Top Items:
New York Times:
A.I.G. Planning $100 Million in Bonuses After Huge Bailout — WASHINGTON — Despite being bailed out with more than $170 billion from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, the American International Group is preparing to pay about $100 million in bonuses to executives in the same business unit …
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Jennifer Parker / George's Bottom Line:
Summers: AIG Bonus Bombshell ‘Outrageous’ — President Barack Obama's top economics adviser Lawrence Summers said that insurance giant American International Group's plan to award senior executives hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses and retention pay is “outrageous.”
Discussion:
TIME.com
David Cho / Washington Post:
AIG Paying Millions in Bonuses Despite Receiving Federal Bailout — Despite receiving $170 billion in federal aid and recording a staggering loss for the last quarter, insurance giant American International Group is doling out tens of million of dollars in bonuses this week to senior employees.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Business Channel, Clusterstock, Balloon Juice, naked capitalism, Boing Boing and Congress Matters
New York Times:
Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.
James Forsyth / Spectator:
Petraeus Planning 2010 Visit To Iowa — “THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that General Petraeus is planning on delivering the commencement address at the University of Iowa in 2010.” — So reports Michael Goldfarb, late of the McCain campaign, on the magazine's blog.
Ronald D. Rotunda / Chicago Tribune:
Some strings attached — Is the stimulus law constitutional? — Last month, Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, popularly called “the stimulus plan.” It gives billions of dollars to the states, but the gift has strings attached. One of its unique provisions changes state constitutions!
Discussion:
Power Line
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Cheney's Excuse For Economic Failures Under His Watch: ‘Stuff Happens’ — During an interview with Dick Cheney this morning, CNN host John King asked the former vice president why “we should listen to you” for economic advice. To make his case, King noted the following statistical changes …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Post-Rush: Obama's message war — Beginning Sunday, the White House will harness every part of the Democratic Party's machinery to defend President Obama's budget and portray Republicans as reflexively political, according to party strategists. — A participant in the planning meetings described …
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New York Times:
Obama Reassures Countries on U.S. Debt — WASHINGTON — President Obama reassured China and other countries on Saturday that their investments in United States government debt were safe as he seeks to finance record deficit spending to pull the American economy out of its deep recession.
Babar Dogar / Associated Press:
Protests against Pakistani government turn violent — LAHORE, Pakistan - Pakistan's opposition leader defied house arrest on Sunday to join anti-government protests that quickly descended into violence and chaos, with running battles between stone-throwing protesters and police.
Meghan McCain / Blogs and Stories:
The Politics of Size — The Secrets Behind Italy's Co-Ed Sex and Murder Scandal by Barbie Nadeau — Blogs and Stories — From Laura Ingraham to Cindy McCain and Hillary Clinton, how did a woman's weight become the last frontier in socially accepted prejudice? And why is the media fueling it?
Tim Shipman / Telegraph:
Barack Obama's aides admit errors are making him less popular — Senior aides of US President Barack Obama privately admit that a series of presentational errors have contributed to falling popularity with voters and pundits alike. — His staff are being warned to get a firmer grip …
Orange County Register:
Mark Steyn: Welcome, kids, to the Brokest Generation — The young aren't to blame for this mess, but they'll be paying for it. — Recommend — Just between you, me, and the old, the late middle-aged and the early middle-aged: Isn't it terrific to be able to stick it to the young?