Obama berates AIG and vows to try to block bonuses

According to Yahoo News:

Joining a wave of public anger, President Barack Obama blistered insurance giant AIG for "recklessness and greed" Monday and pledged to try to block it from handing its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money.

Well, gee. Why are you so surprised. If they had been operating properly, they wouldn't have needed a bailout in the first place, would they?

"How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Obama asked. "This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about our fundamental values."

And you, by pushing the bailout in the first place are helping to show that the fundamental values of this country are cracked. Quit acting shocked. And quit trying to "help".

The bonuses could contribute to a backlash against Washington that would make it tougher for Obama to ask Congress for more bailout help — and jeopardize other parts of the recovery agenda that is dominating the start of his presidency.

Good. This is a sign that some americans are starting to wake up and see that the bailout wasn't a good idea.

Thus, the president and his top aides were working hard to distance themselves from the insurer's conduct, to contain possible political damage and to try to bolster public confidence in his administration's handling of the broader economic rescue effort.

Too late. You've already paid the piper. Now you have to listen to the tune.

"This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Obama declared.

If you didn't know this already, then I feel sorry for us all.

One reason that the AIG bonus giveaway is such a compelling story — and a politically troubling one for Obama if not neutralized — is that it offers a simple story line that appears to sum up ways in which the federal bailouts have gone awry.

"Never should have been", you mean.

Bailout steps for AIG totaling over $170 billion since September have effectively left the federal government with an 80 percent stake in the faltering insurance giant

Congratulations. You bought a load of crap. Learn from your mistake. STOP!

Still, those surveyed generally gave the president favorable marks for doing as much as he can to try to fix the economy, and few blame him for making the economy worse.

Ok, maybe not enough of us are learning yet. Too bad really.

However, Obama officials made the rounds of Sunday talk shows to denounce the insurer. And even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke weighed in, saying on CBS' "60 Minutes" that the AIG bailout angered him the most and that he "slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG." Still, he said a collapse of AIG would have wreaked havoc on the global economy.

That's how most governments explain their doing of stupid things. "If we don't do anything things will be far worse." Get over yourself. You don't even know how to run a government, what makes you think you can run an insurance company too?

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called the bonuses "appalling" and said he hoped "the administration gets the message from the taxpayers on this issue."

We can hope. But I'm not holding my breath for any sanity out of this administration.