I don’t. Whether through stupidity, or willing cooperation, Geithner let himself get punked by AIG, as a letter to him AIG CEO Edward Liddy shows.
Remember, AIG’s No. 1 bailout pass-through beneficiary is Goldman Sachs of Geithner-Summers background and massive Obama campaign donations.
So, you have Summers claiming AIG bonus contracts are inviolable. Of course, Glenn Greenwald calls bullshit on that idea, with counter-examples.
And, if AIG doesn’t like that, we can either take back the bailout money or nationalize it.
(If you think Geithner-Summers will actually do either one. A reader snarks at the end of Glenn’s post, that Obama could just give AIG immunity similar to the telecom immunity he flip-flopped on last summer.)
Obama SAYS he’s telling Geithner to find a way to reign in the bonuses. Uhh, sure.
In the next breath, Obama says he ISN’T planning on taking AIG to court. Like with the stimulus package, he’s starting from a position of compromise.
Here’s more of why you shouldn’t be surprised Geithner let himself get punked.
California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman told Bloomberg last week that AIG should be put into receivership.
(Further Goldman Sachs connection – AIG CEO Liddy was on Goldman Sachs’ board of directors when Henry Paulson was its CEO.
Now, Sherman tells Talking Points Memo Treasury ALREADY has the power to void the bonuses.
Sherman adds that this is why he voted against the original bailout: he didn’t think Treasury would use that power.
And, why does TPM disable user comments on this story? C’mon, Josh.
If you want to cut off the AIG gravy train, Jane Hamsher has a petition drive.
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