http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/211012/Geithner-Caves-on-AIG-Bonuses%2C-Defends-Liddy
Tim Geithner is now completely on the defensive. In a long letter to Nancy Pelosi, he explained how and why he approved the AIG bonuses (troubling) and described a plan to “recoup” them. The letter will not likely stop the growing chorus of criticism that may well drive Geithner out of office.
Geithner’s new plan will not “recoup” the bonuses at all: It will merely reduce the amount of the next taxpayer handout to AIG from $30 billion to $29.835 billion. This is not likely to quell the outrage: What most people are angy about is that AIG paid $165 million of taxpayer money in “retention” bonuses to executives who blew up the firm (many of whom aren’t at the company anymore).