Posted on 03/19/2009 3:02:45 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a capital always looking for someone to blame, a powerful U.S. Democratic senator has a big bull's-eye on him in the firefight over taxpayer-funded bonuses for executives at insurance giant AIG.
Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and one of the more prominent faces of the Democratic Party, is scrambling to explain how a loophole ended up in legislation that allowed the roundly condemned bonuses to go forward.
At issue is a clause in the $787 billion economic stimulus plan approved by Congress in February that capped bonuses for executives at companies getting federal bailout aid.
A one-paragraph provision tucked into the thick bill modified the cap to apply it only to future bonuses, not those that might have already been legally contracted.
This had the effect of allowing the $165 million in American International Group Inc bonuses to go forward.
Dodd, who is running for re-election in 2010, acknowledged on Wednesday he played a role in developing the legislation after CNN quoted a Treasury Department official as saying Treasury had talked to Dodd about such a clause, while not explicitly recommending it.
But Dodd said he acted at the behest of the Obama administration, although he would not say who made the request -- injecting an air of mystery into this week's political feeding frenzy over the AIG bonuses.
"I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment but I did so at the request of administration officials, who gave us no indication that this was in any way related to AIG," Dodd said.
"Let me be clear -- I was completely unaware of these AIG bonuses until I learned of them last week."
A senior Democrat said the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve pressed Dodd to make changes.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
“In a capital always looking for someone to blame,”
Amazing how they twist things when a dimocRAT is under the gun.
Don’t forget -— the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics reported Dodd — a senator since 1981 in a state heavily dependent on the insurance industry — received more than $223,000 in campaign donations from AIG workers between 2003 and 2008.
Of course Dodd told The Connecticut Post on Wednesday that he would return or donate to charity any campaign contributions linked to federal bailout money ( shades of Tim Geithner paying his taxes AFTER his nomination to Secretary of the Treasury ).
Quinnipiac University poll now shows Dodd’s opponent in the Senate race, Republican Rob Simmons, leads him by 43 percent to 42 percent.
Knowing he is at risk of losing reelection, the Administration will allow him to obfuscate and point fingers anywhere he wants in an attempt to shed his accountability.
Censure Him!!!
He has a bulls-eye on him because the alternative is to admit that the Obamists authorized the bonuses, which is in fact what happened.
They specifically went out of their way to make it happen, and then the senate approved it.
And now they are running around in circles “investigating” what they themselves did.
Perhaps while he is at it he can explain why AIG gave him bigger campaign donations in 2008 than anyone else, with Obama coming in second and McCain a very distant third.
I would hope this will do it - but - looking at other northeastern states - what can you say. How can you explain Kennedy?
Dodd took the hit so Obama could dodge it.
Whole fleets of buses are in the entourage for Obama, just so they are available for throwing others under.
Perhaps we could take a look at Barney Franks, and why not look at Chuck Schumer, who started this entire mess by drawing attention to the New York bank that was being monitored by the FDIC. After Schumers leak to the media, the FDIC closed the bank, no one lost a penny, but Chuckie started the bank closures.
What a weasel! Dodd, a recipient of the largesse distributed by AIG, now tries to play innocent.
Just like his worthless Dad. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“Let me be clear — I was completely unaware of these AIG bonuses until I learned of them last week.”
Liar.
You got 207K to do it in Campaign Contributions. Quid Pro Quo.
Dodd is anti-American, get rid of him. We do not need such a person in Congress!
Dodd also got some nice donations from AIG in the past 10 years:
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/Mar/17/dodd-reaped-campaign-cash-from-aig/
“Responsive Politics show Dodd received $280,238 of the more than $4 million AIG has spent trying to influence Washington this decade.”
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