Smelling Blood

Seems to me they’re going after Chris Dodd. I can’t watch any more.

Going after Dodd? What do you mean? Dodd is the one who got money from AIG (and not only he, but Obama too and who knows how many more?). Dodd is the one who put in the offensive language! History is unforgiving! Think, what would you write here, had it been a republican senator! They are all guilty, the whole Congress. Conspiring crowd, who wants to stay in power. How did they pass the Patriot Act? Overnight, no reading, no thinking!

Danny G, since you clarified that aspect, let me add to it. “Treasury insisted,” it seems it was someone whose name we do no know and who was not identified by Dodd. Why is that? If they were so unknown, then, why did he not check with their boss or even with some colleagues before he changed it? What is done cannot be undone, and responsibility is his.
Regarding the contributions of AIG and other significant financial players to both parties’ coffers there go the souls and good intentions.

The media is swimming after the current Administration exactly as it should have hunted down the previous one. Shame on those Defeatocrats who say Team O hasn’t brought change to Washington…

Caught in the web, Senator Dodd is manfully trying to protect his source, who finally owned up to it — CNN Politics, March 19, 2009: Geithner: Treasury pushed for bonus loophole.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told CNN Thursday his department asked Sen. Chris Dodd to include a loophole in the stimulus bill that allowed bailed-out insurance giant American International Group to keep its bonuses.

In an interview with CNN’s Ali Velshi, Geithner said the Treasury Department was particularly concerned the government would face lawsuits if bonus contracts were breached.

Watch: Geithner on AIG bonuses

Dodd admitted to CNN Wednesday he’d added the controversial provision after a Treasury official pushed for it. Earlier in the week, Dodd had said he had not played any role in the addition of the loophole.

Geithner told Velshi Thursday he takes full responsibility for the situation.

Addressing the next biggest oliphaunt in the White House, we must ask:

• Did Timothy Geithner light the politically sticky AIG bonus bomb all by himself, or did Larry Summers give him the match?
• Was this strategy discussed beforehand with President Obama? If so, when? If not, why not?

Where (and where) do the big AIG bucks stop, exactly?

Caught in the web, Senator Dodd is manfully trying to protect his source, who finally owned up to it
yet, oddly enough, dodd has a history of scuttling attempts to curb executive pay:

Despite industry opposition, the House approved Frank’s bill on a 269-to-134 vote on April 20, 2007. That same day, Obama introduced a version of the legislation in the Senate. The bill, which initially attracted only five cosponsors, was referred to the Senate banking committee. Weeks later, Obama sent a letter to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the chair of that committee, asking him to hold a hearing on the proposed law. Obama wrote:
I believe public discussion and debate over executive compensation packages would force corporate boards to think twice before signing over millions of dollars to CEOs. Certainly, many CEOs are ably steering their firms and deserve their paychecks. But the rate at which executive pay has grown, as compared to stagnating wages among American workers, is rightfully frustrating shareholders and employees alike, especially given the lackluster performance of many of the companies paying these high salaries.
Dodd, then running against Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries, apparently was not convinced. He held no hearings on the bill, and the measure met a quiet death in his committee.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/geithner-aide-fought-ceo-pay-reform

…omen said in reply to cenoxo…
Caught in the web, Senator Dodd is manfully trying to protect his source, who finally owned up to it
Forgive me for being too subtle. My comment lead-in was not an alibi for Senator Dodd, but merely a segue to Secretary Geithner.
Dodd, not as reflexive as Bush, barely managed to duck one good old shoe, but Geithner — quite manfully, I might add — stood up and caught the second heel full in the face (now there’s a faint AIG logo imprinted in his forehead).
In politics, virtue is frequently its own reward.

I believe this is the Washington Post article you’re referring to: How the Fed Failed to Tell Obama About The Bonuses, March 19, 2009. Quoting further, it states:

As pressure mounted on AIG employees to return the bonuses, new details emerged yesterday about what the Fed, the Treasury Department and the White House knew regarding the payments and when. AIG executives said the Fed was informed three months ago by the company that it would pay $165 million by March 15 to employees working at its most troubled division.
The Treasury and White House said they learned of the payments from Fed officials only days before they were due.

However, I don’t understand what you’re driving at.
Are you saying that the White House — meaning President Obama — knew about the AIG bonuses months ago but now denies it (after acting outraged and using it for political advantage)? Or that the Fed failed to pass along the info and is now playing CYA?
Explain more, please.