Well, I lied. I did it. But they made me do it

[HonestChieffan]

Sen. Dodd Admits Adding Bonus Provision to Stimulus Package

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said Wednesday Obama administration officials pressured him to add language to the stimulus package last month that made sure contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money stayed in place to avoid lawsuits.

By Trish Turner

Wednesday, March 18, 2009


Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said Wednesday the Treasury pressured him to add language to the stimulus package last month that made sure contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money stayed in place.

Dodd told cable news organizations that Obama administration officials feared the government would face numerous lawsuits if the language was not included.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., all but pointed the finger of blame directly at the "Obama economic team" Wednesday for allegedly stripping a provision from the stimulus package last month that would have slapped a heavy tax on bonuses like the ones doled out at AIG.

Though lawmakers are now trying to recoup some of the $165 million in bonuses through taxation, Wyden and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, had included a provision to tax executive bonuses at 35 percent in the stimulus -- it was later stripped.

Asked to whom he spoke with back in February when he was fighting to keep the item, Wyden said, "Secretary Geithner, Larry Summers, and I'll leave it at that."

Wyden said he and his co-sponsor Snowe battled administration officials, trying to convince them that the public would be outraged at excessive bonuses, but, Wyden said, "I was never able to convince them that this was something that ought to be included."

The Wyden-Snowe provision was mysteriously dropped in the early February closed-door negotiations over the stimulus bill -- intense meetings that involved Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Obama economic adviser Larry Summers, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and budget director Peter Orszag, as well as senior Democratic members of Congress.

Wyden said Summers and Geithner argued that there were "contractual obligations" as they worked to kill Wyden-Snowe.

When asked if the Obama administration has handled the AIG situation well, he pointed again at Summers and Geithner.

"I think the administration, at best, is sending mixed messages," he said. "You have the president being very forthright and very blunt...My sense is that the economic team has not followed up."

[Chiefnj2]

Why did you run away from the AIG thread?

[HonestChieffan]

I did?

[Direckshun]

This is demonstrably true. The White House expressed concern over Dodd's amendment to the stimulus package which would cap any bonuses given out after its passage. It was Geithner and Summers who wanted to moderate it to any bonuses that were to be determined after passage. Dodd fought the administration on record on that subject, but yeilded to their demands eventually.

This is one of the times that you can LEGITIMATELY criticize the Obama administration, but you whiff on it altogether.

You just pretty much suck at opposition, bra.

[WoodDraw]

I watched AIG's CEO give testimony today, and I've changed my view a bit.

The bonuses suck, but you're dealing with high paid, sought after workers winding down complex assets. They've been told that when they're done, their position won't exist. They'll be fired. How do you keep them from resigning now?

[Taco John]

I love watching socialists attempt to regulate. They insist on it, but when it comes right down to it, the suck horribly at it. The sad part is that they'll make up for it with even more restrictions, government controls, and loss of liberty.

[bkkcoh]

This is demonstrably true. The White House expressed concern over Dodd's amendment to the stimulus package which would cap any bonuses given out after its passage. It was Geithner and Summers who wanted to moderate it to any bonuses that were to be determined after passage. Dodd fought the administration on record on that subject, but yeilded to their demands eventually.

This is one of the times that you can LEGITIMATELY criticize the Obama administration, but you whiff on it altogether.

You just pretty much suck at opposition, bra.

Does this fall in the category of not knowing what is in the bill before it is passed? Is that the reason crap like this is done.

I love watching socialists attempt to regulate. They insist on it, but when it comes right down to it, the suck horribly at it. The sad part is that they'll make up for it with even more restrictions, government controls, and loss of liberty.

I understand how there is something that needs to be done, but when something is done in a knee-jerk reaction, regardless of who is doing it, it usually doesn't help the situation as it was intended.

I watched AIG's CEO give testimony today, and I've changed my view a bit.

The bonuses suck, but you're dealing with high paid, sought after workers winding down complex assets. They've been told that when they're done, their position won't exist. They'll be fired. How do you keep them from resigning now?

When the government gets into throwing out legally binding contracts, that is when the country is in trouble. Especially when it does it selectively. Bankruptcy is the only way to get around the contracts, and that is only in some situations.

[RINGLEADER]

Dodd is an idiot.

[bkkcoh]

Dodd is an idiot.

If what wasn't done for him on the land deals that he was a part of wasn't illegal, it was definitely unethical. I thought Pelosi and Reid were going to clean up congress.

[WoodDraw]

When the government gets into throwing out legally binding contracts, that is when the country is in trouble. Especially when it does it selectively. Bankruptcy is the only way to get around the contracts, and that is only in some situations.

Yeah, sure, I agree for the most part. I was only saying, given the scenario we find ourselves in, I sympathize a bit with AIG's CEO and the decisions he has to make.