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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 19, 09 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Chris Dodd has been a major AIG critic of late, but the Senate Banking chairman also has the uncomfortable distinction of being the politician to benefit the most from the insurer’s generosity, the Wall Street Journal reports. AIG employees have donated $280,000 to Dodd over the years, including $104,000 during his presidential run. And he’s by no means alone. Barack Obama pulled in another $104,000 during his own '08 campaign.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 19, 09 9:20 AM CDT
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Taking potshots from Eliot Spitzer yesterday felt just like old times to the Wall Street Journal editorial board. "The Journal editorial page has been wrong on just about every issue out there," Spitzer told interviewer Brian Lehrer after being reminded of the paper's criticism of his efforts to tackle AIG during his days as a crusading attorney general—to which the Journal responds, "It is good to see Mr. Spitzer back in form."
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The Hill
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Mar 19, 09 3:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The House will vote today on a hastily crafted bill to claw back bonuses from executives at AIG and other bailed-out firms, reports the Hill . The bill, drawn up by Democratic tax experts, slaps a 90% tax on bonuses over $250,000 at firms that received $5 billion or more in federal aid. The House Judiciary Committee is racing to complete another bill allowing the Justice Department to target the bonuses as “excessive payments.”
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CNN
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Mar 19, 09 2:32 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The bonus loophole mystery has been solved. Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd added language to the stimulus bill that allowed the AIG bonuses to stand—at the request of the White House, he told CNN. The Connecticut Democrat said he did so reluctantly at the insistence of unnamed Obama administration officials, who worried about lawsuits if they tried to dodge employee contracts.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 18, 09 4:17 PM CDT
(Newser) -
As criticism of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner mounts, he is scheduled to take his place on the hot seat next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Geithner will appear before Barney Frank's House panel—the same one grilling AIG chief Edward Lilly today—Tuesday and Thursday. Two Republican congressmen, Connie Mack and Darrell Issa, want Geithner to resign, calling the bonus scandal the last straw.
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USA Today
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Mar 18, 09 1:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The AIG bonus flap is the last straw for Rep. Connie Mack, who today called for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign or be fired, USA Today reports. “The scandal is but the latest fiasco under his watch,” said the Florida Republican, the first among GOP congressmen to demand Geithner’s departure ousting. President Obama says he still has “complete confidence” in his appointee.
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National Review
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Mar 18, 09 1:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
All the hubbub around AIG and its bonuses is “a complete farce,” Larry Kudlow writes in the National Review . No one should be surprised that those in charge have “completely bungled” the situation. “The government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything,” Kudlow writes. And the Obama administration was “undoubtedly informed” about the bonuses months ago.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 18, 09 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) -
AIG CEO Edward Liddy faced the music today, telling a House subcommittee he has asked employees who received generous bonuses to give at least half of the money up, and some have already agreed to do so. Liddy jousted with Barney Frank, who threatened to subpoena the company after Liddy refused to commit to releasing names of recipients, citing concerns for their safety, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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CNNMoney
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Mar 18, 09 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Lawmakers read Edward Liddy the riot act today over AIG’s recent bonuses, CNNMoney reports, and the company’s CEO was expected to say he, too, found them “distasteful,” but felt he had to disperse them. “We have to continue managing our business as a business, taking account of the cold realities of competition,” he said, according to prepared remarks released ahead of his appearance on Capitol Hill, adding that certain “legal obligations” came into play.
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Salon
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Mar 18, 09 9:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The White House is trying to pass the AIG bonus blame to Sen. Chris Dodd, pointing to his hand in an executive-compensation clause inserted into the stimulus bill—and journalists are letting it happen, writes Glenn Greenwald in Salon. Actually, the bonuses were only possible because the Obama administration insisted that compensation limits not be retroactive, and dragged an unhappy Dodd along.
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New York Times
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Mar 18, 09 8:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
AIG's $165 million in bonuses went 418 different ways, according to one angry attorney general. Other figures released by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who subpoenaed the firm on Monday: 73 employees received bonuses of $1 million or more 11 of those people no longer work for AIG 7 employees received bonuses of more than $4 million The top recipient received a $6.4 million bonus
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 18, 09 7:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The government cash flowing steadily into AIG is going in no small part to pay off hedge funds that bet against the housing market, the Wall Street Journal reports. The hedge funds placed credit default swap bets with other banks—Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are specifically named in documents reviewed by the Journal —but AIG then insured the banks. Now it’s on the hook for billions.
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Washington Post
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Mar 18, 09 6:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
AIG's $165 million bonus payout has produced "a palpable wave of anger," admits Edward Liddy, the insurance giant's government-appointed CEO. But in an op-ed for the Washington Post , Liddy says that paying employees now will prevent "undue risk" and help AIG wind down the most dangerous positions on its book. He adds that "had I been chief executive at the time, I would never have approved the retention contracts."
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Bloomberg
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Mar 18, 09 4:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner promised last night that taxpayers wouldn't be paying a penny toward AIG's massive executive bonuses, Bloomberg reports. He explained in a letter to lawmakers that the government would require the insurer to pay back the $165 million from company operations and that an equal amount would be deducted from the next round of bailout payments. Geithner also vowed to speed up AIG's restructuring.
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The Hill
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Mar 17, 09 9:33 PM CDT
(Newser) -
AIG chief Edward Liddy has the not-so-distinct pleasure of testifying before Congress tomorrow just as rage at his company is reaching a full-throated roar. The House and Senate seem to be in a race to see who can recover the $165 million in bonuses faster, the Hill reports. If AIG employees don't give them up, Sen. Schumer suggested a tax on them of 91%, Rep. John Dingell pushed for 95%, and, later, Rep. Steve Israel and other House Democrats called for 100%.
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Los Angeles Times
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Mar 17, 09 7:04 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The AIG fury grows. The White House today found itself defending Treasury chief Tim Geithner's handling of the bonus mess as congressional anger rose. Under siege by reporters about why the Obama administration didn't act sooner, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president retains full confidence in Geithner, the Los Angeles Times reports. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer said at least nine senators were writing a letter to AIG chief Edward Liddy warning him to recover the money.
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Slate
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Mar 17, 09 1:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Eliot Spitzer is mad about AIG, and not because it’s giving out bonuses. No, the real scandal, he writes for Slate, is the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars going to pay back AIG’s counterparties. The decision to bail out AIG was made by Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke—and Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Which happens to be an AIG counterparty.
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Associated Press
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Mar 17, 09 1:16 PM CDT
(AP) -
AIG paid bonuses of $1 million or more to each of 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work for the company, said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He subpoenaed information from AIG yesterday saying he wanted to determine whether the payments constitute fraud under state law. In a letter to Barney Frank of the House Committee on Financial Services, Cuomo asked the panel to take up the issue at a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.
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Associated Press
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Mar 17, 09 11:55 AM CDT
(AP) -
Outraged lawmakers threatened today to impose new taxes to recoup at least some of the $165 million in bonuses that insurance giant AIG awarded executives and traders after getting billions in federal bailout money. "What is the highest excise tax we can impose that will stand up in court?" Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus asked. "Let's find out what it is."
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New York Times
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Mar 17, 09 9:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Everyone from President Obama down has been stung by the unfairness of AIG's planned $165 million in bonuses. But as Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times , the best thing to do is shut up and pay. "As unpalatable as it seems," he writes, "taxpayers need to keep some of these brainiacs in their seats."
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