Jonathan Alter: Change McCaskill's bill to include Clawback provision

[Coexist]

to take BACK the obscene 2008 18.4 billion in banker bonuses.

on MSNBC right now.

Then he verified it is LEGAL to do this with a change in the law by adding clawback or disgorgement provisions.

TAKE THEM BACK!

Who's with me?

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Set Top Tax Rate = 100%

For bankers who took TARP bailouts.

No fuss, no bother. And we get our cash back.

[ShortnFiery]

2. Yes, I saw Alter make this argument on KO's show a couple of nights ago.

:thumbsup:

[Coexist]

8. I hope more voices join the chorus.

maybe we write out congresscritters?

[pleah]

3. K&R

:thumbsup:

[depakid]

4. They can certainly include disgorgment provisions

but they'd be more effective if there were also investigations and prosecutions.

[Coexist]

9. those provisions would be quick and effective and good PR for Dems

investigations can come later, but a quick grab back would rock and serve up a little justice.

[depakid]

14. They can include those provisions- but enforcing them is something else entirely

[bertman]

15. investigate what?? The money came with no strings thanks to our Democratic leaders

who caved in to one more of Bush's "national emergencies".

[Loki]

5. Go after these greedy SOB's

where it hurts them the most. Karma bitches......it's on it's way.

[Coexist]

7. you said it.

[terisan]

6. The Wall Streeters will just use other pots of money for the bonuses. The real crime is the bailout

itself and the criminals are getting paid by the White House to set us up.

[Skidmore]

10. I can support this and suggest this as something we take action

on. Let's get the call lists out.

[Coexist]

11. is the list in the activist corps recent?

[Coexist]

12. .

[Vincardog]

13. DO it NOW

[Shallah Kali]

16. A fellow wrote about this back in Sept. " Use Polluter Pays Principle to Fund Bailout"

http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/op-ed/44-general%20op-ed/178-use-polluter-pays-principle-to-fund-bailout

Clawbacks should be used now to fund the Great Wall Street Bailout of 2008. The bailout should be funded by clawbacks from the winnings of the One Percenters in the casino games they have rigged in recent years on the conveniently unregulated Wall Street. They should be made to disgorge the losses of the injured parties out of their own pockets just like VC general partners.

In particular the executives of any firm receiving Great Wall Street Bailout proceeds from the government should be subject to clawback of executive incomes, management fees or stock options for the prior seven years, to the extent necessary to fund that company’s bailout. A more generalized form of clawback would be to tax retroactively the types of firms receiving bailouts or the types of financial activities engendering bailouts in amounts sufficient to fund the bailout program. More general than that would be a retroactive clawback tax on One Percenters as a whole in amounts sufficient to fund the bailout program.

It should be noted that clawbacks are not especially intended to assess culpability or punishment or retaliation. They are simply a means of recouping lost investments, a cost recovery mechanism.

The US has used the principle of “polluters pay” enacted in the Superfund statute to fund environmental cleanup costs at hazardous waste disaster sites. In enacting the Superfund law Congress had to determine whether to make the polluters or the taxpayers pay for cleanup of the disasters. Because the polluters had done business with the disaster sites and thereby had derived economic benefit from their involvement with the site, Congress determined that it was fairer for the polluters to pay for the cleanups than for the taxpayers. Every party known to have done business with the polluted site was deemed liable, without regard to fault, to pay for the cleanup. Under the Superfund law, the polluters are held jointly and severally liable to pay for cleanup of the sites they are associated with.

[beac]

17. K(lawback! ) & R !

Great idea.

[mod mom]

18. Absolutely clawback! These thugs were raiding the coffers leaving the mess they created

It was a thought out plan to enrich themselves at others expense.

Why not RICO?

RICO offenses

Under the law, racketeering activity means:
Any violation of state statutes against gambling, murder, kidnapping, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act);
Any act of bribery, counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, dealing in obscene matter, obstruction of justice, slavery, racketeering, gambling, money laundering, commission of murder-for-hire, and several other offenses covered under the Federal criminal code (Title 18);
Embezzlement of union funds;
Bankruptcy or securities fraud;
Drug trafficking;
Money laundering and related offenses;
Bringing in, aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country (if the action was for financial gain);
Acts of terrorism.

I believe the individuals behind these bonuses should be given very stiff charges to deter others in the future.

[Homer Wells]

19. Damn Straight!!!!!

K&R

[Edith Ann]

20. Take back

They already do this in many other programs such as Medicare and some contracts. They simply audit the use of the funds, or charges to government programs. If they find false charges or mistakes they send the agency or business a bill to repay. Government has been doing this for years to hospitals, doctors, and defense contractors. There are honest mistakes and misinterpretations of charges on both sides. You are often at the mercy of the auditor. No one gets accused of fraud or misdeeds, unless it's obvious, they just pay back the money. The government is great all they have to do is make a law and make it retroactive to claim their money back.