Team Obama knew about the huge bonuses bailed out giant AIG was going to pay its executives for months.
The AP reported:
Cue the outrage. For months, the Obama administration and members of Congress have known that insurance giant AIG was getting ready to pay huge bonuses while living off government bailouts. It wasn’t until the money was flowing and news was trickling out to the public that official Washington rose up in anger and vowed to yank the money back.
Why the sudden furor, just weeks after Barack Obama’s team paid out $30 billion in additional aid to the company? So far, the administration has been unable to match its actions to Obama’s tough rhetoric on executive compensation. And Congress has been unable or unwilling to restrict bonuses for bailout recipients, despite some lawmakers’ repeated efforts to do so.
The situation has the White House and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the defensive. The administration was caught off guard Tuesday trying to explain why Geithner had waited until last Wednesday to call AIG chief executive Edward M. Liddy and demand that the bonus payments be restructured.
Neither Obama nor Geithner learned of the impending bonus payments until last week, senior administration officials told The Associated Press late Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity about internal discussions.
Publicly, the White House expressed confidence in Geithner — but still made it clear he was the one responsible for how the matter was handled.
Glenn Reynolds reported that Pelosi-Obama Stimulus Bill explicitly guaranteed contractual bonuses executed before February 11. It looks like Democratic Senator Dodd, who is already in hot water, was the one who slipped this provision into the bill.
And, there’s this…
Contributions To Obama Campaign Track Bailout Money. “In receiving $43.5 billion for their investment of just over $3.3 million, it looks like the banks that gambled on Wall Street certainly got their money’s worth out of their investment in Barack Obama.”
Why is this not surprising?
UPDATE: This is good… Barack Obama received his own $101,332 “bonus” from AIG.
