This'n'That; April 2nd[BarneyFrank;WoundedCop]

Barney's "Nose" Under Public "Tent"

[Barney Frank, the democRAT from Taxachusetts, is now acting like the the "camel with his nose under the tent flap." He's realized through the House's egregious attempt to single out a particular segment of society to confiscate monies legally paid to them that if the Congress pushes hard enough-long enough, they can pass anything-consitutional, or not!! Now that the socialist segment of the Congress has a leader in Fluffy obama, there'll be no end to their attempts to re-distribute America's wealth. If the democRATs aren't stopped-and STOPPED HARD-these confiscation attempts will eventually extend to the everyday Joe and Jane "Sixpack." It'll make no difference whether a company has taken federal pork or not!! If this comes to pass and we become the United States of Amerika, maybe professional sports salaries will become at least border on realism. For instance, the top five NBA players are paid a total of $110,674,500[Mln]; The top five NFL players are paid a total of $98,800,896[Mln]; The top five MLB players are paid a total of $104,644,950[Mln]. Barney.....Wouldn't you say these are a wee bit INFLATED, even by your standards? You and "Turbo-Tax Tim" Geithner better do something about this!! Speaking of "Turbo-Tax Tim," how can an unelected federal official, representing NO ONE, be legally able to re-distribute wealth?? Oh...an' Barney....? What's the deal with this "pay for performance" title.....? Will it cover members of Congress? Regardless of party, the Congress' performance for the last decade at least, has been abysmal!! How 'bout we discuss that "Nex'Time...."]

It was nearly two weeks ago that the House of Representatives, acting in a near-frenzy after the disclosure of bonuses paid to executives of AIG, passed a bill that would impose a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses. Despite the overwhelming 328-93 vote, support for the measure began to collapse almost immediately. Within days, the Obama White House backed away from it, as did the Senate Democratic leadership. The bill stalled, and the populist storm that spawned it seemed to pass. But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill.

The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees-not just top executives-of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds. In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is "unreasonable" or "excessive." And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate "the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates." The bill passed the Financial Services Committee last week, 38 to 22, on a nearly party-line vote. (All Democrats voted for it, and all Republicans, with the exception of Reps. Ed Royce of California and Walter Jones of North Carolina, voted against it.) The legislation is expected to come before the full House for a vote this week, and, just like the AIG bill, its scope and retroactivity trouble a number of Republicans. "It's just a bad reaction to what has been going on with AIG," Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey, a committee member, told me. Garrett is particularly concerned with the new powers that would be given to the Treasury Secretary, who just last week proposed giving the government extensive new regulatory authority. "This is a growing concern, that the powers of the Treasury in this area, along with what Geithner was looking for last week, are mind boggling," Garrett said. Rep. Alan Grayson, the Florida Democrat who wrote the bill, told me its basic message is "you should not get rich off public money, and you should not get rich off of abject failure." Grayson expects the bill to pass the House, and as we talked, he framed the issue in a way to suggest that virtuous lawmakers will vote for it, while corrupt lawmakers will vote against it.

After the AIG bonus tax bill was passed, some members of the House privately expressed regret for having supported it and were quietly relieved when the White House and Senate leadership sent it to an unceremonious death. But populist rage did not die with it, and now the House is preparing to do it all again.

Wounded Cop Update

Rochester police Officer Anthony DiPonzio, who was shot in the back of the head two months ago, moved out of the inpatient Unity Health System's Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit today and returned home. As with each of his moves since being wounded, a procession of police vehicles escorted him and his family to their Greece home. DiPonzio, 23, of Greece, was shot after he and other officers had gone to Dayton Street the afternoon of Jan. 31 for a complaint of drug activity. The officers made no arrests and were walking back to their vehicles to leave when DiPonzio was shot from behind. DiPonzio faces up to a year of rehabilitation, doctors have previously said. About two weeks ago his grandmother and some police sources said DiPonzio was starting to walk at a slow pace with a cane and assistance from a therapist. Locust Club President Mike Mazzeo said even though DiPonzio is going home, he still needs “a lot of continued rehab.” Mazzeo said DiPonzio will probably be receiving care at home and attending therapy sessions as an outpatient. He is also scheduled to have another surgery, Mazzeo said.

Til Nex'Time....