Look Who's Defending The AIG Bonuses: Rethugs!

It didn't take long for the Rethuglican elite to come to the defense of the corporate pirates that wrecked AIG and who are pocketing millions in bonuses. Given the choice of siding with the taxpayers or the mega-millionaires, these wingers went with their buds. Take Rethuglican Dear Leader Pills Limpballs ("he who must be obeyed"), who said that "peasants with their pitchforks" were surrounding AIG headquarters. Peasants! Pills, you need to be more subtle with your class warfare than that. Granted what you spend per year in Oxycontin would support three middle class families, but you have to be more "populist" with your Dittohead audience who might be some of those "peasants." Then there's CNBC's Rick "the Dick" Santelli and Rethuglican Senator John "Smile" Kyl, who think the millions given in undeserved bonuses are not worthy of attention and that the issue is being demagogued. Finally, we have former White House Press Suckertary Dana "If My Lips Are Moving I'm Lying" Perino, who also wants to call off the dogs, and let her "middle class" buddies in the Hamptons continue the lifestyle to which they've become accustomed.

Maybe next we can hear from Joe (not his name) the Plumber (not really a plumber), Rethuglican philosopher.

Question: What Does It Take To Get Geithner Moving?

A swift kick in the ass from the President? It shouldn't. There's a lot of concern that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is either too timid or too immersed in the Wall Street culture to be effective in managing the financial bailouts. The AIG bonus scandal is rocking the Government, with politicians on both sides of the aisle demanding that executives in the AIG financial products group be denied their bonuses (the Rethug outrage is phony, of course -- these are their peeps). There are questions about whether Geithner knew some time ago about the bonuses, and was either unconcerned or too clueless to raise a red flag. The Administration is beginning to grasp the outrage of the public over the bailouts and bonuses, while unemployment rises, retirement funds drop, and homes are lost. If Geithner can't, or won't, get out in front of the problem, he'll damage Obama's overall agenda well into the future.

UPDATE: The Senate Finance Committee is actively looking into a targeted tax to recover the bonuses from the AIG clowns. Would a 99.999 percent rate be OK?

The Corporate Elitists Haven't Learned A Thing

The story of huge bonuses paid by insurance giant AIG got major attention on the Sunday gab fests. AIG, which received $173 billion in U.S. bailout funds, paid $163 million in bonuses to officials in its financial products unit -- the unit that caused the $62 billion in losses for AIG. Now, calls for firing AIG executives are mounting, including House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank who said,

"This is an example of people at the commanding heights of the economy misbehaving, abusing the system."

AIG Chairman Edward "Don't Call Me Gordon" Liddy huffily explained that the bonuses represent "contracts" that are legally binding. Fine. Then AIG should pay the bonuses out of whatever assets it has, or can sell. And then the Government should insist on a change in leadership at AIG before any more public funds are spent.

UPDATE: President Obama said today he intends to stop AIG from paying out these bonuses, calling the situation an "outrage."

UPDATE 2: Four experts tell us how the U.S. government can short-circuit the AIG executives' money grab.