Free Republic

Reports of additional bailout negligence and mismanagement are rocking the Obama administration as lack of oversight has produced one big TARP mess after another, leaving Democrats running for cover. There were more revelations yesterday of excessive executive bonuses from the mismanaged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, companies at the very heart of the current financial meltdown, and an announcement from Democrats in Congress that 13 of the financial firms receiving bailout money from taxpayers owe more than $220 million in unpaid back federal taxes. In an attempt to add some supervision, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate...

With each day Senator Chris Dodd's hold on the Senate seat he has held for almost 30 years grows more tenuous. As the Chair of the Senate Banking committee he deserves a share of of the blame for the economic mess we are in now, and on top of that there are the recent scandals in which he has been involved.... ...This week may have been the straw the broke the camels back as he first denied and then admitted to the fact that he placed the clause in the stimulus bill allowing the AIG bonuses. Today Rick Green, Columnist...

WASHINGTON – Democrats may want to start thinking about a bailout for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, whose political stock has slipped amid the financial meltdown. As a five-term Democrat who blew out his last two opponents by 2-1 margins in a blue state that President Barack Obama won handily, Dodd, D-Conn., should be cruising to re-election in 2010. Instead, he's feeling heat from a Republican challenger eager to make him a poster boy for the tumult in the housing and financial markets.

The AIG Affair: As Barney Frank compiles an enemies list, Chris Dodd confesses he did in fact author the AIG stimulus loophole. So just who is going to go after those million-dollar retention bonuses at Fannie Mae?There was Rep. Frank, who once whistled past the Fannie Mae graveyard, demanding in full righteous indignation that AIG CEO Edward Liddy tell him where the bonus recipients — and their families — lived and who they were down to the family dog. All that was missing were powdered wigs and a guillotine. Liddy, brought in for a dollar a year after the market...

The case of the missing AIG bonus limits has become a tale of political intrigue and Democratic infighting that could threaten the re-election chances of a top senator and the credibility — if not the career — of one of President Obama's top advisers. As the House passed new legislation Thursday to crack down on the outrage-inspiring bonuses, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the Banking Committee chairman, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner engaged in finger-pointing about who was responsible for Congress' failure to prevent them in the first place. Dodd, a five-term senator, was already facing a tough re-election contest...

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...

With the economic crisis, and the collapse of AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, General Motors, Chrysler and other leading US firms, and with bailouts that have put taxpayers on the hook for trillions of dollars, many contend that this is the time to stand with advocates of open government who have been concerned about the growing secrecy of the US government. Without question, the time has come for the American people to demand increased public transparency and access to government records in all parts of government as compared to the current attitude regarding...

Imagine that a Republican senator was responsible for inserting a legislative loophole that permitted the AIG bonuses to be paid. Imagine too that the Republican senator was caught lying about having inserted it. Now imagine the morning news show coverage. Working title: “Choice for Lying Republican Senator: Resignation or Hari-Kari.” But when the senator in question is a Dem? Two of the three broadcast net morning news shows never even mentioned his name. The third did, but it would have taken a forensic wordsmith to figure our he had changed his story. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is of course the Dem...

It is said that "whom the gods would destroy, they first drive mad." Even the most cursory glance at this nation's current banking crisis would strongly suggest that the deities are out to get us. Plainly said, our entire credit system -- the basis upon which the economy rests -- has gone stark raving mad. If you don't believe that, I suggest you take a look at where the various bailouts have left us, or the current phony furor over the AIG bonus payments that resulted from the actions of members of Congress and Obama administration. A case in point:...

Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN’s Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer Wednesday that he was responsible for adding the bonus loophole into the stimulus package that permitted AIG and other companies that received bailout funds to pay bonuses.

"The administration, it's been widely reported, had problems with that amendment [on limiting executive compensation], as others did as well. And they came and said we would like to modify that amendment."

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 that allowed million-dollar bonuses to insurance giant AIG to go forward – after previously denying any involvement in writing the controversial provision. . “We wrote the language in the bill, the deal with bonuses, golden parachutes, excessive executive compensation that was adopted unanimously by the United States Senate in the stimulus bill,” Dodd told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon. “But for that language, there would have been no language to deal with...

In a complete reversal from his stance Tuesday, Sen. Chris Dodd admitted he inserted language into the federal stimulus bill allowing $165 million in bonuses to those AIG executives. But the president made him! Dodd, chairman of the senate banking committee, finally admitted to CNN (see clip) that his stimulus amendment allowed the universally-reviled bonuses, which went to the very AIG executives responsible for tanking the company.

(CNN) — As Congress grills AIG's chief executive Wednesday, here's a look at the top ten political recipients of AIG donations for the 2008 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The top ten recipients of AIG donations for the 2008 election cycle: Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut: $103,100 President Barack Obama: $101,332

WASHINGTON -- Some of the most vocal critics of American International Group Inc.'s bonus payments are also the biggest recipients of campaign contributions from the company, including President Barack Obama and Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd. Last year, as both men were running for president, each raised $104,000 from AIG employees. Mr. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, is the top all-time beneficiary of AIG contributions, with a total of $280,000 in donations from the company's employees and fund-raising arm since 1990, according to campaign-finance data collected by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Christopher Dodd A White House spokesman couldn't be...

The Wall Street Journal's Naftali Bendavid is reporting the following on the 2010 political race between U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd and former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons: As Washington wrestles with a once-in-a-generation financial meltdown, Sen. Chris Dodd has as much riding on the outcome as anyone on Capitol Hill. As Senate Banking Committee chairman, the Connecticut Democrat will be able to claim credit for new financial regulations the public wants. But he also is a longtime friend of Wall Street, making him a convenient scapegoat if voters sour on the government's handling of the economic crisis. Already, a growing anti-industry...

When it comes to donating to politicians and filling their coffers, bonus-and-bail-out embattled American International Group Inc.'s Financial Products unit in Wilton has a stimulus record of its own, providing Sen. Christopher Dodd's presidential campaign with more than $103,000 during the 2008 election cycle. AIG's contributions to Dodd outpace the financial firm's $101,000 contribution to President Barack Obama's election bid. Altogether, AIG executives raised $630,000 during the past election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, as the company was coming under fire. At least $120,000 of those contributions were made after September when Congress awarded AIG the first...

So now it appears Pres Obama knew all about those AIG bonuses - in time to do something about them....Geithner told Obama before AIG honchos disbursed bonuses to the same folks who bankrupted the company last year. Obama blasted "recklessness and greed," adding "It's about our fundamental values." Took him long enough to catch on. Geithner's Treasury Dept knew of the bonuses last fall. So did the Federal Reserve. Treasury not only never sought to block them - but, in fact, approved them. Obama asked: "How [does AIG] justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"...

Democratic leaders scrambling to strip AIG executives of bonuses are having a hard time answering a key question: Why didn't Congress act to prevent the bonuses in the first place? Sen. Chris Dodd says he has no idea how the exemption clause got inserted into the recent stimulus bill. 1 of 3 "There's always more we can do, and hindsight is 20/20," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Tuesday. But though some lawmakers did move to prevent bonuses in the stimulus bill last month, the final language actually makes an exception for pre-existing contracts, effectively exempting AIG. Senate Banking Committee...

Democratic leaders scrambling to strip AIG executives of bonuses are having a hard time answering a key question: Why didn't Congress act to prevent the bonuses in the first place? "There's always more we can do, and hindsight is 20/20," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Tuesday. But though some lawmakers did move to prevent bonuses in the stimulus bill last month, the final language actually makes an exception for pre-existing contracts, effectively exempting AIG. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, who originally proposed the executive compensation provision, said he did not include the exemption clause, which said new...