Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Blumenthal's Arrogant Ambition

From The Hill online:
"That was Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (I-Conn.) potential 2012 Democratic opponent getting lit into by Fox News’s Glenn Beck on Monday.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal remained calm and collected as Beck hammered him over and over again about how much legal authority he has to intervene in the controversial AIG bonuses.
It probably wasn’t a great moment for the attorney general, but he’s got a golden opportunity right now to win some votes for 2012 if he handles the situation right.
And while Beck might have a point about legal authority, he acknowledges the vast majority of people will remain on Blumenthal’s side on this one."

And, that's the problem, isn't it? The American public is clueless on the distinction of what is the actual law in this country and what is the will of an overaggressive state attorney general. In the case of Mr. Blumenthal, his personal political ambitions are running roughshod over the Constitution.

Blumenthal justifies the threats and harassment of the AIG executives as a public display of angry taxpayers. In the case of the AIG executives, however, the most blatant of the public displays involved a busload of professional protesters parking outside of a private home and then the disgruntled-for-hire carried signs and shouted on cue. Where were the busloads of taxpayers urged to picket in front of Senator Dodd's Connecticut home? Dodd was the largest recipient of campaign donations originating from AIG and now comes the story that the top earners were encouraged to contribute to Dodd as he would be the chair of the Senate Budget Committee. Plus, there is the pesky little nugget that Dodd insisted the bonuses were kept in place in the spending bill that no one bothered to read before voting to pass.

Talk show host Beck asked Blumenthal a simple question - where is the law that allows the confiscation of the contractually legal executive bonuses after they were awarded? Blumenthal was forced to admit there is no law to pursue here, simply what "ought" to be. The same is true with Blumenthal's colleague in New York, Andrew Cuomo. Both, in the end, only grandstanding for political fodder in upcoming campaigns.

The American taxpayer loses again.

2 comments:

srp said...

He also said that he had no authority to investigate federal officials... meaning Senator Dodd. That is absolutely false...

I am amazed at how naive and gullible the American people are to recognize that these attorney types that make up the majority of our government CANNOT seem to answer a simple question.... yes or no. I seem to remember testifying at a trial many years ago now, and having an ATTORNEY caution me ahead of time to ALWAYS answer with a simple YES OR NO... don't embellish or give additional information with the answer... just YES OR NO. Seems they should take their own instructions or better yet, actually do the right thing.

srp said...

I ran across this quote today and thought you would find it amazingly appropriate for the present day political scene.

"Eloquence, at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection, but addresses itself entirely to the desires and affections, captivating the willing hearers, and subduing their understanding." ~ David Hume (1711 - 1776)