says there's no issue that the land is going to be used for school purposes. East Haddam officials began eminent domain proceedings in January 2006. The lawsuit was filed a month later, claiming the town failed to begin condemnation proceedings within six months of voting to take the property.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-scoconn-eminentdomar17,0,1381319.story

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Fed launches bold $1.2T effort to revive economy

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP, 2 HOURS 46 MINUTES AGO

WASHINGTON -With the country sinking deeper into recession, the Federal Reserve launched a bold $1.2 trillion effort Wednesday to lower rates on mortgages and other consumer debt, spur spending and revive the economy. To do so, the Fed will spend up to $300 billion to buy long-term government bonds and an additional $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.�� http://news.aol.com/article/fed-launches-bold-12t-effort-to-revive/382986?icid=sphere_search_news

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Eliot Spitzer | The Real AIG Scandal, Slate Magazine, March 18, 2009: "Everybody is rushing to condemn AIG's bonuses, but this simple scandal is obscuring the real disgrace at the insurance giant: Why are AIG's counterparties getting paid back in full, to the tune of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars?" �http://www.slate.com/id/2213942/

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Two Faced: Dodd Protected Bonuses, Now He Wants Them Out

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:30 PM, By: Jim Meyers

Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd on Monday criticized the bonuses given to executives of American International Group Inc. and suggested that the government could tax the recipients to recoup some or all of the payouts. But it was Dodd who inserted language � known as the Dodd amendment � in the $787 billion stimulus bill that allowed all bonuses awarded before February 11, 2009, to be paid to AIG executives. That very amendment, which is now law, is now the chief hurdle to government officials who want to recover that money.� Continued at �. http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/chris_dodd_bonuses/2009/03/17/192860.html?s=al&promo_code=7C62-1

AIG Staff: We Deserve This Money
By The Huffington Post News Editors

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$5 Billion in Lobbying for 12 Corrupt Deals Caused the Multi-Trillion Dollar Financial Meltdown By Robert Weissman, Multinational Monitor. Posted March 9, 2009. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/130683/12_corrupt_deals_wall_street_made_with_washington_that_led_to_our_financial_meltdown/?page=entire

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Mark Steyn: Welcome, kids, to the Brokest Generation

The young aren't to blame for this mess, but they'll be paying for it..

General Motors has 96,000 employees but provides health benefits to over a million people. They can never sell enough cars to make that math add up. In fact, selling cars doesn't help, as they lose money on each model. GM is a welfare project masquerading as economic activity. And, after the Obama transformation, America will be, too. The young need to recognize that this is their fight. They need to stop chanting along with the hopeychangey dirges and do something more effective, like form the anti-AARP: The association of Americans who'll never be able to retire.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/old-percent-young-2334863-generation-year

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Outcry Builds in Washington for Recovery of A.I.G. Bonuses
Jackie Calmes And Louise Story, The New York Times: "The American International Group, which has received nearly $200 billion in bailout funds, last week paid bonuses to 418 employees, including $33.6 million to 52 people who have left the failed insurance conglomerate, according to the office of the New York attorney general. The company paid the bonuses, including more than $1 million each to 73 people, to almost all of the employees in the financial products unit responsible for creating the exotic derivatives that caused A.I.G.'s near collapse and started the government rescue to avoid a global financial crisis. The information adds to the firestorm confronting the Obama administration and Congress since the weekend disclosure that A.I.G., almost 80 percent owned by the government, paid out $165 million in bonuses."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/business/18bailout.html?_r=2&hp

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Brian E. Gray | Venality Bites�March 18, 2009 Brian E. Gray is a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco.
"The Obama administration's assertion that the federal government had no power to stop A.I.G. from awarding $165 million in bonuses to the derivatives traders in its financial products unit, whose reckless decisions both destroyed the company and exacerbated the collapse of the international banking and insurance industries, rests on a faulty interpretation of the US Constitution. Speaking on ABC's 'This Week,' Lawrence H. Summers, director of the National Economic Council, explained that the United States could not block payment of the bonuses, despite A.I.G.'s receipt of more than $170 billion in federal TARP funds, because 'We are a country of law. There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts.' Although, it is true that the 'government cannot just abrogate contracts' for no good reason, the law is clear that the United States has the authority to impose significant restrictions on the administration of both public and private contracts to ensure that the expenditure of federal funds is consistent with the public interest. Although, it is too late to void the A.I.G. bonuses, the administration's narrow reading of the law should not deter Congress from amending the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of October 2008, the legislation that created TARP, to authorize the president or the secretary of the treasury to modify executive compensation agreements that are contrary to the purposes of the Act."Continued at � http://www.truthout.org/031809A

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Vets Recoil at Idea of Using Insurance for Service Injuries
David Goldstein, McClatchy Newspapers: "The Obama administration is considering a plan to make veterans use private insurance to pay for treatment of combat and service-related injuries. The proposal would be an about-face on what veterans think is a longstanding pledge to pay for health-care costs that result from their military service."http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/64160.html

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