Top Items:
CNN:
Dodd: I was responsible for bonus loophole — (CNN) — Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN Wednesday that he was responsible for language added to the federal stimulus bill to make sure that already-existing contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money were honored.
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Massimo Calabresi / Time:
Treasury Learned of AIG Bonuses Earlier Than Claimed — Though Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congressional leaders Tuesday he only learned of the impending $160 million bonus payments to members of AIG's troubled financial products unit March 10, sources tell TIME that the New …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, JustOneMinute, Clusterstock, The Fix, Commentary, The Curious Capitalist, Hot Air and TPMDC
Edward M. Liddy / Washington Post:
Repairing AIG and Repaying the Public — The government rescue of American International Group (AIG) and other financial firms has produced a palpable wave of anger on the part of Americans and a rising public demand for accountability from corporate and government leaders.
Tucker Carlson / Blogs and Stories:
How Jon Stewart Went Bad — Inside Fritzl's Dungeon by Barbie Latza Nadeau — Blogs and Stories — There is a virtual ban on criticism of him in the press. Uncritical praise corrupts absolutely. — Jon Stewart's recent attack on CNBC's Jim Cramer was so brilliantly performed …
Discussion:
Will Wilkinson
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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the economy continues to contract. Job losses, declining equity and housing wealth, and tight credit conditions have weighed on consumer sentiment and spending.
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Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
Fed to Buy $1 Trillion in Securities to Aid Economy — WASHINGTON — Saying that the recession continues to deepen, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would pump an extra $1 trillion into the mortgage market and longer-term Treasury securities in order to revive the economy.
Roxana Tiron / The Hill:
Obama backs off plan to alter vets' healthcare — The White House on Wednesday backed off a controversial plan that would have dramatically altered the way the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles insurance claims, after veterans groups staged an all-out fight against such a proposal.
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, This ain't Hell …, Wonk Room, BLACKFIVE and Neptunus Lex
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Noemie Emery / www.dcexaminer.com:
Palinphobes and the audacity of type — Now that the Obama presidency is nearing the 60-day mark, it's time to thank those fastidious scribes on the left and the right who worked so hard to warn us against Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, and the dire things that would surely occur if she ever got close to executive power.
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The Politico:
Dodd facing fresh political firestorm — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) looks like he may be facing a fresh political firestorm. — Dodd just admitted on CNN that he inserted a loophole in the stimulus legislation …
Discussion:
Donklephant
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Split Emerging Between Conservative Media And GOP Leadership On AIG Mess — Here's an interesting subplot developing amid the AIG mess: The emerging split between leading conservative media figures and GOP leaders over how to respond. — GOP Congressional leaders have roundly condemned AIG …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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Matt Lira / Office of the Republican Whip:
House Democrats Vote to Let AIG Keep Bonuses — Moments ago on the House floor, Democrats did something truly remarkable - they voted to let AIG executives keep their taxpayer-financed bonuses. As you know, this week, $165 million was awarded to 73 AIG employees primarily …
Andy Katz / ESPN:
Presidential pick 'em at the White House — ESPN.com takes an exclusive look at President Obama's bracket — WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama has studied Lincoln and FDR to help guide him through the early stages of his presidency. — But he is very much a modern man …
Pete Winn / CNSNews:
Army Investigating How and Why Troops Were Sent Into Alabama Town After Murder Spree — (CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Army has launched an inquiry into how and why active duty troops from Fort Rucker, Ala., came to be placed on the streets of Samson, Ala., during last week's murder spree in that tiny South Alabama community.
Brad Jacobson / The Raw Story:
Feds were involved in ACORN raid in Nevada, officials say — US Attorney allegedly involved appointed after US Attorney firings — Federal agencies were involved in the decision to raid the office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in Nevada last October …
Discussion:
The BRAD BLOG
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Tom Gross Mideast Media Analysis:
Exclusive: This is CNN (& BBC-UNRWA connection revealed) — * CNN Jerusalem producer's shocking public outburst against Israel (see video below) — * Revealed: UNRWA spokesman who lied about Israel's shelling of a school previously worked at the BBC with Jeremy Bowen
Lymari Morales / Gallup:
Outraged Americans Want AIG Bonus Money Recovered — USA - Credit Crisis - Financial Services - Government and Politics - Americas - Northern America — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three in four Americans (76%) want the government to take actions to block or recover the bonuses insurance giant AIG paid …
Alec MacGillis / Washington Post:
Union Engages in Labor Dispute With Its Own Employees — As it helps push for legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize, the country's fastest-growing union is engaged in its own labor dispute with employees it is seeking to lay off. — The Service Employees International Union …
Ben Katcher / The Washington Note:
Guest Post by Lawrence Wilkerson: Some Truths About Guantanamo Bay — Lawrence B. Wilkerson was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell and is chairman of the New America Foundation/U.S.-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative. — There are several dimensions to the debate …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Opinionator, The Daily Dish and MoJo Blog Posts
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
The Husband Of Fox News' Greta Van Susteren Is A ‘Protector Of The Palin Brand’ — During the presidential campaign, Fox News's Greta Van Susteren had perhaps the best access to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin of any journalist. In September, she hosted a one-hour “documentary” …
Magazine Publishers of America:
ASME Announces 44th Annual National Magazine Award Finalists — The New Yorker, GQ, New York, Esquire and National Geographic Capture Most Ellie Nominations — Magazine Industry Celebrates Finalists on April 30 at Jazz at Lincoln Center — Sid Holt, Chief Executive of the American Society …
Michelle Malkin:
All of the people should be executed with piano wire around their neck — Update: Allah's got video. Ditto what Allah says about Frank: “What a wretch.” — I noted in the public flogging liveblogging below that Rep. Barney Frank rather flippantly dismissed the death threats against AIG executives.
Alan Zibel / Associated Press:
Fannie plans bonuses of up to $611K for 4 execs — Fannie Mae plans bonuses of up to $611,000 for 4 executives; Freddie Mac has similar plans — WASHINGTON (AP) — Fannie Mae is planning to pay retention bonuses of as much as $611,000 each to several top executives of the government-controlled mortgage finance titan.
Richard Florida / Creative Class:
Are Bailouts Saving the U.S. from a New Great Depression? — Citing Justin Fox's terrific chart of unemployment then and Kevin Drum's comments, the always-insightful Matt Yglesias writes: … Yglesias is right: It's hard to say exactly what might have happened without the bailouts and stimulus.