Chris Dodd Was Against AIG’s Bonuses Before He Was For Them???

March 19, 2009 by Jeff · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Politics 

It’s getting so you can’t follow the twist and turns in the AIG retantion bonus kerfufle without a map… It now looks like Chris Dodd was against the bonuses before he was for them but now he’s against them:

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. However, Dodd said he was not aware of any American International Group Inc. bonuses at the time the change was made.

The provision was the subject of new attention this week because, had it survived, it would have prevented AIG from granting $165 million in bonuses to employees of its financial products division.

“I’m the one who has led the fight against excessive executive compensation, often over the objections of many,” said Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. “I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment, but I did so at the request of administration officials, who gave us no indication that this was in any way related to AIG.”

Putting aside for a moment that the Government has no business bailout failing private enterprises or regulating executive compensation… It appears that Sen. Dodd inserted an amendment that exempted contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009 into the stimulus bill at the request of the Treasury.

Bottom line Senator; you’re the one who changed the amendment allowing these bonuses to be paid. No matter how you try to spin it, it’s your responsibility.

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