BS: The Bailout

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 07:50 PM

Have you gorren this letter yet? Treasury Dept.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Bobert
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 07:50 PM

Hey... In other words, bail ***this*** out, dude...

But ya'll be sure to watch Georgie Porge on the TV at 9:00 for his version of the "The Sky is Falling"... I think he's going do it in G so eceryone can sing right along...

Opps... Gotta go put some new strings on the Martin so I'll sound good...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 08:37 PM

EO pay: What those involved in the financial meltdown made

Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks and Chris Casacchia
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/09/22/daily24.html?f=et73&ana=e_du

As Congress considers a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street and the
banking sector,
there are calls to restrict the pay and severance packages for CEOs at
investment
houses, banks and mortgage lenders poised to be benefit from the plan
put forward by
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben
Bernanke.

Executives from some of the major investment and commercial banks
involved in the
financial upheaval and bailout earned hefty paychecks last year,
according to proxy
statements outlining their salaries, bonuses and stock options:

    * Lehman Brothers Chairman and CEO Richard Fuld Jr. made $34
million in 2007.
Lehman (OTC:LEHMQ) filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection earlier
this
month.
    * Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), which Sunday gained Federal Reserve
Bank approval to
become a bank holding company, paid its Chairman and CEO Lloyd
Blankfein $70
million last year. Co-Chief Operating Officers Gary Cohn and Jon
Winkereid were
paid $72.5 million and $71 million, respectively.
    * American International Group's chief executive Martin Sullivan
got a $14
million compensation package in 2007. He was ousted in June. The
insurance giant
(NYSE:AIG) is on the receiving end of an $85 billion federal bailout.
Edward
Liddy took over as AIG's chief executive earlier this month.

    * Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack earned $1.6 million. Chief
Financial Officer
Colin Kelleher got a $21 million paycheck in 2007. Morgan Stanley
(NYSE:MS) also
received approval to become a banking holding company, a shift that
allows
Morgan and Goldman to bring in bank deposit assets which offer more
solid
financial footing.
    * Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was paid $17 million in salary,
bonuses and stock
options in 2007. Merrill (NYSE:MER) is being acquired by Bank of America
(NYSE:BAC). BofA CEO Kenneth Davis earned $25 million in 2007.
    * JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO James Dimon earned $28
million in 2007.
Chase (NYSE:JPM) acquired troubled investment house Bear Stearns
earlier this
year with the federal government promising to take on as much as $30
billion in
Bear assets to help get the deal done.
    * Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd received $11.6 million in 2007. His
counterpart at
Freddie Mac, Richard Syron, brought in $18 million. The federal
government
announced earlier this month it was taking over the mortgage backers
with
Herbert Allison to serve as Fannie CEO and David Moffett the new CEO
at Freddie.
    * Wachovia Corp. Chairman and CEO G. Kennedy Thompson received $21
million in
2007. He was succeeded by Robert Steel as CEO in July. Steel is slated
to get a
$1 million salary with an opportunity for a $12 million bonus,
according to CEO
Watch. Wachovia (NYSE:WB) is one of the banks that could be sold in
the midst of
the financial crisis.
    * Seattle-based Washington Mutual (NYSE:WAMU) will pay its new CEO
Alan Fishman
a salary and incentive package worth more than $20 million through
2009 for
taking the helm of the battered bank, according to the Puget Sound
Business
Journal.
    * CEOs of large U.S. corporations averaged $10.8 million in total
compensation
in 2006, more than 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker,
according to the latest survey by United for a Fair Economy. In 2007, the CEO of a
Standard & Poor's 500 company received, on average, $14.2 million in total
compensation, according to The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research
firm. The median compensation package received was $8.8 million.


The Puget Sound Business Journal, a sister publication, contributed to
this story.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 09:38 PM

12 Grand would be life changing for a lot of people...And it would be mind boggling to have that much cash injected into the economy in a bunch of ways; debts paid off, businesses started, goods and services purchased, etc. All at the same time... Sure would be fun to watch it happen...BR

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Barry Finn
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:49 AM

Imagine how much they would've gotten paid had they done a good job?

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:56 AM

"    New York Times liberal columnist Bob Herbert put it nicely.
"Does anyone think it's just a little weird to be stampeded into a
$700 billion solution by the very same people who brought us the
worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?" The American
people should revolt against business as usual and rule by the Lords
of Finance by inundating Congress with the demand to stop the
insanity now. "

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:21 PM

Art,
the police support the guys who sign their checks.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:21 PM

Re growth-
Isn't there a medical term for unregulated growth? Begins with a big C

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:22 PM

The Bail out is now officially a done deal

W has to sign it.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:27 PM

http://usera.imagecave.com/donuel/bushcancer.jpg

From: dick greenhaus - PM
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:21 PM

Re growth-
Isn't there a medical term for unregulated growth? Begins with a big C

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:33 PM

With the inflation that now must result... if your income was 100K it will be as though you have the spending power of 50K

the numbers won't change but what you can buy with the new dollar, will be nearly half.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: maire-aine
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:44 PM

I listened to George Bush's address to the nation last night, and I don't believe a word out of that man's mouth. This is just another case of fear-mongering by the Republican neo-cons and their greedy Wall Street cohorts. Bush listed off a whole litany of terrible things that supposedly will happen if the taxpayers don't immediately bail out the fat cats in the corner offices. This sounds suspiciously like the run up to the ill-fated Iraq War, when Bush insisted that Congress immediately pass the "resolution for the use of force". The result was a war that began the downward spiral of the U. S. economy. And now he wants the taxpayers to give him a blank check for $700 billion? I only hope that the Congress can grow a spine, and put the necessary controls in place. This is not a time to reward Wall Street for their bad behaviour.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Alice
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 01:53 PM

The Sky is falling! The Sky is falling! Give us a blank check!

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:07 PM

hey didnt things turn out ok the last time we gave GWB the benefit of the doubt?

tom tomorrow

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:14 PM

A European perspectiver from der Spiegel:

As the world grapples with the fallout from Wall Street's shenanigans, there's no shortage of consternation, and even anger. But so far the international image of the U.S. economic model has shown amazing resilience. Lehman Brothers may be in the morgue and AIG on government-funded life support, but most businesspeople think the U.S. is more about Silicon Valley and Hollywood than the erstwhile dynamos of Wall Street. Even in China -- where broadcaster CCTV-2 has been running two hours of special programming every night about the financial crisis -- the U.S. is still a land to be emulated. "I see two Americas: One is wealth-creating, innovative, with people like Bill Gates, and the other is made up of speculators," says Wang Jianmao, an economics professor at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. "China should learn more from wealth-creating America."

The prospect of a diminished U.S., though, is sobering. What will take its place as a beacon of free enterprise? Not Europe, which still speaks with too many voices to play a leadership role. Not China or Russia. Their economies are still developing, the motives of their leaders suspect. So as businesspeople survey the rubble on Wall Street and look for an alternative, they don't see any nation that's as accommodating to innovators and entrepreneurs -- or as rich in expertise. For instance, Ulf Mark Schneider, CEO of German health-care provider Fresenius, remains a fan of the likes of Morgan Stanley, which handled a recent acquisition in India. "When it comes to democracy and free market economics, the U.S. is still the original article," says Schneider. "Nobody wants to see it fail."

Of course, it hasn't taken long for critics to descend on the carcass of U.S. finance. Fredmund Malik, an influential Swiss management consultant who has long criticized U.S. business practices, dispatched an e-mail to clients on Sept. 19 reminding them that he predicted the collapse of U.S. investment banking back in 2004. Others are using the crisis to flog an agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the occasion to renew her calls -- in the past largely ignored by other Group of Seven members -- for more regulation of international banking. "The current financial crisis will nudge the whole liberalization process backwards," says Liu Jing, a finance professor at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.

Where will the Best and Brightest Go?

Most often, the reaction abroad has been jaw-dropping disbelief. Hope Chen, a partner at venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson China in Shanghai, spent the weekend of Sept. 13-14 glued to coverage of the crisis. "I was shocked and very concerned to be sure," says Chen. Still, she has no plans to sell the home she owns near San Francisco nor stop sending her two kids to the U.S. every summer.

A long-term issue for the U.S. may be the attitudes of future masters of the universe. America's extraordinary ability to attract the smartest people in the world could be eroded if the globe's overachievers decide that the center of the universe is no longer Manhattan. Sally Gong, a 25-year-old working in the Beijing office of a small American investment bank, has postponed plans to attend grad school in the U.S. "There are more opportunities in China," she says.

In some areas, Wall Street's comeuppance is a plus: It vindicates Europe's less profitable -- but less risky -- banking practices. Either because they were more prudent or because regulators tied their hands, the likes of Germany's Deutsche Bank and Spain's Banco Santander look strong. But Deutsche CEO Josef Ackermann isn't writing off his American rivals. "I wouldn't bet against U.S. banks," he says in an e-mail. "It's still unclear who the winners of this crisis will be."

It's important to remember that in much of the world, crises are met with parliamentary dithering at best, or at worst opaque decision-making by an unaccountable elite. So among foreign bankers and citizens alike there is admiration for the way Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tossed out decades of Republican free-market dogma and pledged hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue the banking system. "The speed with which America has moved over the past 8 to 10 days is truly phenomenal," says Uday Kotak, vice-chairman at Mumbai's Kotak Mahindra Bank. "I don't think any other country could have done that."

To foreign eyes, the crisis has brought a humbler, more cooperative U.S. After nearly eight years of a George W. Bush White House not known for multilateral decision-making, foreign leaders are pleasantly surprised by the degree to which U.S. officials have kept everyone in the loop. "I've had several conference calls with Hank Paulson over the last few days, and there have been daily -- and nightly -- calls between our respective deputies," says French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. .."

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:38 PM

that is why I see the latest speeches by Bush and Paulson - to act now and quickly comparisons with the depression as scare tactics.
Or rather this shock doctrine that Naomi Klein has written about.

the fact is only weeks ago Paulson was confident in the economy thinking it is fundamentally strong.. They have no clue what theyre doing.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Ed T
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 02:53 PM

When its government financial help for a citizen or small business, its called welfare or socialism.

When it is a big business bailout, its sold as a government business investment to help everyone.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 03:01 PM

Amos
not just Europe but now India has a banking system which shine like the paragon of virtue.

Petr
The Bush cure is to give a passed out alscoholic Wall Street bum,
A HUGE drink of booze.

they call it 'hair of the dog'?

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Riginslinger
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 05:50 PM

In any even, McCain will fix everything!

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: CarolC
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 06:05 PM

LOL


"Fix"

c: castrate

7 b: to influence the actions, outcome, or effect of by improper or illegal methods (the race had been fixed)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fix


With Gramm as his economic advisor, I expect one of the two meanings above to apply.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: MaineDog
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 06:17 PM

I am sorry, I apologize. I can see clearly that I, and others like me, are entirely responsible for the present economic woes. This is because we have selfishly refused to participate in much of the economy, so that we could avoid wasting money on non-essentials.
I admit, and confesse, to, the following sins, as well as others I can't think of right now....

1) I have never taken out a car loan. However, since I have owned about
10 of them during my lifetime, I have probably cheated the now defunct banks out of about $150,000 IN INTEREST PAYMENTS. am sorry, but now that I am old, and you are eating away at my 401k, I can't afford to pay it back.

2) I own 3 houses, and none of them is mortgaged. I realize that this situation will cheat the poor bankers out of about $1.0 MILLION IN UNPAID INTEREST, but once again, I must beg off due to current economick conditions, for which I realize I am largely responsible.

3) I regularly cheat the credit card companies out of HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS each month by paying my bills mostly on time, and so not paying late fees or interest.

I keep in investments (?) the monies I have failed to pay out, so, now, of course, they are machinating to take it away from me. But I guess that's what you get if you are stupid enough to follow the rules.

Think !

MD

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 06:44 PM

MD...never fear. Your sins will not go unpunished. Now that we realize you probably are pretty comfortable in your hoarded millions, we will be over for supper. ☺

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 06:49 PM

A radical thought...how about privatizing the private sector?

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 06:59 PM

Barack Obama held a press conference about our current financial crisis and the principles we need to uphold as Congress works to resolve it.

Meanwhile, John McCain has suspended his campaign and wants to postpone Friday's debate on national security.

Watch the video of Barack's remarks:

http://my.barackobama.com/latestremarks

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 07:41 PM

maindog,, the credit card companies have a name for people who pay of their debt before the end of the month..
deadbeats..

cause they cant make any money off them.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Riginslinger
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 07:42 PM

"...cause they cant make any money off them."


                  They don't "make" money anyway; they steal money!

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:43 PM

Hey Amos, ..Clinton is now supporting McCain...imagine that!
Stupid circus of con men and fools, crooks, and liars.....

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 10:57 PM

An analysis of the real problems behind the "sucker punch", by a Motley Fool analyst.


A

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 09:57 AM

In his first days in office, Hoover said, "Americans are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of the land." Oops. And just before he was swept to the dunce corner of history, Hoover said, "No one has yet starved." At the time, people in rural America were eating brined tumbleweed and road-kill rabbits; the unemployment rate was 25 percent.

But the larger lesson is how Wall Street brought down Main Street. Banks were largely unregulated then, free to gamble people's savings on stock market long-shots. When the market collapsed, the uninsured deposits went with it. By the end of 1932, one fourth of all banks were shuttered, and 9 million people lost their savings.

In this century, thanks to the deregulatory demons released by former McCain adviser Phil Gramm and embraced by just enough lobbyist-greased Democrats, Wall Street was greenlighted again to act like a casino. Banks in the heartland passed on their mortgages to Wall Street, where they were sliced and diced in hundreds of largely incomprehensible ways. And while few people understand how those investment giants made money, this much is clear: it was a killing. In 2006 alone, Wall Street firms paid out $62 billion in bonuses.

With all the urgency of that famous National Lampoon magazine cover that showed a cute pooch with a gun to its head, and the line "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog," President Bush says the biggest bailout in American history must be passed now or the world will crumble. He said a similar thing in the run-up to war.

Just once, it might be worthwhile to listen to a dirt farmer like Jon Tester, who wonders why the same breathless attention is not given to the concerns of average Americans. Ah, but he's only been in the Senate two years. Give him another term and he may start quoting Phil Gramm with approval.
NYT

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 10:10 AM

McCain's political dance spoils progress.


A

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 11:01 AM

GtS, "Clinton is now supporting McCain"? I don't find it. Any info?

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 02:04 PM

http://usera.imagecave.com/donuel/bail-in.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 02:15 PM

WAMU bank went under because of a run of 16 billion dollars on their bank by depositers

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 05:19 PM

Today's question is whether or not McCain can reach across the aisle and work with the Republicans.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 05:20 PM

LOL to the 3 power

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 05:21 PM

Chongo is the one who can most effectively reach across the aisle.

He has longer arms than either McCain OR Obama.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 11:07 PM

Yeah, but admit it, he'd never get past security.


A

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 03:09 PM

From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 11:01 AM

GtS, "Clinton is now supporting McCain"? I don't find it. Any info?

It was on the news. We all sat and watched it, with amazement.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 04:33 PM

"...and this offer is good only until midnight. Act now!"

Would you buy a used car from these guys?

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Riginslinger
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 06:32 PM

It's amazing how worked up people have become about this ACORN thing.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: MaineDog
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 07:16 PM

Yes, its true, I am a "deadbeat" according to some, because I don't like to pay interest.
Credit card companies do nasty things to us deadbeats. One of them tracked my history, and concluded, correctly, that I wouldn't be home during a certain period last year. They confirmed their conclusion by noticing several out-of-state gasoline purchases in a row, far from home (BTW that's a great waltz...) Then they sent me a notice saying that my payment dates were being "updated", and I was now delinquent, and owed them a late fee. So I stopped using that account, and got several new ones. Now I spread my travel business around, to make it harder for them to pull this stunt again.

Its a jungle out there.

Osama finds all this very immoral, and wants do destroy us for our evil financial habits. The man isn't stupid you know, only somewhat misguided.

MD

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Riginslinger
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 08:30 PM

I had a credit card that came due once a month, then they went on a 28 day cycle, like they were afraid of getting pregnant or something. Was Obama behind that?

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Bobert
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 08:54 PM

Yeah, ya' gotta watch the credit card companies like a hawk... They ***are*** out to get us... We use 'um but pay them off every month so no interest is involved and that makes 'um mad, mad, mad...

So they change our payment dates every two to 3 months trying to get somethin' outta us... So far we've beaten them but I reckon it's just a matter of time before our luck runs out and one sneaks a $25 late charge in 'cause they expected payment before the statement went out???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 08:58 PM

I believe what happened is that CLinton made a few complimentary remarks about McCain. This has been wildly exaggerated by overheated jukeboxes posing as human beings with brains.


A

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Bobert
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 08:25 AM

Well, looks as if "The Fix" is in this morning with all the big shots in the House huddled in front of the microphone saying such... And almost everything that the Dems wanted, it seems as if they have gotten" ownership, no golden parachutes, assistence for the forclosed... Looks as if the Repubs got: emphisis on private capital but I'm not sure how they expect to enforce a law that is going to require private money to be directed into "The Fix"... Guess the devil is in the details...

At any rate, yeah, I still support Obama this election but I'm not too happy with "The Fix"...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Riginslinger
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 09:49 AM

At one point, some of the Dems. wanted to direct money to "La Raza" to finance low cost housing. I hope they got that out. People calling their organization "The Race" might want to rethink their tactics.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 12:48 PM

An interesting essay on some of the root patterns behind the current infection.


A

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Riginslinger
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 01:05 PM

We need to put out a public works contract to fix all the multi-storied buildings on Wall Street so the windows can be opened from the inside. That way all the crooked buffoons could jumpt to their demise and the crisis would be over.

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Amos
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 02:30 PM

Bloomberg:

"ept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama each deserve credit for a breakthrough in talks on a $700 billion plan to revive the credit markets, their advisers said today.

Republican McCain worked with party members in the House to achieve plan changes such as government insurance of mortgage- backed securities and a phase-in of federal aid, Senator Lindsey Graham said on the ``Fox News Sunday'' television program.

``The fact is the House Republicans were not in the mix at all'' until McCain arrived at the talks, said Graham, a South Carolina Republican. McCain ``was decisive in regards to the House being involved.''

Senator John Kerry, an Obama adviser, disagreed. McCain said ``he was going to interrupt his campaign to come down and save the negotiations,'' according to the Massachusetts Democrat. ``What he did was interrupt the negotiations to come down and save his campaign.''

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said in a CNN interview today that McCain's trip was ``a political stunt'' that ``delayed and slowed down this process.''

Obama was supportive of negotiations in a ``mild'' and constructive'' way by calling in over eight or nine days of talks, said Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat.

Advancing the Talks

Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, said on CNN that McCain and Obama both helped advance talks with their presence in Washington.

The two candidates ``focused Americans' attention'' on the severity of the financial crisis and also ``gave focus to Congress,'' Gregg said.

After talks at the Capitol ended after midnight, lawmakers said they had made a breakthrough and expect to announce an agreement on legislation later today. The House may vote tomorrow.

The plan would let the Treasury begin purchasing distressed debt securities from financial companies affected by the record number of home foreclosures. After five years, if there was a net loss to taxpayers, the president would have to submit a plan to Congress to recoup the funds, according to a plan outline."

Subject: RE: BS: The Bailout
From: Ed T
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 03:11 PM

Banks are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most government folks don't want to reach to the good ones near the top because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just pay attention to the rotten apples (banks) on the ground that aren't as good, but easy to see....... Seeing this, the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, because government pays more attention to the rotten ones and rewards them.