Top Items:
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 …
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Washington Post:
How the Fed Failed to Tell Obama About The Bonuses — Federal Reserve officials knew for months about bonuses at American International Group but failed to tell the Obama administration, according to government and company officials, exposing problems in a relationship that is vital to addressing the financial crisis.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Associated Press, New York Times, Time, Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, Oliver Willis, TIME.com, George's Bottom Line and MSNBC
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
A.I.G. Uproar Is a Defining Moment for Geithner — WASHINGTON — All three of President Obama's top economic advisers were on message when they appeared Sunday on separate television talk shows. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, they said, had concluded, based on lawyers' advice …
Eamon Javers / The Politico:
Can Geithner bounce back? — Some Republicans are calling for Timothy Geithner's head.
Can Geithner bounce back? — Some Republicans are calling for Timothy Geithner's head.
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 …
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Christopher Keating / Hartford Courant:
Dodd Admits Role In AIG Bonus Controversy — U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, already reeling in public opinion polls, suffered another political blow Wednesday with the admission that he had been involved in key legislative changes that helped pave the way for AIG to pay controversial bonuses to its employees.
Yves Smith / naked capitalism:
On the Fed's “Shock and Awe” — When some deemed the Fed's move today to expand its balance sheet by as much as a trillion dollars plus as “shock and awe”, I recalled that when that term was first used, at the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq. The notion was a display of superior force would lead to quick capitulation.
Discussion:
Free exchange, The Moderate Voice, Economix, Cato @ Liberty, Clusterstock and The New Republic
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DealBook:
Dissecting the A.I.G. Bonus Contract — Washington is filled with outrage over the $165 million in bonuses given out by the American International Group. Yet, as I said in my post on Tuesday, “Seven Sad Truths About A.I.G.,” the real concern over the insurance giant should be about the $170 billion …
Discussion:
Slate, Obsidian Wings, Talking Points Memo, The Caucus, The Atlantic Business Channel and Room for Debate
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
THE BIG BUCKS — Let's go back to Joe Cassano …
THE BIG BUCKS — Let's go back to Joe Cassano …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
President Takes Campaign for Budget to California — COSTA MESA, Calif. — President Obama, escaping the mounting uproar in Washington over executive bonuses at the American International Group, came here Wednesday for a raucous town-hall-style meeting where he promised that his $3.6 trillion budget …
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Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Obama heads to Reagan country — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — COSTA MESA, Calif. - After landing on the West Coast, President Barack Obama turned and pointed back to Washington - a place he said was “all in a tizzy” looking for someone to blame for the AIG bonuses amid the economic crisis.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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:
Political Machine, PERRspectives, Will Wilkinson, City Room, AmSpecBlog, Conventional Folly and TVNewser
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James Vicini / Reuters:
Some Guantanamo prisoners could be released in U.S. — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners could be released into the United States while others could be put on trial in the American court system, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday.
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Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama's $500,000 book bonanza — Deal reached 5 days before he took office — As he empathized with recession-weary Americans, President Obama arranged in the days just before he took office to secure a $500,000 advance for a children's book project, a disclosure report shows.
Discussion:
Political Punch
Howard Schweber / The Huffington Post:
Put Down the Pitchforks! — I am starting to be genuinely worried by the potential destructiveness of a growing torch-and-pitchfork mentality that is partly the result of cynical manipulation, partly a result of failures of understanding, and partly the result of perfectly justified by presently misdirected anger.
Guardian:
Anger in Pakistan at US plan to expand attacks — • Pentagon urges Obama to widen reach of strikes — • Islamabad warns of public backlash against move — Pakistan reacted with anger yesterday to an American proposal to expand its drone missile strikes inside the country against Taliban and al-Qaida targets.
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Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:
The Next AIG Scandal? — The firm's problems may extend to its ‘healthy’ insurance side. … Outrageous. It's the preferred adjective used by Barack Obama and Ben Bernanke to describe AIG, the crippled giant that has turned into a national money pit. AIG has swallowed at least $170 billion …
Suzy Khimm / The New Republic:
They Were Against It Before They Were For It — This week, Republican leaders have leapt to join the populist outcry against the bonuses that ailing insurance giant AIG has awarded its executives. But such rants against executive earnings mark a remarkable about-face for the right flank of the party …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, United States Senator …, United States Senator, TPMCafe and Think Progress
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 …
Rep. Barney Frank / The Huffington Post:
Is There an Antidote to the Republican Amnesia? — Memory eventually fails us all, but apparently the decline strikes one party far more than the other. — In recent weeks, my friends across the aisle have expended a lot of breath proclaiming that the Democrats caused the present financial crisis …
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
The Official Guide To Obama Kitsch — I am pleased to introduce The Official Guide To Obama Kitsch. — Kitsch is a word of Germanic origin which denotes something that is in poor taste, tacky, pretentious, cheap or trashy. — In order to qualify, the product must (1) …
Discussion:
insert clever s.logan here