Dodd facing fresh political firestorm

[megimoo]

Dodd facing fresh political firestorm

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

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090318/pl_politico/30833;_ylt=ArRxFE8hj74i2rA66ygAFReyFz4D

[megimoo]

Dodd: Administration sought bonus limit revision

WASHINGTON (AP) — For a while, the disappearance of an executive bonus restriction from last month's economic stimulus looked like sleight of hand worthy of a Las Vegas stage. No one could explain how the provision faded into thin air. On Wednesday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., acknowledged that his staff agreed to dilute the executive pay provision that would have applied retroactively to recipients of federal aid. Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told CNN that the request came from Obama administration officials whom he did not identify.snip

An administration official said Treasury made Dodd's staff aware of the potential for litigation but did not demand that the provision be removed from the final bill. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter in public.

The legislation does include a provision that allows Treasury to examine past compensation payments to determine if they were "contrary to the public interest." Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday said he was using that provision to determine whether the government could somehow recoup the AIG bonuses.

Over the years, Dodd has been the top recipient of campaign contributions from AIG employees. During 2007-2008, when he ran for president, he received nearly $104,000 from AIG employees and their families, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that monitors money in politics.

In a statement, his office said Dodd only became aware of the AIG bonuses in the past few days. "To suggest that the bonuses affecting AIG had any effect on Sen. Dodd's action is categorically false," Dodd spokeswoman Kate Szostak said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7jvL_2dcRy7XsHQ1kuml64uTB0AD970P2B80

[PoliCon]

Dodd facing fresh political firestormgood

[lacarnut]

Man, oh, man; these Democrats are a bunch of lying sacks of shit. Good thing they are not under oath; otherwise, we would need to build new jails to house these liars and tax cheats.

[cat714]

Man, oh, man; these Democrats are a bunch of lying sacks of shit. Good thing they are not under oath; otherwise, we would need to build new jails to house these liars and tax cheats.

Even when they are under oath they still lie.

[AlmostThere]

I think this could be a real headache for Dodd. He's taken a substantial amount of money from AIG. Frank is making a ton of noise about getting the money back. If Treasury or the White House is behind the change in the amendment, they all look like idiots. The left hand doesn't know what the other left hand is doing so to speak. And if they are behind it, they've done something that has really pissed off the whole nation.

So Dodd better hope that either Treasury or the White House was behind this and that they admit it. The only other people who could be behind this are folks at AIG. They've given Dodd a bunch of money and he adds an amendment that gives them $165 million. Hummm! :eek:

[lacarnut]

What is so pathetic is that the CEO of AIG, Obama, Geithner, Dodd, Barney Fag and the rest of the critters in DC see this $165 million as chump change. The 78 billion they lost in buying bank stocks is real money to them. What the yaw-hoos in DC did not realize is that those millions of dollars given to people that failed at their jobs performance wise deserve a reduction in pay rather than a reward. Conversely, hundreds of thousands are losing their jobs because of no fault of their own. Yep, these suckers in DC are looking out for us.:mad: