Fox Business reported Dodd inserted language into the bill to place restrictions on any bonuses given by companies being assisted by the goverment that were handed out after February 11. Therefore, the "Dodd Amendment" would have effectively protected the bonuses AIG handed out to their executives since the bonuses were doled out before that date. ABC News similarly reported "Dodd's measure explicitly exempted bonuses agreed to prior to the passage of the stimulus bill."
Dodd has pushed back hard against that analysis. Dodd Spokesperson Kate Szostak contacted the Washington Times to say the executive compensation amendment in the final version of the stimulus bill was different than the version Dodd inserted to the bill passed by the Senate. The final amendment regarding executive pay, according to Szostak, was worked out between the Treasury Department and the bill's conferees.
Carpenter reminds readers that Dodd has been the "chief beneficiary" of AIG campaign cash.
We certainly haven't heard the last of this story, nor has Dodd. As for the Connecticut Democrat, it's pretty certain that right now the least favorite letters of the alphabet are "AIG."
Meanwhile, AIG chairman Edward Liddy testified in front of Congress today that he has asked employees to voluntarily return those bonuses. Since some of those bonuses were promised to employees who knew they were going to lose their jobs--the bonunes were carrots given to keep them from storming off--I'm not sure how well that will go.
Related post:
Hey Congress: Investigate Sen. Chris Dodd now
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Breaking News: Dodd Says loophole that protects AIG Bonuses added per request of the Obama administration. The video is about a fifth of the way down.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/17/obamas-stimulus-bill-explicitly-grants-aig-the-legal-right-to-hand-out-bonuses/
Obama should take full and direct responsibility for this mess.