Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Obama is in California, the furor is rising about AIG

Seems like POTUS has townhall meetings scheduled in Orange County and Los Angeles, then sitting on Jay Leno's couch for tomorrow night's show. The backlash is brewing and coming even moreso since it has been revealed that the White House knew about these AIG bonuses.

I wrote over the weekend that it was possible that the White House had the wool pulled over its eyes with AIG's bonus dump, but that it too was possible that they knew from the orchestrated talking points on the Sunday's shows. Most reps from the White House was pointedly in talking about AIG, up to Bernanke on 60 Minutes.

Secretary Geithner knew these bonuses were coming, but failed on negotiating the terms of the contracts down from what was announced.

Obama Administration is walking a slippery slope here. What should have happened is that this information should have been up front to the public, but now the attack dogs like, morning joke are out there with red meat based on their fake outrage. Yes, if you already knew about these bonuses, how can it be real but orchestrated?

Time for Obama to get this under control, but I don't know if he can. The problem is that he is surrounded by people that were part of this mess like, Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner. These two were big players in this economy mess. And Geithner? Treasury Secretary? Too close to Wall Street for my taste, that is the major problem.

Lastly, it is going to be hard as heck for the Obama Administration to get another penny for these banks. AIG has destroyed the goodwill for the public. And yet, AIG is supposed to get another 30B in aid? Oh, but this time there will be restrictions? I don't blame the Obama Administration for all of this because much of this money was already allocated before Obama took office, but I do blame them for fake outrage on AIG bonuses that they already KNEW ABOUT.

His first appearance as president in a state that was a getaway for his predecessors could instead become a political test for Obama, whose administration has been trying to find its voice on the economy. His schedule includes a stop on Jay Leno's stage in Burbank after town hall-style meetings in Orange County on Wednesday and downtown Los Angeles on Thursday.

With the furor over the AIG bonuses, "if he doesn't have some really good answers, this could be a nightmare. It's not going to be enough to say, 'I feel your anger and we are looking into it,'" said University of California, Berkeley, political scientist Bruce Cain. "There has to be some sort of decisive action."

Judy Chen-Lee, a laid-off job counselor for the city of Santa Ana, has a ticket for the Orange County event and hopes to press the president about getting people back to work.

The economic stimulus money should be "dedicated to those most in need, who need jobs and retraining," she said. "The AIG situation is sad. There needs to be accountability."




Source

Home Page