Wow! No sooner than I publish the last entry. This news breaks:
Via Politico.com:
Harnessing public outrage over lavish bonuses for bailed-out executives at insurance giant AIG, President Obama said Monday that he will “pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”
Obama made his forceful remarks at a small-business event at the White House, following a weekend of heavy news coverage of the payments that fueled the populist backlash already building against bailouts for the wealthy.
“This isn’t just a matter of dollars and cents. It’s about our fundamental values,” Obama said.
“All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every single day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multi-million dollar bonuses,” Obama said. “And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules.”At one point, he ad-libbed after a cough, “Excuse me, I’m choked up with anger here.”
American International Group has received $173 billion in U.S. bailout funds, making it the largest single recipient. The company has said the bonuses, which came to light over the weekend, were required by contract and can’t be rescinded.
But administration and congressional officials are pursuing indirect ways to recover the roughly $165 million in bonuses.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday called the bonuses “unconscionable.”
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said on NBC’s “Today” show that the bonuses amount to “rewarding incompetence” but acknowledged there might be no way to stop the payments.
“Maybe it’s time to fire some people,” he said. “We can’t keep them from getting bonuses but we can keep them from having their jobs,” he said. “In high school, they wouldn’t have gotten retention [bonuses], they would have gotten detention. … These people may have a right to their bonuses. They don’t have a right to their jobs forever.”
Some Conservatives are not impressed, however, I am extremely happy! The President has gotten the message. Yeah, I know, he is still doing the bailout crap. But this is a first step, the White House knows that the American people are not happy. The point is, we need to keep up the pressure. This is not a time to quit, this is the time to go into double time pressure, at some point the people in Washington D.C. will get the message.
Good job Tea Party people! 😀