The Weekly Standard: “Obama in Trouble”
At his bizarre town hall last night, President Barack Obama joked that “Washington is in a tizzy” over AIG and the $165 million in bonuses to be paid to its executives. The New York Times yesterday quoted White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel complaining that the whole affair was a “distraction.” At Tuesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs could not even provide a rough timeline of the administration’s handling of the AIG affair.
Yes, it’s true that the bonuses represent less than one percent of the total bailout money that has gone to AIG. And yes, there are legitimate points to be made about retention bonuses in general and (though less persuasive) retention bonuses for these AIG employees. But it has been clear for a while that something — an event, a comment, a cable news tirade, a speech — was going to focus the growing public anger over bailouts and government giveaways.
This is it.
And if the White House doesn’t understand that, Congressional Democrats certainly do. “I think in general the administration is underestimating the rage and frustration that people are feeling about the shenanigans on Wall Street,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told Politico. “I think they need to be more aggressive in standing up to Wall Street and representing the taxpayers.”
Other Democrats are taking shots, too.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com …
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