AIG – News Stories About AIG - Page 6

Mar 22, 2009 4:06 PM CDT

Old Gray Lady Grabs Obama by the Ear

Krugman, Friedman, Dowd, Rich, editorial board all pile on prez

(Newser) - The Obama administration bore an avalanche of criticism this weekend from the usually friendly New York Times. Influential columnists Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, Thomas Friedman, and Maureen Dowd—plus the paper’s editorial board—all piled on a president who “is increasingly overwhelmed, and not fully appreciative of the...

Bloomberg: Geithner's
'the Guy I Would Want'

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Mar 22, 2009 11:17 AM CDT

Bloomberg: Geithner's 'the Guy I Would Want'

Frank: Let's sue AIG; Gregg: Congress unruly

(Newser) - Amidst calls for his ouster, Timothy Geithner can bank on big name supporters: Arnold Schwarzenegger told NBC’s Meet the Press he has confidence in the embattled Treasury secretary, while Michael Bloomberg added that Geithner “is exactly the guy that I would want.” On Fox News Sunday, Christina...

Hey, Barack:
Get Tough
Like Michelle

OPINION

Mar 22, 2009 11:04 AM CDT

Hey, Barack: Get Tough Like Michelle

Prez, Geithner must quit 'coddling' Wall Street: Dowd

(Newser) - Michelle Obama said her husband would be pulling garden weeds whether he “liked it or not”—and the president could take a page from her book, writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. Obama and the Treasury secretary “have been coddling the Wall Street elite,”...

Cuomo Could
Capitalize on
Wall St. Crisis

Mar 21, 2009 2:33 PM CDT

Cuomo Could Capitalize on Wall St. Crisis

Will he reveal AIG names?

(Newser) - Andrew Cuomo’s political career has hit a crossroads, the New York Times reports. The New York attorney general has found his moment, slinging subpoenas at Wall Street like a populist avenger. He’s forced concessions from the rating agencies and student loan lenders, and pried the names of bonus...

AIG Bonuses Higher
Than Thought: $218M

Mar 21, 2009 10:25 AM CDT

AIG Bonuses Higher Than Thought: $218M

Five at firm got more than $4M: Blumenthal

(Newser) - AIG documents show the firm paid out $218 million in bonuses—higher than the $165 million that had been disclosed, says Connecticut’s attorney general. The papers show five at the firm scored bonuses of more than $4 million, said Richard Blumenthal, whose office received the papers last night after...

Senate GOP
Slows Rush
to Tax AIG
Bonuses

Mar 20, 2009 6:00 PM CDT

Senate GOP Slows Rush to Tax AIG Bonuses

(Newser) - Senate Republicans are drawing out a flap that has made the Obama administration squirm, the AP reports. Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republicans' vote counter, blocked Democratic efforts yesterday to bring up the Senate version of the tax bill to recoup most of the $165 million paid out by AIG last...

If I Knew, I Would Have 'Rejected' Legislation: Dodd

Mar 20, 2009 5:10 PM CDT

If I Knew, I Would Have 'Rejected' Legislation: Dodd

(Newser) - Sen. Chris Dodd says that if he had known the purpose of changes to legislation he drafted for the stimulus package, he “would have flatly rejected it,” CNN reports. Dodd’s rewrite, at the behest of unnamed Treasury officials, allowed AIG and others receiving federal assistance to dole...

State AGs Probe AIG Bonuses

Mar 20, 2009 2:01 PM CDT

State AGs Probe AIG Bonuses

Coalition of 19 state officials demands list of AIG bonus recipients

(Newser) - The attorneys general of 19 states have joined forces to investigate the bonus payments made to AIG employees, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a letter to the firm, the coalition demands a list of all employees of the financial products unit who received bonuses after the government started providing...

AIG Bonus Vote
Splits GOP Honchos

ANALYSIS

Mar 20, 2009 11:25 AM CDT

AIG Bonus Vote Splits GOP Honchos

Insider Boehner and publicity-hungry Cantor go opposite ways

(Newser) - The vote to tax AIG bonuses split the House’s top two Republicans, and illustrates the differences in their strategies, reports Politico. Minority Leader John Boehner voted against, calling it “a bad bill with bad consequences.” Boehner’s No. 2, rising star Eric Cantor, supported it, calling it...

AIG Sues US Over
Tax Payments

Mar 20, 2009 10:32 AM CDT

AIG Sues US Over Tax Payments

(Newser) - Even as Washington rails against AIG’s bonus giveaway, the insurer is quietly suing the government for $306 million in tax payments, the New York Times reports. AIG’s case hinges largely on its use of offshore tax havens, including one entity that handles executive compensation. It also says it...

AIG Execs
Face Fury of Angry Public

Mar 20, 2009 9:58 AM CDT

AIG Execs Face Fury of Angry Public

Amid death threats, some are returning hefty bonuses

(Newser) - The AIG scandal has turned company execs from pillars of their communities into dastardly villains, reports the New York Times. Witness James Haas—or Jackpot Jimmy as the New York Post calls him. "I didn’t have anything to do with those credit problems,” says Haas, who fought...

Ex AIG Boss: It's Not My Fault

Mar 20, 2009 8:31 AM CDT

Ex AIG Boss: It's Not My Fault

Says he doesn't back retention bonuses

(Newser) - AIG’s former CEO tells CBS that the bonuses now sparking national outrage would not have happened under his watch. Hank Greenberg, ousted in 2005, said he doesn’t back such retention bonuses, blamed the firm's collapse on the "stupidity" of his successors, and thinks the current CEO should...

Let's Downsize Our Outrage

OPINION

Mar 20, 2009 7:56 AM CDT

Let's Downsize Our Outrage

(Newser) - It’s time to put down the pitchforks, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. Public outrage is getting so hot that it’s actually undermining government efforts to contain the financial crisis. Right now, the Treasury is desperately trying to lure private capital back into the so-called shadow banking...

Dodd Weakened by Outcry Over AIG Bonuses

Mar 20, 2009 7:38 AM CDT

Dodd Weakened by Outcry Over AIG Bonuses

Confusion over Conn. senator's role adds to mounting woes

(Newser) - The financial crisis has exacted a political toll on Sen. Chris Dodd few would have seen coming. The veteran senator, elected in 1980, now trails his challenger by 1%, reports the Hill. Resentment of VIP mortgages he received was already hurting him. Dodd’s fumbled explanations of his role in...

Geithner:
I Take Full
Responsibility

Mar 19, 2009 6:26 PM CDT

Geithner: I Take Full Responsibility

(Newser) - Treasury chief Tim Geithner said today that he asked Chris Dodd to add a stimulus loophole allowing AIG to dole out bonuses. Geithner told CNN he felt he had no choice because the government would have been vulnerable to lawsuits if it tried to stop them. "But we also...

House OKs
90% Tax on
AIG Bonuses

Mar 19, 2009 2:46 PM CDT

House OKs 90% Tax on AIG Bonuses

(Newser) - By a 328-93 vote, the House today approved a bill that would recover most of the bonus money awarded to executives of bailout-buoyed AIG by taxing it at 90%. The measure drew significant Republican support, and some Democrats made it clear the legislation is an attempt to persuade execs to...

Hill Grilled the Wrong AIG Guy

OPINION

Mar 19, 2009 12:44 PM CDT

Hill Grilled the Wrong AIG Guy

(Newser) - Edward Liddy’s much-ballyhooed testimony yesterday—Chris Matthews billed it as “Watergate Redux”—didn’t wind up accomplishing much, “aside from revealing congressional ignorance of all things financial,” Daniel Gross writes in Slate. Yes, Liddy currently runs the reviled AIG, but he wasn’t running it...

Anger? Now That Would
Be a Bonus

OPINION

Mar 19, 2009 10:28 AM CDT

Anger? Now That Would Be a Bonus

'Baby' Geithner, Obama should be more worked up over AIG: Collins

(Newser) - Thank meek Tim Geithner for the wrath coming from the New York Times today. “We need a Treasury secretary so terrifying that if you were stuck in an elevator alone with him, you would just hand over your wallet,” Gail Collins writes. “And I’m totally angry...

AIG's Money Lined Pockets
in Washington

Mar 19, 2009 9:51 AM CDT

AIG's Money Lined Pockets in Washington

Dodd, Bush, Obama campaigns benefited from insurer's largesse

(Newser) - Chris Dodd has been a major AIG critic of late, but the Senate Banking chairman also has the uncomfortable distinction of being the politician to benefit the most from the insurer’s generosity, the Wall Street Journal reports. AIG employees have donated $280,000 to Dodd over the years, including...

Welcome Back, Loudmouth

OPINION

Mar 19, 2009 9:20 AM CDT

Welcome Back, Loudmouth

Journal responds to Spitzer's sniping

(Newser) - Taking potshots from Eliot Spitzer yesterday felt just like old times to the Wall Street Journal editorial board. "The Journal editorial page has been wrong on just about every issue out there," Spitzer told interviewer Brian Lehrer after being reminded of the paper's criticism of his efforts...