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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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 …
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, TIME.com, New York Times, Time, The New Republic, Wall Street Journal, Oliver Willis, George's Bottom Line and Associated Press
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.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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:
Fausta's Blog, Reuters, The Swamp, Capitol Watch, The Corner, Hullabaloo and Donklephant
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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.
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Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Fannie Plans Retention Bonuses As Outlined by the Government — Fannie Mae, the federally run mortgage finance giant, plans to pay four top executives $1 million or more in retention bonuses. — The bonus plan prompted the company's federal regulator to defend compensation decisions …
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Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:
Detainees May Be Released in U.S. — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
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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 …
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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
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
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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 …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, McClatchy Washington Bureau, pandagon.net, the albany project and Hullabaloo
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 …
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Christine C. Quinn / The Huffington Post:
A St. Patrick's Day to Remember — Ever since I was a young girl, St. Patrick's Day has always been an important day for me and for my family. I remember my mother throwing elaborate parties for my grade school class at the aptly named St. Patrick's elementary school …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
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.
Mimi Hall / USA Today:
President to pioneer chat on late-night TV — President Obama hasn't been practicing one-liners, but he is going Thursday night where no sitting president has gone before: to a late-night comedy show. — Obama plans to be a guest on NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno at 11:35 p.m. ET.
Peter Hamby / CNN:
Coach K disses Obama's basketball picks — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski isn't thrilled his team got snubbed by the leader of the free world. — “Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really …
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