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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009

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UPDATED

Obama to Leno: 'Stunned Is the Word' on AIG

By John Johnson| Posted Mar 19, 09 7:19 PM CDT|

(Newser) – President Obama played the role of talk-show guest tonight with Jay Leno, mixing in jokes about his bowling game (up to 129) and Final Four picks (all from swing states) with a lengthy discussion of fiscal policy, the New York Times reports. He professed himself "stunned" by the AIG bonuses, railed against Wall Street ethics, and said embattled Treasury chief Tim Geithner is doing an "outstanding job."

Obama said he's not unduly concerned about the heat from critics. Washington “is a bit like American idol except everybody’s Simon Cowell. Everybody’s got an opinion.” The public, he says, understands "that it took us a while to get into this mess, and it will take us a while to get out of it. I think they are going to give us some time.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

President Barack Obama appears on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' Thursday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama talks with Jay Leno. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama talks with Jay Leno Thursday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The immediate bonuses that went to AIG are a problem, but the larger problem is we’ve got to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough and people have a sense of responsibility.

- President Obama

The question is who in their right mind when the company is going bust decides we’re going to be paying a whole bunch of bonuses to people.

- President Obama

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

11.20.09

The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun

11.19.09

Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention

26 comments

VIEWING:

NutsInNY
Mar 19, 09 7:45 PM CDT

Be careful not to feed the ankle-biting wingnut Lilliputians, O-man... They're gonna jump on lines like that as being "Heck of a job, Brownie" material... (As uttered by an actual Loser-in-Chief.) Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 19, 09 8:00 PM CDT

Again with Bush? Do you just cut and paste your posts or what?

IN RESPONSE:

NutsInNY
Mar 19, 09 8:24 PM CDT

Hurts don't it, Rob-bot.

IN RESPONSE:

AnnieChrist
Mar 20, 09 1:25 AM CDT

"Again with Bush?" Well, yeah, since neocons have conveniently contracted a case of 8 year amnesia, and try to shift blame to Obama for the mess we are in, conveniently forgetting he inherited this pile of crap from bush-cheney. Ankle biting liliputians is the perfect allusion, the right has not offered a single solution to the problems they caused, and are reduced to yelping, barking and ankle biting, intellectual chiuahas that they are.

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 5:57 AM CDT

Well, nut, the only think about you and your opinion that "hurts" is that you vote in the same political climate that I do and you seem to be such a shallow cretin.

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 6:02 AM CDT

Oh, anni, you are just not right. Just because the solutions offered by the right have not been implemented doesn’t mean they haven’t offered any. It means the Democratic Congress has not included them. And before you go on telling me the crisis is a Republican thing, please recall that the Congress has been Democrat run for many years now. If you or anyone else things this crisis is exclusively Republican then you do not deserve to vote any more than nut’s does.

| 0 minutes ago

Derni
Mar 19, 09 7:46 PM CDT

why should we ask anyone to quit? Did Bush quit? Howabout all the semators that were in office when all this was goin on just quit? Why doesn't the senator quit? These guys voted yes on the 1st stimulus package and some went to bonuses. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

NutsInNY
Mar 19, 09 7:49 PM CDT

A couple of months in office does not a Bush-league loser make... Don't listen to the GOP-aganda.

| 0 minutes ago

RobN
Mar 20, 09 12:56 AM CDT

Time to stop acting like you're running a campaign and start acting like you're running a country. Try going back to Washington and fixing something. Fewer cracks about disabled people would be nice, too. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

AnnieChrist
Mar 20, 09 1:06 AM CDT

I was wondering when the first comment would appear critical of his appearance on a TV show. greta von cesspool at pox led with this tonite. I guess if Obama buys a ranch in texas and pretends to be a cowboy, spending 1/4 of his time in office on vacation as little george did, that's ok, but if he appears 15 minutes on a tv show, he's negligent in his duties. Grand old hypocrites

IN RESPONSE:

RobN
Mar 20, 09 1:16 AM CDT

Actually if you read the comment, you'll see that I wasn't critical of his appearance on the show at all. I was critical of his spending most of the week in California in front of hand selected crowds, as far away from Washington as he could get in the current political climate. A quarter of GB's time in office on vacation? You're actually trying to claim he took two years of vacation time? I'm not much of a Bush fan, but that's just a stupid made-up number that you got off a blog somewhere. Making shit up just tanks your credibility.

IN RESPONSE:

Mad
Mar 20, 09 3:05 AM CDT

AnnieChrist is, as per usual, is 100% correct. Bummer RobN. Yeah, the fact Bush took over two years off in vacation time is flatly amazing, but it is a fact. Bush took 77 vacations and spent at least 2.5 years in Crawford alone. Seems RobN is the one with tanked credibility, also as per usual. - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/11/politics/uwire/main3927378.shtml

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 6:06 AM CDT

Oh mad, there you go again. What does going on a TV show have to be with taking too much vacation? Not a lot. You are in good company here though. If you add up your mind with nuts and annie, you might start getting close to the special Olympics. Oh I guess I can say that now, right?

IN RESPONSE:

RobN
Mar 20, 09 9:56 AM CDT

I'm sorry, am I supposed to take seriously a link to a blog that references that the Supreme Court made GB president IN THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE? If I'm wrong, then quote a real news source. I'm sure that Newser would have covered it if it were true; find me the story and I'll be happy to apologize.

| 0 minutes ago

Mad
Mar 20, 09 3:12 AM CDT

The truth can hurt, and for republicans, it frequently stings too! Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 6:07 AM CDT

Good thing the truth slides off your back like a duck in an oil spill, mad. Read a book why don't'cha?

| 0 minutes ago

TerrifiedCitizen
Mar 20, 09 4:06 AM CDT

I think “bonuses” might sound like a hand-out to hourly workers or someone who’s never worked in sales or management, and that's part of the rationale driving all the disbelief and media hysteria. To bring it down to a more fundamental equation, let's suppose the going market price for your employment services is $20.00 per hour. The company makes you an offer of $15.00 per hour but says if you meet this list of targets or goals, we will give you the added $5.00 per hour that you would have made at years end in the form of a bonus... it simply ties your compensation to your effort. Now, the company decides the goals that the employee must achieve, and if they're intelligent, it’s tied to overall fiscal health in addition to other performance goals. The salary range may be subjective and established by a number of free-market factors; I'm not saying some of these individuals might not be overpaid; but I do know that these career people often constitute a different breed of employee who work many more hours, nights and weekends away from their families doing many things that most workers won't… just for the opportunity to operate in these pay ranges. I may be off a little, but I don't think the average hourly employee can even relate to a working environment like that, much less want to suffer the years of academic training and experience just to get the chance to sink or swim in positions of such weighty responsibility with sharks at your back at every turn. So, if you haven't been there, maybe you shouldn't throw rocks until you have an informed point of reference. It would also probably help to read up on AIG's changes & progress at: http://www.aig.com/home_385_131629.html Lastly, the money promised and paid to these employees really pales in comparison to the funds many of these politicians received in contributions for their wildly expensive campaigns, and have now doled back out with interest (using your money) to the same BBB companies (Big Beautiful Business). The hysteria and hype in Washington is designed to appease the majority of mostly uninformed voters and at the same time provides a media circus event to draw attention away from this legal but corrupting relationship between politics and business... which is what really needs to change. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

TRU2TM3
Mar 20, 09 1:24 PM CDT

TerrifiedCitizen, Your comments do not normally erk me... I normally find them rather pointed and useful. But you have me confused here. Are you saying that the bonuses paid to AIG are justified? Were you aware that these bonuses were signed under the condition that they be 100% of 2007 salary regardless of performance??? That means that there were no market performance related measures to determine the size of the bonuses. These employees were guaranteed millions while the economy tanked and they were well aware. Also, $33.6 million was paid as retention bonuses to employees who had already left the company. To me, that does not sound like the dedication you describe. To me, it sounds like these employees were getting paid for past performance with taxpayer money.

| 0 minutes ago

Rob
Mar 20, 09 6:16 AM CDT

Guess he didn’t read or understand what the Democratic Congress wrote and he signed into law. Must be Bush's fault. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

jaguarj
Mar 20, 09 8:27 AM CDT

No...he just did what Bush did for 8 fricking years..didn't read or understand shht.

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 9:51 AM CDT

So because Bush was a horrible President it's ok for Obama to be a horrible President? Are you kidding me?

| 0 minutes ago

BackAgain
Mar 20, 09 7:23 AM CDT

Presidents do not appear on Leno for a reason. It makes them look like trailer trash. I keep my money, my freedom and my guns and you can keep the change. All looks and sounds the same to me. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 9:57 AM CDT

I was actually a bit taken aback by Obama's Bush-like smirking while on Leno. He is not so different from Bush I am afraid.

| 0 minutes ago

Lula
Mar 20, 09 7:54 AM CDT

Rob and clroger, you b oth sound like a right-wing nut. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Rob
Mar 20, 09 9:55 AM CDT

Sorry, lula, I know that I do not agree with you and so it's natural for you to label me as right wing, but I assure you that I am neither a left nor right wing nut, but rather an extreme central wing nut, with an intense dislike for ignorance and partisanship polemics.

| 0 minutes ago

Lula
Mar 21, 09 8:38 AM CDT

Well, how sad for you Rob. You happen to be the one that is ignorant.. So go color in your coloring book, and have a great day. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

View all 26 comments »

Jay Leno • late night talk show • Tonight Show • President Obama • Timothy Geithner

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