AIG hearing on Capitol Hill - CEO of AIG...possible defense

[Karl]

He has not spoken yet...but allow the politicians to talk themselves to death...state some vague statement...then say - I merely followed the law....lived up to the obligations of the contracts...what would you advise AIG now do?

Politicians "stop payments" or some such thing...

Just to be clear you are advising AIG to break the law?
Yes?
Thank you! I shall suggest to my board we follow the dictates of the committee.

[Islandman]

Well it is looking more and more to me like he really doesn't need a defense.

Maybe the politicans should get thier story straight before expressing the usual "outrage".

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In a stunning development, Sen. Christopher Dodd said that Obama administration officials asked him to add language to last month's federal stimulus bill to make sure the controversial AIG bonuses remained in place.

Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told CNN that Obama officials wanted the language added to an amendment limiting bonuses that could be paid by companies receiving federal bailout money. He said they were afraid that without it, the government would face numerous lawsuits from employees who were promised bonuses.

On Tuesday, Dodd denied to CNN that he had anything to do with adding the language, which has been used by officials at AIG to justify paying millions of dollars in bonuses to executives after receiving federal money. The nearly $800 billion stimulus bill was approved by Congress in February.

Dodd told CNN he did not speak to high-ranking administration officials and the change came after his staff spoke with staffers from Treasury. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment

The admission comes amid a public furor over the $165 million in bonuses that were paid to AIG executives late last week after the struggling insurance company received nearly $180 billion in government bailout funds.

Both Congress and President Obama have expressed surprise over the bonuses and demanded that the money be paid back. Democratic leaders said late Wednesday that the House will vote on legislation aimed at recovering the bonuses.

[Hortical]

Dodd facing fresh political firestorm

Dodd facing fresh political firestorm

Scorecard Scorecard 2 hrs 51 mins ago
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 this at all.”
Dodd had previously said that he played no role in writing the controversial language, and was not a part of the conference committee that inserted the language in the bill. As late as today, Dodd’s spokeswoman denied the senator’s involvement.
The AIG bonuses have caused a political firestorm, with Republicans and Democrats alike looking to lay blame for who’s responsible, and leading lawmakers looking to revoke the bonuses.
Dodd’s role in the legislation will likely come up as he faces the likelihood of a tough re-election. Former GOP congressman Rob Simmons announced he was running this week, and has already taken issue with Dodd’s stewardship as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

[Hortical]

There is no chance Dodd will lose re-election in 2010. GOP Senators (2 out of 10) in New England are an endangered species.