$165 Million Dollar Shit Storm

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's ass is in a sling.

By the second, the media is making him look like the evil mastermind behind some maleficent plot to wreck the American economy. Geithner took his licks today, promptly admitting Treasury's role in the AIG mess, under his guidance.

President Obama, doing probably the only thing he can, publicly accepted responsibility yesterday. (Note: David Axelrod, who must have lost his mind, claiming "no one cares about the AIG mess," better write that promise by his boy Barack down on his little pad for 2012.)

Sen. Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and veteran Democrat heavyweight, while scrambling a little, as the only other visibly culpable party, is taking his licks, too, admitting to his role, and defending himself believably.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi took a big ball of the shit that is flying in every direction and threw it squarely in the face of both the Senate and the President, "this is Senate and White House language... this was never brought to the House." Let me say, props to Pelosi in one way: this debacle really had nothing to do with her. But she couldn't resist a dig, either. No one should be surprised; she started pissing on fire hydrants quite some time ago. Now the House gets to look like the big heroes, passing a 90% tax on AIG and other corporate bonuses today, 328-93 (Note: what anyone would have to call an overwhelming bipartisan support.) Again, props to the House. Those corporate fatcat bitches deserve a kick in the chops.

No one is trying to lie. A bad judgment call was made. And the number, $165 Million, is shocking. Headline grabbing, even. (Thank you everyone for reading this.) Tim Geithner must be praying for Bernie Maddoff to get raped in jail a couple more times a day for getting everyone so fired up over crooked bankers. Even John McCain's oft-used campaign one-liner, "We will make them famous," is getting airtime again.

It's amazing to me how a gaffe like this got so out of control. Yes, it's more than a gaffe. But, all the guilty parties are confessed and contrite, and in less than 24 hours the House has made AIG go cut its own switch for the beating they are about to get. So, why for does the shit fly in so many directions? I can think of plenty of things to get this mad about. Maybe David Axelrod is right in a way. More blame needs to be placed on AIG, and the swift way in which everyone fessed up and the problem was dealt with, should be getting praise. Now, that is not to say there couldn't be more of these little "oversights." In which case, some indignation and finger pointing may be warranted.

If this really is an isolated event however, the real culprit is AIG. Contractual or not, first of all, they should have known better. They could have found a way out of paying $165 Million in bonuses to already rich people. If all else fails, leak it to the media before the payout. Clearly, AIG thought they were going to sneak this one under the radar. Amazing how thick the blinders of greed are. I can understand the outrage on the one hand, but it is getting misdirected in D.C. People are so hyper-sensitive about money and "the economy" there is no way some voice in some boardroom somewhere along the line didn't say, "Um, can we really do this?"

AIG is ruined. They will be lucky to get bought by Chase, if that. It remains to be seen who they drag down with them. This could get uglier.