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Ken Lewis- president of Bank of America is essentially calling out President Obama
President Obama made it clear that the days of bank executives wild spending
and huge bonuses are over. However, president of Bank of America - Ken Lewis- flew to NY on a $50 private corporate jet and refuses to give details of the 3 1/2 Billion in bonuses given out.
President Obama has to show the american public that his word is honorable and that he will not tolerate such abuses of bailout funds. Our economy is hemorrhaging and we are taking on huge debt in an attempt to turn that around and build a better, more educated, modernized, energy-sufficient nation. We can't send our country into recovery - while some are choosing to increase the bleeding. The bleeding of our economy must be stopped.
Ken Lewis knew his actions were like spitting on the american people who are bailing out his company. He is calling out President Obama and standing there daring someone to try and stop him.
The President's reaction should be swift and harsh!
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As soon as you require tax payer funded bail-outs all bets are off and your bonus should be GONE, IMO. As should any extravagant spending, until the funds are repaid. Why should the "little guys" finance these bonuses? And why would they deserve a bonus, judging from the obvious mess they have made???
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The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
President Obama has to show the american public that his word is honorable and that he will not tolerate such abuses of bailout funds. Our economy is hemorrhaging and we are taking on huge debt in an attempt to turn that around and build a better, more educated, modernized, energy-sufficient nation. We can't send our country into recovery - while some are choosing to increase the bleeding. The bleeding of our economy must be stopped.
I'm sorry, but you kind of make a mockery of your points if you think the government can build a more educated nation. They've failed miserably so far, and I don't see any hope from Obama's positions on this.
Nationwide, student achievement is actually much lower than most people think. Each state's education officials establish their own state standards, commission/construct their own tests, and set their own 'passing' scores. This has resulted in manipulations that make it look like public schools are educating our children, when in reality the majority of students in many states are far below acceptable levels of proficiency. In some cases, there's as much as a 70 percentage point difference in proficiency levels between state achievement tests and the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) tests. Not one state listed in the chart below educates even half of their students to grade-level proficiency on the NAEP.
If you want to see your (or any other) state's reported proficiency level vs. the NAEP proficiency level (to see if your public schools are being honest about providing an adequate education), check here: NAEP Researchcenter - NAEP and State Equivalent Percent Table
For each grade level, the first column lists the percentage of students scoring as proficient (meets or exceeds state standards) on the state test; the second column lists the percentage of students scoring as proficient on the NAEP (National test).
Keep in mind that these comparisons were made after NCLB was enacted, when schools knew that they had to improve their academic performance - and we're still educating less than half of the nation's students to grade-level proficiency.
The New York attorney general's office has subpoenaed Bank of America Corp. seeking the names of Merrill Lynch executives who received $3.6 billion in year-end bonuses, after Chief Executive Ken Lewis failed to provide those details during a lengthy deposition Thursday evening.
Lewis, who traveled to New York on the company's corporate jet, said that he "answered the questions that were asked to the best of my knowledge."
Lewis' deposition was part of an ongoing investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into the timing of Merrill Lynch's bonuses and whether proper disclosure was made to shareholders about the size of the bonuses. They were granted just before Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill closed, and as that bank was seeking additional government aid on top of $25 billion it had already received
Bank CEO Ken Lewis keeps lips sealed - BusinessWeek (http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D96JMJGO0.htm - broken link)
I'm sorry, but you kind of make a mockery of your points if you think the government can build a more educated nation. They've failed miserably so far, and I don't see any hope from Obama's positions on this.
Nationwide, student achievement is actually much lower than most people think. Each state's education officials establish their own state standards, commission/construct their own tests, and set their own 'passing' scores. This has resulted in manipulations that make it look like public schools are educating our children, when in reality the majority of students in many states are far below acceptable levels of proficiency. In some cases, there's as much as a 70 percentage point difference in proficiency levels between state achievement tests and the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) tests. Not one state listed in the chart below educates even half of their students to grade-level proficiency on the NAEP.
If you want to see your (or any other) state's reported proficiency level vs. the NAEP proficiency level (to see if your public schools are being honest about providing an adequate education), check here: NAEP Researchcenter - NAEP and State Equivalent Percent Table
For each grade level, the first column lists the percentage of students scoring as proficient (meets or exceeds state standards) on the state test; the second column lists the percentage of students scoring as proficient on the NAEP (National test).
Keep in mind that these comparisons were made after NCLB was enacted, when schools knew that they had to improve their academic performance - and we're still educating less than half of the nation's students to grade-level proficiency.
I agree with your statement about the education system and lack of achievements. I have seen teachers giving answers to students in order to get high class averages. It's a huge problem.
I don't know how the president plans on addressing the basic needs for elemtnary-thru high school. He states that he will be addressing that and poorly trained teachers. For now we can hope.
However, if you read the details on President Obama's Budget regarding education- I believe there is hope for having a more educated society.
He is calling for 100 million for training ppl for new positions in energy fields. The budget calls for increased pell grants and assistance with college loans. There is talk about individuals providing community service earning extra funding. This can bring opportunity for high education to many who couldn't otherwise afford it.
Hmm... So Obama, who has no fiscal restraint, is asking Ken Lewis to explain himself? That's rich since there was no accountability built into the TARP program. As far as the $50 million dollar corporate jet is concerned... Well I don't see Obama flying on any commercial airline either. Sounds like pot meets kettle to me.
Well I don't see Obama flying on any commercial airline either. Sounds like pot meets kettle to me.
Because being President of a bank and President of a large country is totally the same thing, and is in no way a laughably absurd analogy.
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Sounds like pot meets kettle to me.
