Obama sings a new tune on Wall Street bonuses

The left is getting upset (when aren’t they) with Obama over an upcoming Bloomberg interview where Obama says he does not “begrudge” certain Wall Street exec’s bonuses.

From Jake Taper at Political Punch: 

Asked about the $17 million bonus given to Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the $9 million bonuses going to Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO, the president said, “I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen. I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.”

"I do think that the compensation packages that we've seen over the last decade at least have not matched up always to performance," the president said -- a rather serene response relative to some of his previous language on the matter.

How come Populist Obama has changed his tune on bonuses for these two guys? Well, in the case of Goldman Sachs, we really need look no further than the number of Goldman cronies working in the administration.  In other words, no biting the hand that feeds you.

In the case of JP Morgan Chase, the answer is simple, Republicans! 

UPDATE: One other note that occurs to me, for some context: Dimon is a Democratic contributor whom, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, is being wooed by Republicans, who are questioning why Wall Street executives give money to Democrats rather than to the Republicans who are trying to block President Obama’s push to enact financial regulatory reforms.

House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters last Thursday that he “did in fact have a conversation with Mr. Dimon to talk about some of the bizarre policies coming out of this administration. I also pressed them to help our team." 

This change of tone just highlights the reason why government should not be involved with the inner working s of big business. Politicians (president included) are slaves to cash and political plays.  The result is arbitrary rules that cause massive uncertainty for investors.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Political Punch 

New Populist Obama is every bit as trifling as the old Obama

I had the misfortune of watching the New Populist Obama on TV today as he did his town hall meeting in Ohio.  Other than a missing tie, I could not tell the difference from this Obama from the one who lied his butt off over the past year.

I cannot imagine what that town hall meeting would have been like if it wasn’t stacked with Kool Aid drinkers. Some of the things Populist Obama said were downright laughable when you consider his actions over the past year. 

"Let me tell you, so long as I have the privilege of serving as your president, I'll never stop fighting for you,"  

If I were in the audience I would have shouted out “more like never stop fighting with us”!  Remember this is the same man who was more than willing to turn a deaf ear to the public’s push back as he tried to ram healthcare reform down our throats.  Yet here he is shamelessly trying to play our hero.

Populist Obama went on like he was always on our side for the speech. He spoke as though it was January 2009 and we have spent the last year watching this man dismiss the concerns of the American people and completely renege on his campaign promises. It was a pure Twilight Zone moment.  Even the Q and A was pathetic. Jim Geraghty over at the Campaign Spot notes the unhelpful questions asked by the audience. I found the questioners reminiscent of people from Third World Countries who ask Dear Leader for help with their problems.

If Obama thinks that his new populist personae is going to win over the public with more empty word and broken promises, then he has another thing coming to him. The anger out in America is not merely a populist movement aimed at “greedy Wall Street” or “greed corporations” the anger in America is directed at a completely out of touch, phony, self serving and ever growing government. Right now, Populist Obama is still fitting that bill.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Campaign Spot