AIG – Hank Kalet

From Truthdig:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has sent Congress an explanation of his plan to deal with the AIG bonus fiasco. Essentially, Treasury will dock the $165 million in bonuses from AIG’s next bailout payment. Here’s a question: If AIG can do without that $165 million, why were we giving it to the company in the first place?

This question, in the end, is the operative one — and one that could damage the Obama administration’s credibility with the American people. The AIG debacle has ignited a firestorm that could engulf Obama and his economic advisers.

The reality is that this mess is wonderfully (sarcasm alert) bipartisan — a bailout negotiated by the Bush administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and exemptions for AIG and others pushed by the Obama financial team has created federally subsidized bonuses for bad behavior. What should happen now is that the Obama administration should step up and take responsibility for its role in the AIG fiasco, work to recoup the bonuses and put tough rules in place to prevent it from happening again.

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Tag: AIG

Good question: Why didn’t Geithner think of it?