I offer this for what it's worth. I'm still trying to figure this all out myself, but this blog entry seems sensible. Quite honestly, I'm still confused about the entire "blame" issue regarding the bonuses. I think we will get clarification once Liddy releases his list of all the Congresspeople who were apprised of the situation in December but conveniently forgot.
SNIP:
There’s a new argument coursing through Washington in the last 48 hours, which lays the blame for the AIG bonus scandal at the feet of Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) for altering his recently-enacted executive pay proposal to exclude AIG.
The blame is misplaced. Here’s why.
The Dodd executive pay amendment, which was attached to the $787 billion stimulus bill last month, prohibited top executives at bailed-out firms from receiving bonuses exceeding one-third of their salaries. The amendment, which was opposed by the Obama administration, passed the Senate by a voice vote on Feb. 12.
Afterwards, at the urging of the White House, Dodd agreed to add a clause ensuring that the restrictions wouldn’t apply to “any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract executed on or before February 11, 2009.” This is the language in the final bill signed by President Obama, and because AIG’s controversial bonuses are contractual, it’s also the reason that the insurance giant isn’t subject to the Dodd amendment’s limits. (As Daphne points out today, there are legal questions about whether Washington can meddle with those contracts in any event, but let’s assume for a moment that the original Dodd provision would have empowered Treasury to do so — if only because that’s what Dodd critics are doing this week.)
In a statement issued Tuesday, Dodd said that the language modifications were made “to ensure that some bonus restrictions would be included in the final stimulus bill.”
The implication was that if he didn’t agree to the compromise with the White House, the entire provision would have been stripped out. And there was good reason to fear that would have happened. Indeed, two other executive pay provisions that passed the Senate were deemed unacceptable to the Obama administration.
MORE HERE
http://washingtonindependent.com/34688/blaming-dodd-for-aig-gate-misses-the-markHe does go on to slightly implicate Geithner, which I hope is not true. I really like TG and would hate to see him left to twirl in the wind as a result of some oversight he made while trying to handle this incredible disaster.