Spring Break
AIG debacle shows congressional ignorance
Caleb Thorton
Issue date: 3/26/09 Section: Opinion
Honestly, after this past election I thought the Republican Party was pretty much done for -- at least in the short term.
Let's face it: The Republican Party was absolutely destroyed in the election, both nationally and here in Colorado. And with such a popular president sitting in power with the opportunity to prove that he and his party could single-handedly save the economy things looked pretty bleak for the GOP.
But against all odds and in the face of dominating victory, the Democratic Party is continuing to do what it does best -- throwing it all away. A perfect case-in-point would be the recent AIG debacle.
We all know the story by now, AIG executives were paid out bonuses in the millions of dollars after the company itself was saved and continues to be saved by taxpayer dollars.
But what is most frustrating about all of this is that, due to provisions added to the stimulus bill, all of these bonuses are completely legal.
Of course, Congressional leaders such as Sen. Chris Dodd, who introduced the amendment into the stimulus bill which allowed for these bonuses to be paid out, don't want to be anywhere near this issue come election time, and so they have simply played dumb, claiming that they either didn't know what the amendment would actually do or they did not know the amendment even existed.
So, instead of admitting that they had put time and effort into considering one of the biggest pieces of legislation in their political lives, these same senators and congressmen are more willing to admit that they actually had no idea what they were voting for when they passed the stimulus bill.
Of course, how could we have expected anyone in Congress to really have known much about a 1,000-plus page bill that was delivered to Capitol Hill late one evening and voted on early the next day? No matter that Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker of the House Pelosi had promised at least a 48 hour period for Congress to consider the final form of the bill.
Let's face it: The Republican Party was absolutely destroyed in the election, both nationally and here in Colorado. And with such a popular president sitting in power with the opportunity to prove that he and his party could single-handedly save the economy things looked pretty bleak for the GOP.
But against all odds and in the face of dominating victory, the Democratic Party is continuing to do what it does best -- throwing it all away. A perfect case-in-point would be the recent AIG debacle.
We all know the story by now, AIG executives were paid out bonuses in the millions of dollars after the company itself was saved and continues to be saved by taxpayer dollars.
But what is most frustrating about all of this is that, due to provisions added to the stimulus bill, all of these bonuses are completely legal.
Of course, Congressional leaders such as Sen. Chris Dodd, who introduced the amendment into the stimulus bill which allowed for these bonuses to be paid out, don't want to be anywhere near this issue come election time, and so they have simply played dumb, claiming that they either didn't know what the amendment would actually do or they did not know the amendment even existed.
So, instead of admitting that they had put time and effort into considering one of the biggest pieces of legislation in their political lives, these same senators and congressmen are more willing to admit that they actually had no idea what they were voting for when they passed the stimulus bill.
Of course, how could we have expected anyone in Congress to really have known much about a 1,000-plus page bill that was delivered to Capitol Hill late one evening and voted on early the next day? No matter that Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker of the House Pelosi had promised at least a 48 hour period for Congress to consider the final form of the bill.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
Jim M
jim m
posted 3/26/09 @ 8:55 AM MST
I think too much time has been spent on the political blame game. Why not look a little deeper? The board of directors have much to do with how these companies pay executives. (Continued…)
Geodude
posted 3/26/09 @ 9:22 AM MST
Caleb,
It is my understanding that AIG received TARP funding prior Obama being elected let alone being inaugurated. In fact, it was Bush and Paulson who delegated TARP money to AIG, the Auto Industry, and the rest. (Continued…)
Cracker Joe
posted 3/26/09 @ 7:05 PM MST
Does nobody realize that these bonus's are %100 reasonable? Why else would an employee staying on the sinking ship? Civil duty? yeah right!!!
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