ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: At the bottom of the Tea Party movement of that anger is anger at the bailout. And you know, here people, Democrats, Republicans have been given proof that the government does not work because the government spent almost $800 billion and look where we are. Wall Street is doing well. Main Street is suffering.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST: Somebody I was talking to over the, during the week, people in business and venture capital who were saying, "Why doesn't the government do more to force banks to lend, to do more to make it easier for people to actually go out there and show some kind of consumer activity?"
GEORGE WILL: Well maybe if the government did less, period, people would be more inclined to lend money. The banks aren't hoarding the money because they are in a pout. They're not hoarding the money because they're mad at somebody. They're hoarding money because they can't find lenders who think they can borrow it and make money.
HUFFINGTON: No, that's not true. The banks are getting almost zero-percent interest rate...
WILL: Yes.
HUFFINGTON: ...loans from the Fed and they are spending it to make a lot of profit in derivatives tradings and all the things that got us into this trouble in the first place. And this administration and this Congress still has not passed an end to Too Big To Fail, still has not reinstated Glass-Steagall. So even, even though people may not be able to give you all these details, they know that the system has not been fixed, that financial reform is full of loopholes, and that the system is not fair, basically, for them as they're seeing their lives falling apart.
Amazing. So first she says the failure of the bailout to stoke lending is an example of how government doesn't work, and then she asks for more government intervention to get the economy going.
Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
Moments later, Will put the icing on the cake:
Simple arithmetic most fourth graders would understand unless they were raised or educated by liberals like Huffington.WILL: We started arguing about the tax cut. The president says we can't afford the tax cuts for the wealthy because that would add $700 billion to the deficit over ten years. Which is to say over ten years it would add less to the deficit than Obama added with the stimulus in one year.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
Coming soon: A brand-new NewsBusters design. But we need your help!
Among those charged was Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell, whose compensation package led the way with annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million. Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others. He was booked into Los Angeles County Jail and was being held on $3.2-million bail.
The charges follow months of nationwide outrage and renewed debate over public employee compensation since The Times reported in July that the city's leaders were among the nation's highest paid municipal officials.
Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret. Prosecutors alleged that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.
"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.
Rizzo's attorney, James W. Spertus, said the charges came as no surprise and were politically motivated by Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.
"The allegations are mistaken," Spertus said. "They are factually untrue in many readily provable ways."
Cooley denied that his election effort played any part in the decision to file charges.
At a news conference, Cooley accused City Council members of failing to oversee Rizzo's actions, saying that they instead had collected more than $1.2 million in total pay since 2006 for presiding over city agency meetings that never occurred or lasted just a few minutes.
Many city residents greeted news of the charges with joy.
"Finally the crooks are going to suffer what the city suffered for many years," said Carmen Bella, a longtime Bell activist.
About two dozen Bell residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. One man used a bullhorn to broadcast the Queen rock song, "Another One Bites the Dust," while others laughed, cheered and applauded.
But at least one resident wondered what would happen to his embattled city.
"Who's going to call the shots?" asked Hassan Mourad, 32. "That's the most important thing right now."
-- Richard Winton and Jack Leonard
Photo: Booking shots of Robert Rizzo, former city manager, and Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez. Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department.
Photos: Arrests in Bell
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robert shumake
Scripting <b>News</b>: What kind of <b>news</b> system...?
And it's not okay that they're making a bid for exclusivity on the role of News System of the Future, and they can't even keep their servers running properly. Either you deliver the benefit of being the sole provider, or sorry (to ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 9/22 - Arrowhead Pride
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Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor
USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: At the bottom of the Tea Party movement of that anger is anger at the bailout. And you know, here people, Democrats, Republicans have been given proof that the government does not work because the government spent almost $800 billion and look where we are. Wall Street is doing well. Main Street is suffering.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST: Somebody I was talking to over the, during the week, people in business and venture capital who were saying, "Why doesn't the government do more to force banks to lend, to do more to make it easier for people to actually go out there and show some kind of consumer activity?"
GEORGE WILL: Well maybe if the government did less, period, people would be more inclined to lend money. The banks aren't hoarding the money because they are in a pout. They're not hoarding the money because they're mad at somebody. They're hoarding money because they can't find lenders who think they can borrow it and make money.
HUFFINGTON: No, that's not true. The banks are getting almost zero-percent interest rate...
WILL: Yes.
HUFFINGTON: ...loans from the Fed and they are spending it to make a lot of profit in derivatives tradings and all the things that got us into this trouble in the first place. And this administration and this Congress still has not passed an end to Too Big To Fail, still has not reinstated Glass-Steagall. So even, even though people may not be able to give you all these details, they know that the system has not been fixed, that financial reform is full of loopholes, and that the system is not fair, basically, for them as they're seeing their lives falling apart.
Amazing. So first she says the failure of the bailout to stoke lending is an example of how government doesn't work, and then she asks for more government intervention to get the economy going.
Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
Moments later, Will put the icing on the cake:
Simple arithmetic most fourth graders would understand unless they were raised or educated by liberals like Huffington.WILL: We started arguing about the tax cut. The president says we can't afford the tax cuts for the wealthy because that would add $700 billion to the deficit over ten years. Which is to say over ten years it would add less to the deficit than Obama added with the stimulus in one year.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
Coming soon: A brand-new NewsBusters design. But we need your help!
Among those charged was Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell, whose compensation package led the way with annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million. Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others. He was booked into Los Angeles County Jail and was being held on $3.2-million bail.
The charges follow months of nationwide outrage and renewed debate over public employee compensation since The Times reported in July that the city's leaders were among the nation's highest paid municipal officials.
Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret. Prosecutors alleged that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.
"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.
Rizzo's attorney, James W. Spertus, said the charges came as no surprise and were politically motivated by Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.
"The allegations are mistaken," Spertus said. "They are factually untrue in many readily provable ways."
Cooley denied that his election effort played any part in the decision to file charges.
At a news conference, Cooley accused City Council members of failing to oversee Rizzo's actions, saying that they instead had collected more than $1.2 million in total pay since 2006 for presiding over city agency meetings that never occurred or lasted just a few minutes.
Many city residents greeted news of the charges with joy.
"Finally the crooks are going to suffer what the city suffered for many years," said Carmen Bella, a longtime Bell activist.
About two dozen Bell residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. One man used a bullhorn to broadcast the Queen rock song, "Another One Bites the Dust," while others laughed, cheered and applauded.
But at least one resident wondered what would happen to his embattled city.
"Who's going to call the shots?" asked Hassan Mourad, 32. "That's the most important thing right now."
-- Richard Winton and Jack Leonard
Photo: Booking shots of Robert Rizzo, former city manager, and Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez. Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department.
Photos: Arrests in Bell
robert shumake
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Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor
USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.
robert shumake
Scripting <b>News</b>: What kind of <b>news</b> system...?
And it's not okay that they're making a bid for exclusivity on the role of News System of the Future, and they can't even keep their servers running properly. Either you deliver the benefit of being the sole provider, or sorry (to ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 9/22 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans. Another day means more Kansas City Chiefs news. Let's be sure to play nice in the comment sections today. We're all Chiefs fans even if we might have different (though no less passionate) visions of what this ...
Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor
USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.
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