Our country is infected by greed

The AIG deal was brokered by Tim Geithner. Yup, our great Treasury secretary who acts like this was all a big surprise was one of the ones who secured this deal of the Feds bailing out AIG to begin with last September, at least, according to the liberal gospel otherwise known as CNN from yesterday's telecast. The only one who is more guilty than this corrupt incompetent is our inexperienced, incompetent president, who nominated him, and still stands behind him. Congratulations folks, you wanted "change." Well, you sure as hell got it!

justus4, well put. Mr. Zimmermen wrote a very serious letter here. I doubt that many people will even ponder deeper than their own monthly household incomes the changes the past six months have made to our country. The Federal Government now owns a considerable amount of stock in major banks...I am just not sure what we are haeded for...Obama seems to favor a European style socialism for the U.S. I giess we will see.

Mr. Zimmerman: Abe Lincoln created the federal income tax, so I believe big government was on his mind..This LTE has some good points, but it's seditious tone at the watermarks causes me to pause in my complete praise and support of it...America all of a sudden is unworthy to be kept together because of greed??? Are you serious? Greed? It that a new concept for us? Greed is in the DNA..Our capitalism is viewed as being under attack, not our democracy...There is a difference, wik it if you don't believe me...The democracy side of us is intact, because it was democracy that allowed us to express our oinion and see a regime change without another Civil War...But back to greed: Greed was what caused wealthy pioneers to drum up charges on poor whites and cast them into a system of capitalism as indentured servants...Then when the indentured servants figured out they could simply pack up and runaway in the midnight hour and blend into other settlements the greedy found a darker man to bound...Greed is why we have a system where wealthy see illegal immigrants as a cheap way to get rich, but at the same time hold them in contempt for coming...Greed is nothing new, but CHANGE is..

It isn't greed so much as our competitive nature. We struggle to survive so competition is inevitable-to the victor goes the spoils. I don't think greed is a dollar amount but how you acquire what you have and use what you acquire. CHANGE isn't new either-that is ridiculous. I can't figure Obama out. He definitely used Marxist strategies to get elected but I don't believe he is a marxist just used the gameplan to get elected. He plays to populism though and seems to be like a swimmer testing the waters before a dive (he seems to try to get something by and if it raises a stink then he drops it). I believe Obama and Geithner knew about the bonuses as a part of a deal but were going to see if they could get away with it. Now they aren't all parties just apologize so all is well in the world-after all they did the honest thing and apologizw. Wow we can empty our prisons and end the judicial system with just apologizes. Great. Greed is also all those who support redistribution of wealth from one class to another. Farming is what initially brought illegals here I don't think they classify as the rich.

Is it too much to ask that the opinionated half-wits responding to this LTE understand that the government of this union was never to have been a democracy? Democracy will always fail unless you have perfect citizens voting therein. Respondants two, three, and four seem to be unable to comprehend that the government cannot solve the problem because the government is the problem. A free market worked quite well in the United States, UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT STUCK ITS COLLECTIVE NOSE INTO THAT MARKET. Regulating the market by enforcing safety and quality standards will keep the riff-raff out. Over-regulating that same market by micromanagement will keep potentially successful entrepreneurs out and welcome the riff-raff. I would much prefer the entrepreneurs. Taking that which I earn and giving it to some one who earns nothing only causes me to question whether I should continue to earn.

William so true. Greed and Congress go hand in hand. If only we could establish term limits.

If only...the problem is, only a third of the country is "greedy." The rest are FAR too comfortable just marking time, waiting until the "greedy" parley their time/skills/intelligence into a healthy payday, so that the dependent classes can swoop in and confiscate it in the name of "fairness." The European banking industry is INCREDIBLY happy about all this "anti-bonus" "anti-banker" feeling in the U.S. They are looking forward to the opportunity to profit from U.S. financial industry brain drain...yep, looks like we can solve our "problem" by simply exporting lots of our "greedy" people to Switzerland, Germany, Belgium...

I wish someone would actually define what they mean by the term "greedy". It seems to have become the catchall word for anyone who is in business with the incentive of making a profit. I know you hate to say hear, but incentive is what causes a healthy market and a healthy economy. You people think that if you apply punitive taxes enough and punish enough people that the shelves will somehow magically stay full and people will keep right on producing for less incentive. Talented people are leaving financial institutions IN DROVES and going to other industries or to overseas corporations that don't have punitive taxes. If you did your homework you would know that the top 60 AIG executives got NO bonus and the CEO is only paid $1 per year and that the bonuses were contractual retention bonuses to keep talent from leaving - but NOOOO - that type of knowledge would interfere with the real intentions of the media and our president's propaganda agenda. You remind me of my dog that growls when someone gets near the refrigerator, never thinking that the someone who is trying to take the food out is the same one who worked to get the food in and the same one who feeds his butt.

I thought our country was infected with STDs. Wow who knew????

I think that you are absolutley correct. I would call on all those whose greed has caused them to work hard and make lots of money to quit doing so as of today. I'm sure that those among us who are satisfifed with the minumum will make up the difference in the taxes the greedy people used to pay. You Mr. Zimmerman are a **** ***.

Wow...you all still don't get it... Here's from today's NYT: "That proposal would, for instance, make it easier for the government to cancel bonus contracts like those given to executives at the American International Group, which have stoked a political furor. Under the proposal, the Treasury secretary would have the authority to seize and wind down a struggling institution after consulting with the president and upon the recommendation of two-thirds of the Federal Reserve board." So, let's see, the SecTreas (unelected) in consultation with the Fed (unelected) decides that he needs to "seize" and "wind down" oh, I don't know, some company that has made critical remarks about the president, or that has associations that the president considers unsavory. And, of course, the president, In All Things Genius (peace be upon him), will know exactly whether or not to pull the trigger on such a company. WHAT, I ask you, dear readers, could POSSIBLY go wrong???