Re: Citibank

Two words: Thrift Store

KT: ask them to contact Pres Jimmy Carter: he and his volunteers can help poor Citi get its digs into better shape.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phd9/2703162859/in/set-72157594565763211/

Designer handcuffs.

KT:
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Yes, we're all really, really angry that the class of people who abused their power and public trust were allowed by their counterparts in the Beltway political-media class to thoroughly screw over our country at no cost whatsoever to their standards of living.
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That said, apart from the relative pennies in conspicuous consumption like the huge "Citi Field" sign at the Mets' ballpark (local fans have taken to referring to the stadium "F**k You Field"), where and how much money has been spent on what, exactly?
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(continued)

Don't you get the sense that the public is even more enraged over the idea that the whole bailout is another series of shrink-wrapped pallets of money being left in abandoned warehouses in Iraq than we are over the executives' lavish compensation for gross failure, KT?
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(continued)

Where is the money going --not the renovation money, or the bonus money, but the real money?
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Thanks in advance for reporting on where the money's being spent, KT.

High Sherrifs:
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You're doing a heck-of-a-job.
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I love having to figure out which part of my post will be rejected, and splitting my posts into three separate ones.
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Sure makes me want to post commentary.

I know its fun to play, but the fact that rich people waste money is hardly news. The fact that when it's coming from corporate as opposed to personal stashes the waste is even more conspicuous is also unsurprising.
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This has been going on for years folks.
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This is the world you bought when you voted for tax cuts uber alles in the first place.

Decorate the walls with the skulls of banking executives.

But are the Citifolk smart enough to assemble IKEA furniture? Sounds like a hex-wrench-ready project to me! (Disclaimer: my SO builds the rooms at IKEA and we have a total of 4 items of non-IKEA furniture in our house.)

And speaking of reporting, I hope someone is sniffing for burrowers at Treasury. The anonymous leaks re: Dodd to NYT, WSJ have a familiar smell, and seem connected to nicely to GOP talking points.

Is anyone doing an hard hitting indepth piece about how the country finds itself in this situation, who should be in jail, what rules need to be changed? No. Too Expensive? Crickets? Maybe we can give some stimulus money to the press and they could cover more than interior design.

Two more words: Depression Chic

Is this really an issue?

Not to dampen the hostility to the financial elites, but didn't Time Magazine lay off 400 people so they could hire the likes of Bill Kristol and Mark Halperin. Maybe Swampland should have a tall, frosty glass of 'shut the f@ck up'.

OK, I'll play. How many Ikea soft seats can they shove up… Oh forget it.

Dear Geniuses at Treasury:
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How's the bailout working out?

I hear that steel bars are going to be all the rage.

There should be a blog post on the "genius" sitting in the Oval Office. Here's the latest brillliant quote from the One:

"The same is true with AIG. It was the right thing to do to step in. Here's the problem. It's almost like they've got -- they've got a bomb strapped to them and they've got their hand on the trigger. You don't want them to blow up. But you've got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger."

Is this the second coming of Dan Quayle?

I'm more concerned about their jailhouse tattoo options.

Dear Geniuses at Treasury:
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How's the strategy of negotiating with the financial terrorists inside of the bank working out?
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The Financial Products [division of AIG] staff met twice Wednesday inside one of the firm's large, glass-walled conference rooms to discuss the boss's letter. Numerous employees indicated that they would be willing to return the money, but most wanted nothing more to do with the firm. It was a preview of the possible exodus to come, one that concerns Liddy himself.
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"My fear is that the damage is done," he told a congressional subcommittee. "That they will return [the money], but that they will return it with their resignations."
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There is little doubt within Financial Products that he's right about that.
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"Nobody is going to give it back and then stay," said one of the firm's employees. "If they give back the money, then they will walk. And they will walk into the arms of AIG's counterparties."

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Hmmm...
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So if AIG's employees walk, they get hired by firms like Citi's financial products divisions, and then bet against the hedge funds they know are going to collapse?
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Why didn't we just nationalize AIG and Citi in the first place, Secretary Geithner?

Or they could try another approach:
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/phd9/3001504638/in/set-72157608635921187/

It's cute that people think any of these people are going to jail. If and when these guys lose all their money, get caught shoplifting $10 of sundries and have to stand in court w/ a public defender...then they go to jail.

"There should be a blog post on the "genius" sitting in the Oval Office. Here's the latest brillliant quote from the One:"
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But, but, I thought that Rush Limbaugh was the One! He even said so himself! And his dittohead 'believers', agree.
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Spob, yer dumber than a warm rock on a windowsill...