Obama 60 Minutes March 22 Video

Obama's put mole man in his place. Obama brilliantly and gracefully responded to Cheney's utterances last week.


AIG bonuses:

White House Press Briefing March 17

Wall Street Looking for Loopholes in Executive Pay Caps

The Washington Post says Obama's political capital is spent because he backtracked on AIG bonuses. Hardly. 
The reality is, nothing can be done contractually about the AIG bonuses.
Chuck Todd said they were actually already paid out. But since there was so much outrage by we, the taxpayer, (Chuck Todd also explained that it's technically not taxpayer money since AIG bailout funding has come from the Fed), Obama has pushed back and now congress, in faux outrage, is trying to come up with creative ways to get those bonuses back. 

But Wall Street is already trying to find a loophole to get around executive pay caps.

Some Wall Street firms are looking for ways to sidestep tough new federal caps on compensation.

In response to expected bonus restrictions, officials at Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions that got government aid are discussing increasing base salaries for some executives and other top-producing employees, people familiar with the situation said.

The crackdown, part of the economic-stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last month, limits bonus pay for the top five executives of any recipient of taxpayer capital through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, plus the 20 next-highest-compensated employees. Read more

There is a culture of greed in America that needs to be overcome. AIG is one tiny sliver of a larger problem.

Here is the White House press briefing that has led to all the post-bonus outrage:

Transcript

Chuck Todd Says AIG Bonuses May Stick

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Congress may be responsible for the AIG pay structure? Not sure if I buy this. Congress certainly didn't tell the financial industry to get greedy with compensation:

MSNBC: The employment contracts became so complex, with pay packages consisting of stock options and other forms of deferred compensation, largely because of Congress' attempts to control soaring executive salaries. In 1993, Congress limited the tax deduction companies could take for cash payments to $1 million. The result was a cottage industry of lawyers, consultants and advisors who structure even bigger pay packages with creative legal strategies that now make the AIG bonuses difficult to rescind.

“Before Congress got involved we used to give them a $2 million salary and a corporate jet,” said Lynn Stout, a UCLA professor who specializes in corporate governance and securities regulation. “And it was much cheaper and safer.” There's more.

AIG Names Counterparties

I think Ben Bernanke made his point - that regardless of how scummy AIG is, we have to prop them up first and then find a way to punish and regulate. Check out Bernanke on 60 Minutes here.
AIG finally names the financial institutions that it has paid, using taxpayer money, to settle its debts:

CNN: Troubled insurance giant AIG, already under fire for intending to pay out $165 million in bonuses and compensation, succumbed Sunday to congressional pressure, identifying banks that received chunks of the company's billions in federal bailout funds last year.

AIG says it "recognizes the importance of upholding a high degree of transparency" relating to bailout money.

AIG, a recipient of at least $170 billion in federal bailout money , got an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve.

The list released Sunday of "counterparties" that benefited from the bailout is topped by European banks Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank, which received $4.1 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively.

Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch round out the top four, receiving $2.5 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively.

In releasing the list, AIG said it "recognizes the importance of upholding a high degree of transparency with respect to the use of public funds," in a statement.

Lawmakers have been pushing for AIG to release a list of its counterparties since last fall, arguing taxpayers have a right to know how federal aid is being used.

Reuters has an entire list.
WaPo offers more details.

Larry Summers on Face the Nation

Thomas Friedman: