Senator Chris Dodd was quoted by several news sources including Jim Engle of Fox News Channel today as saying he did not write the specific language in the “stimulus” bill that protected the AIG bonuses.
He said the language he wrote was changed by somebody somewhere, perhaps in the conference committee.
But in a web posting in CNN’s political ticker this afternoon, CNN said Dodd told them he did write the AIG bonus language.
He didn’t before he did?
Related:
Obama, Congress, Treasury, Fed: Shameful Mismanagement of Your Money, Recovery
“Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN’s Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer Wednesday that he was responsible for adding the bonus loophole into the stimulus package that permitted AIG and other companies that received bailout funds to pay bonuses. Officials with the Obama administration pushed to make sure contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money stayed in place, a Treasury Department official told CNN.”
“The clause in effect created the loophole that officials at AIG say is requiring them to pay millions of dollars in bonuses after receiving funds. On Tuesday, Dodd denied to CNN that he had anything to do with the adding of that provision. ”
Dodd is a snake and should be punished….
But he also seems to indicate that White House staffers suggested the language that allowed the AIG bonuses….Or Treasury (Geithner) and perhaps Larry Summers….
Did Obama White House Fuel AIG Bonus Mess To Enact Tougher Rules With Public Support, “Outrage”?
(You bet they did)
The stimulus was a rush job caused by a president that proclaimed a national crisis. The Congress needs to start doing a much better job — and not allow the procss to be short circuited again….. This group is disgraceful…
The president railroaded a willing Democratic congress on the stimulus.
The push to get the bill through was so frantic members of Congress didn’t have a chance to read all 1,071 pages of the document before they could vote.
Don’t forget what a Texas Republican said about the stimulus:
Why The Rush, Really?
“The longer a piece of garbage lays out in the sun the worse it stinks,” said Republican Representative John Culberson (R-TX), refeering to the Obama stimulus. “That’s why the bill was hidden and kept off the Internet.”
“This is a crime of deceit put upon the American people,” he said.
“This bill was intentionally hidden from lawmakers and the public.”
“This is one of the largest outrages ever committed,” said.
“Nobody read this bill before it was passed,” he said.
The ticker entry at CNN is marked 6:03 PM March 18:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
Shame on Dodd but more importantly shame on President Obama and all the Democrats in congress for running the stimulus through the legislative process with no committee hearings and too little thought. Every single time we’ve seen such rushed legislation we wind up with very bad law.
For Obama and Democrats to act “outraged” not at the AIG bonuses is pure theater and is no accident: Obama is using the AIG Bonus dust up as an excuse to overhaul rules for all companies accepting “bailout mone” and that smakes of a communist or socialist takeover of our capitalism entirely….
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/18/
chris-dodd-confesses-yes-i-slipped-in-th
e-aig-bonus-protection/
Related:
Dodd Allowed AIG To Thrive in His State, Approved Bonuses: Now Throws Them Under The Bus
Obama: Look the other way but spend more faster
Stimulus: Way Fewer Jobs Than You Thought
Thowing Money Around Isn’t Always the Cure
From February 14:
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank says he sees a “happy ending” to the nation’s economic woes within several years, has “a lot of confidence” in the Obama administration economic team, and argues that most of the money being spent to revive US banks “is going to be repaid.”
Government policy will change as a result of the nation going through tough economic times, Frank said. There will be “a renewed appreciation for the importance of the government setting rules,” he said. “You will get a new, systemic-risk regulatory regime.”
Despite the market’s reaction, “I have a lot of confidence in Geithner and [Lawrence] Summers,” who heads Obama’s National Economic Council, Frank said.
Read it all:
Barney Frank: Happy ending possible despite economic mess
Government doesn’t get more distasteful…
On February 13:
Today I voted against the largest spending bill in the history of the United States Congress. This bill violated House rules, was crafted in secret by unelected Democrat staff, and gave the American people only 15 hours to read nearly 1,500 pages. All so Speaker Pelosi could make her trip to Italy.
This bill is also full of pet projects and wasteful spending. How does $300 million for golf carts help stimulate the economy? Economists from around the country have said this bill will do nothing to stimulate the economy and it’s easy to see why.
In just 18 legislative days, this Congress has spent over $1.1 trillion dollars and vastly expanded the federal government. For the rest of the 111th Congress, I will continue fighting to protect the American economy and your hard earned tax dollars from the free-spending Democrat majority.
–John Abney Culberson (R-TX)
Peace and Freedom Global Future 