an extract from CNN,
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/16/AIG.bonuses/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
The president said he has asked Geithner to "pursue every single
legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers
whole."
Obama spared AIG's new CEO, Edward Liddy, from criticism, saying
he got the job "after the contracts that led to these bonuses were
agreed to last year."
But he said the impropriety of the bonuses goes beyond
economics. "It's about our fundamental values," he said.
"All across the country, there are people who are working hard
and meeting their responsibilities every single day, without the
benefit of government bailouts or multimillion-dollar bonuses.
You've got a bunch of small-business people here who are struggling
just to keep their credit line open," Obama said.
"And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall
Street to Washington, play by the same rules. That is an ethic that
we have to demand."
Obama said he would work with Congress to change the laws so
that such a situation cannot happen again.
Then, coughing, he added in jest, "I'm choked up with anger
here."
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa didn't appear to be
joking, however, when he spoke with Cedar Rapids, Iowa, radio
station WMT.
"I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a
little better toward them [AIG executives] is if they follow the
Japanese example and come before the American people and take that
deep bow and say, 'I am sorry,' and then either do one of two
things: resign or go commit suicide," he said.
"And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit
suicide."
