Subject: [big campaign] MoveOn's Response to President Obama's interview on bonuses
From: Daniel Mintz <[email-masked]>
To: bigcampaign <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:50:38 -0500
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

We just sent this out to members in response to the president's interview
regarding Wall Street bonuses.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Daniel Mintz, MoveOn.org Political Action <[email-masked]
>
Date: Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 3:39 PM
Subject: Tell President Obama: Huge bonuses aren't okay

 Dear MoveOn member,

In an interview this week, President Obama was asked about Goldman Sachs'
CEO giving himself a $9 million bonus. He called the CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, a
"savvy" businessman and said the American people don't begrudge him his
wealth.1

There's one big problem: Every cent of bonus money Goldman Sachs has paid
out in the last year belongs to taxpayers.2 That's because of huge taxpayer
supports—including $12.9 billion of bailout money funneled directly to
Goldman through AIG—none of which they have any intention of paying back.3
 The fact is, the American people *do *begrudge wealth when it's taken
directly out of their pockets. And "savvy" doesn't accurately describe a
businessman who brought the world economy to the edge of collapse.

Can you let the president know that you're outraged that big banks have
returned to business as usual while the rest of the country suffers? Tell
him that appearing close to Wall Street is no way to gain voters' trust that
he's on their side.
The White House
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86440&id=&t=1

Then click here to let us know how it went:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?cp_id=1265&tg=638&id=&t=2

In the past, the president has used language that's much more in touch with
how most Americans see Wall Street's outsized bonuses, calling them
"obscene" and "shameful."4 And he supported a 90% tax on last year's AIG
bonuses.5 That's why this latest interview, where he compared the bankers
who destroyed our economy to highly-paid baseball players, was so
discouraging.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman made clear why the president's analogy
makes no sense, and why it's so troubling:
 To my knowledge, irresponsible behavior by baseball players hasn't brought
the world economy to the brink of collapse and cost millions of innocent
Americans their jobs and/or houses.

And more specifically, not only has the financial industry has been bailed
out with taxpayer commitments; it continues to rely on a taxpayer backstop
for its stability.6

[The president] said some things about making compensation better tied to
results—but it was framed purely in terms of stockholder interests, with no
mention, again, of the damage bankers have done and the public support they
still require.7
 Can you let the president know how Wall Street's bonuses are seen on Main
Street? Tell him that you want him to stand up to bankers who think they're
entitled to billions of taxpayer dollars with no accountability.

The White House
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86440&id=&t=3

Then click here to let us know how it went:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?cp_id=1265&tg=638&id=&t=4
 <http://pol.moveon.org/call?cp_id=1265&tg=638&id=&t=5>

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Peter, Kat, Ilyse, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "What Obama Said About Those Bonuses," The Washington Post, February 10,
2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86435&id=&t=6

2. "Strong Year for Goldman, as It Trims Bonus Pool," The New York Times,
January 21, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/business/22goldman.html

3. "Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge," The New York
Times, February 6, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/business/07goldman.html

4. "White House Moves Swiftly To Stem Fallout Of Obama Interview," The
Huffington Post, February 10, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86436&id=&t=7

5. "Obama Praises Bonus Tax, Looks Forward To Getting Final Bill," Talking
Points Memo, March 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86438&id=&t=8

6. "Clueless," The New York Times, February 10, 2010
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/clueless/

7. "Wall Street Damage Control," The New York Times, February 10, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86437&id=&t=9

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no
corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures
that small contributions go a long way. Chip in
here<http://political.moveon.org/donate/email.html?id=&t=10>
.
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-- 
**********
Daniel Mintz
Campaign Director
MoveOn.org Political Action
[email-masked]
718-576-2628
**********

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