The LuLac Edition #608. Oct. 20th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: CONGRESSMAN KANJORSKI AND OUR ELECTION TOP 40.

KANJO ON AIG

Today, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11), the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to urge him to support the agreement between New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and American International Group (AIG) to recover improper spending, cancel upcoming business junkets, and undertake executive compensation reforms. On October 9, Chairman Kanjorski previously sent a letter to Chairman Bernanke calling on him to take similar actions regarding AIG.
The Federal Reserve has now agreed to provide as much as $123 billion in loans to AIG. As a result of this taxpayer support, AIG must alter its business practices. As Chairman Kanjorski notes in his latest letter to Chairman Bernanke, “AIG has behaved like a pig at the taxpayer’s trough, and it must stop.”
The text of the October 20 letter from Chairman Kanjorski to Chairman Bernanke follows:
Dear Chairman Bernanke:
Late last week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and American International Group (AIG) reached an agreement on immediate actions that AIG will take with regard to corporate expenditures and executive compensation. As you will recall, because the Federal Reserve was the entity that agreed to lend nearly $123 billion in taxpayer’s money to stave off AIG’s bankruptcy, I had previously made a similar request to you on October 9. You unfortunately have yet to take any public action on these matters.
As I understand, AIG has agreed to provide the New York Attorney General’s office with an accounting of all compensation paid to its senior executives. It has also agreed to assist the Attorney General’s office in recovering any illegal expenditure found under New York’s law to protect creditors, and it has halted a $10 million severance payment to a former financial officer. AIG has additionally agreed to establish a Special Governance Committee to institute new management controls. And, effective immediately, AIG is cancelling all junkets and perks.
Last week, however, we also learned of yet more frivolous excursions that AIG paid for after the federal government assisted the flailing company. Among these trips, executives and customers were flown on a private jet to England for a partridge hunt. According to news reports, this overseas outing cost almost $100,000. During this trip, an undercover reporter recorded one of the participating AIG executives as saying, “The recession will go on until about 2011, but the shooting was great today and we are relaxing fine.” This attitude is shocking.
AIG has behaved like a pig at the taxpayer’s trough, and it must stop. On October 9, I requested that you to seek reimbursement for AIG’s expenses from the $440,000 junket at an ocean-side resort and to impose on AIG the executive pay reforms contained in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (ESSA). This recapture should be expanded to all unnecessary perks paid by AIG since the time it sought and received government assistance. The Federal Reserve must also now review Attorney General Cuomo’s agreement, compare it to the executive compensation standards in EESA, and impose the stricter of the two on AIG or any other company that receives a direct loan from the Federal Reserve in the future.
Lastly, I ask that the Federal Reserve create an ombudsman to deal with consumer complaints relating to AIG, its affiliates and subsidiaries, and any other company receiving assistance from the Federal Reserve. Last Friday, I received a call from a constituent, a retiree who was involved in a car accident. An AIG company insured the driver at fault, and the retiree is now being told that AIG does not have the money to pay the claim. We both know this information is false, and even if the company were in bankruptcy, state guarantee funds are in place to provide payment on all legitimate insurance claims. There is, however, confusion in the public’s mind on these matters and the Federal Reserve should create an office to deal with such situations, as well as to collect complaints about excessive and unnecessary expenditures by AIG and other similarly situated entities.
Please respond to my latest concerns and requests regarding AIG as soon as possible.

ELECTION TOP 40

ABORTION #12

McCAIN

John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench. Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states. The difficult issue of abortion should not be decided by judicial fiat.However, the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents only one step in the long path toward ending abortion. Once the question is returned to the states, the fight for life will be one of courage and compassion - the courage of a pregnant mother to bring her child into the world and the compassion of civil society to meet her needs and those of her newborn baby. The pro-life movement has done tremendous work in building and reinforcing the infrastructure of civil society by strengthening faith-based, community, and neighborhood organizations that provide critical services to pregnant mothers in need. This work must continue and government must find new ways to empower and strengthen these armies of compassion. These important groups can help build the consensus necessary to end abortion at the state level. As John McCain has publicly noted, "At its core, abortion is a human tragedy. To effect meaningful change, we must engage the debate at a human level."In 1993, John McCain and his wife, Cindy, adopted a little girl from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. She has been a blessing to the McCain family and helped make adoption advocacy a personal issue for the Senator.The McCain family experience is not unique; millions of families have had their lives transformed by the adoption of a child. As president, motivated by his personal experience, John McCain will seek ways to promote adoption as a first option for women struggling with a crisis pregnancy. In the past, he cosponsored legislation to prohibit discrimination against families with adopted children, to provide adoption education, and to permit tax deductions for qualified adoption expenses, as well as to remove barriers to interracial and inter-ethnic adoptions.

OBAMA

No litmus test; nominate to Court based on their fairness.
1990: Wrote law article that that fetus cannot sue mother.
FactCheck: Abortions HAVE gone down under Pres. Bush.
Ok for state to restrict late-term partial birth abortion.
We can find common ground between pro-choice and pro-life.
Undecided on whether life begins at conception.
Teach teens about abstinence and also about contraception.
GovWatch: Obama's "present" votes were a requested strategy.
Expand access to contraception; reduce unintended pregnancy.
Rated 100% by NARAL on pro-choice votes.
Voted against banning partial birth abortion.
Stem cells hold promise to cure 70 major diseases.
Trust women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion.
Extend presumption of good faith to abortion protesters.
Constitution is a living document; no strict constructionism.
Moral accusations from pro-lifers are counterproductive.
Pass the Stem Cell Research Bill.
Protect a woman's right to choose.
Opposed born-alive treatment law because it was already law.
Supports Roe v. Wade.
Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP.
Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion.
Voted YES on epanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines.
Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
Voted YES on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives.
Sponsored bill providing contraceptives for low-income women.
Rated 0% by the NRLC indicating a pro-choice stance.
Ensure access to and funding for contraception.