Top Items:
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.
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Ian Swanson / The Hill:
AIG staff: We deserve this money — AIG's new management team last year proposed that its employees give up their “retention” bonuses, or at least reduce them. The response from the 370 or so employees set to rake in $450 million in bonuses through 2010? — Take a hike.
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 …
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 …
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
No Boiled Carrots — Barack Obama even needs a teleprompter to get mad. — On St. Patrick's Day, the president spoke a bit of Gaelic, dyed the White House fountains green and talked about his distant relatives in the tiny Irish town of Moneygall, aptly named since money and gall are the two topics now consuming him.
New York Times:
A.I.G. Chief Expected to Offer Bonus Compromise — Edward M. Liddy, the embattled chief of American International Group, is expected to ask employees who received lucrative bonuses to give half the money back. — According to a person briefed on Mr. Liddy's plans, the A.I.G. chief …
Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Associated Press:
Washington knew AIG was preparing to pay bonuses
Washington knew AIG was preparing to pay bonuses
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Time, QandO, CNN, The Smirking Chimp, The Huffington Post and Power Line
Newt Gingrich / Human Events:
BREAKING: Gingrich Calls on Obama to End Bailouts
BREAKING: Gingrich Calls on Obama to End Bailouts
Discussion:
Think Progress
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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David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
@ McGraw-Hill: NBCU's Zucker Calls Out Jon Stewart: Blaming CNBC Is ‘Absurd’
@ McGraw-Hill: NBCU's Zucker Calls Out Jon Stewart: Blaming CNBC Is ‘Absurd’
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:
CNBC's woes may open the door to its competitors
CNBC's woes may open the door to its competitors
Discussion:
Clusterstock
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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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.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
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Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Mack calls Geithner “disaster,” demands resignation — Rep. Connie Mack IV (R-Fla.) is the first member (we think) to call for Tim Geithner's head. — Bear in mind that many Republicans, including Mack, have been sour on the Treasury Secretary from jump and 34 Senators …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Note, Reuters, Democracy in America, TIME.com, The Plum Line and Swampland
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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.
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” …
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.
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
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 …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
A Center-Right Nation Forever — James Joyner, surveying some data about the demographic shifts threatening conservative politics, concludes “We'll always have a strong “conservative” movement. It's just that Ronald Reagan and Alex P. Keaton wouldn't quite recognize it.”
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Stayin' Alive — The inside story of health care reform's near-death experience. — In early January, most of Barack Obama's senior staff assembled with the president-elect for a meeting inside a windowless, eighth-floor office at the transition headquarters in Washington.
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Hundreds of New Civilian Employees Proposed for Afghanistan — Hundreds of additional U.S. diplomats and civilian officials would be deployed to Afghanistan as part of the new civil-military regional strategy that President Obama's top national security advisers plan to present for his signature next week …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
In Bid To Grab Control Of Story, Obama Takes Responsibility For AIG Mess — This morning I noted that Rahm Emanuel had sounded a bit of a false note, saying that Obama viewed the AIG mess as a “big distraction” from his efforts to fix the financial system overall. — Maybe not so much.
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.
Josef Adalian / TVWeek.com:
Networks Grumbling About Another Obama Primetime Speech — President Obama's decision to hold another primetime news conference is playing havoc with the networks' sweeps schedules—and causing some in the industry to grumble about the financial impact. — The president has slated …
WNYC News Blog:
Eliot Spitzer on AIG — Former AIG insurance giant chief Maurice ‘Hank’ Greenberg and then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. (AFP/Getty Images) — Eliot Spitzer, columnist for Slate and former governor of New York, talks to WNYC's Brian Lehrer about AIG bonuses, CEO compensation …
Tim / Sky News:
The Obama 100 — Earlier in the day, the president claimed an Irish ancestry, saying his mother's family could be traced back to Ireland. — He joked to Cowen: “We may be cousins. We haven't sorted that through yet.” — Speaking in the Oval Office, he told the Irish premier …
Rob Gillies / Associated Press:
Bush says it's ‘essential’ to help Obama — CALGARY, Alberta - Former President George W. Bush, making his first public speech since leaving office in January, says he wants Barack Obama to succeed and that it's “essential” to support the new leader. — Bush declined to critique …
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
President's Budget Strategy Under Fire — Tactic May Break Obama's Bipartisan Pledge, GOP Says — Senior members of the Obama administration are pressing lawmakers to use a shortcut to drive the president's signature initiatives on health care and energy through Congress without Republican votes …