CNN's Castellanos falsely claimed Dems "gave" bonuses to AIG execs
SUMMARY: Advancing a false Republican accusation, CNN contributor Alex Castellanos falsely claimed that Democrats "gave" AIG executives bonuses. In fact, the economic recovery bill did not create the right for AIG -- or any company -- to pay bonuses. Rather, AIG reportedly disclosed that it had entered into agreements to pay these bonuses more than a year ago, and the special inspector for the TARP program has testified that the Bush administration Treasury Department knew about the AIG bonus contracts and did not insist on their abrogation as a condition of AIG's receiving bailout money.
During the March 23 edition of CNN's No Bias, No Bull, CNN contributor Alex Castellanos falsely claimed that Democrats "gave" AIG executives bonuses, advancing the false Republican accusation that by passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Democrats created the right for AIG to pay bonuses. Castellanos claimed of AIG bonuses: "[I]t does have a political impact going into the next election. These Democrats out there are -- the outrage that they're trying to, I think, feign, is a real problem. How, you know -- 'How dare these AIG execs take the bonuses we gave them?' That's going to be hard to defend." He also stated: "[I]t was Democrats who put it in there -- [Sen.] Chris Dodd [D-CT]. And it's Democrats who control the Congress." In fact, as Media Matters for America documented, the recovery bill did not create the right for AIG -- or any company -- to pay bonuses.
Rather, AIG reportedly disclosed that it had entered into agreements to pay these bonuses more than a year ago. As Media Matters has also noted, Neil Barofsky, a Bush-appointed special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), stated in March 19 congressional testimony that the Bush administration Treasury Department knew about the AIG bonus contracts and did not insist on their abrogation as a condition of AIG's receiving bailout money. Further, the relevant provision in the recovery act, which was based on an amendment sponsored by Dodd, actually restricted the ability of companies receiving TARP money to award bonuses in the future. In the absence of the recovery bill, AIG's ability to pay the bonuses would not have been limited. Indeed, if Republicans had succeeded in defeating the bill, the clause restricting the ability of troubled companies to award bonuses in the future would not have been enacted at the time.
Host Campbell Brown later stated that the recovery bill contained a "last-minute exemption clearing the way for bailed out companies like AIG to pay out big bonuses" without noting Barofsky's testimony about the Bush administration's role in allowing the AIG bonuses.
From the March 23 edition of CNN's Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull:
BROWN: And, Alex, with the news tonight of these 15 out of 20 top earners at AIG giving their bonuses back, does that dampen sort of this populist rage at all, or has the damage been done in a way?
CASTELLANOS: I think that, you know, 15 of the 20 criminals gave the money back doesn't lessen the anger at the crime. You know, this is a small amount of money relative to the larger picture, but a few hundred million dollars is still big money to most of us. And also, you know, it's the handle on the coffee cup. There's a lot of steaming hot resentment out there -- it's hard to understand all those zeroes -- but it's easy to understand the handle, the little bit you can see with these executives.
And it does have a political impact going into the next election. These Democrats out there are -- the outrage that they're trying to, I think, feign, is a real problem. How, you know -- "How dare these AIG execs take the bonuses we gave them?"
BROWN: Oh, OK. But Alex --
CASTELLANOS: That's going to be hard to defend.
BROWN: Alex, it wasn't -- in fairness, it was not just Democrats who were screaming and yelling about this on Capitol Hill by any means.
CASTELLANOS: No, but it was Democrats --
BROWN: This was very, very much bipartisan rage.
CASTELLANOS: But it was Democrats who put it in there -- Chris Dodd. And it's Democrats who control the Congress. And look, the Democrats won the last election. Congratulations, it's your problem now. And next election, I think, is going to be a brake pedal election. I think America is seeing a ton of spending, we just spent a trillion dollars today. We're seeing Democrats bailing out Wall Street. We're seeing big bonuses. I think the next election's going to be a brake pedal election. We're going to send the new guys to watch the old guys.
[...]
BROWN: But then there is Congress and this, the stimulus bill. How fast could you get through this? According to the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, lawmakers had just 13 hours to read the 1,100 pages of material that would cost the American taxpayers $787 billion. That is less than a minute and a half per page, with no time for bathroom breaks.
No wonder so many of our lawmakers didn't seem to notice that last-minute exemption clearing the way for bailed out companies like AIG to pay out big bonuses.
The Dems as a whole may not have allowed these bonuses to occur, but I do think that a few of Dems were part of creating the situation...
But the bigger story is most certainly what MMfA brings up in this thread...
That the media is ignoring the much larger picturethat the Repubs and the Bush regime played in creating the bonuses for these financial clowns.
As a side note... if the financial wizzards that created this disasterous mess are the best and the brightest... No wonder Obama found it necessary to laugh during his interview from Sunday on "60 minutes"... he has come to realize just how bad the Bush regime destroyed this country... and laughter is a good way to deal with that kind of stress.
With all that said... click HERE for everything you need to know about the corporate owned media...
Geithner was one of the people who wrote the TARP. The best and the brightest.
While I think the Democrats handled the matter clumsily, isn't it a fact that these contract bonuses were payable even in the absence of Chris Dodd's amended amendment? Perhaps a more correct statement would be that, relying on the recommendations of the Treasury Department, Democrats failed to block the payment of these contract bonuses...not that they gave the bonuses. AIG gave the bonuses and the Treasury Department of the previous administration also recommended that the bonuses remain intact. But Republicans think it sounds better to say that Democrats gave these bonuses.
Democrats handle most political matters clumsily. It should be easy to tie Bush and Republicans to it but as usual they are like Charlie Brown wondering why Lucy pulled the football away.
Well Republicans are trying to assess blame and Obama and his team are only trying to fix it. I guess when you have work to do it is harder to whine all day.
One thing Obie forgot to do between his TV appearances. He forgot to read the bill before he signed it. Not too much to ask from the President, don't you think?
Any proof of this claim? So far it's baseless.
Correct statements from the conservative media? They're like a former friend of mine, they'd prefer lying when the truth would serve them much better.
you are correct sir.
RULE #1 OF RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM:
People on news channels are not supposed to make things up. Faux News does it all the time, but there's no excuse for CNN.
CNN is rapidly on its way to being a Fox clone with this guy and that detestable Dobbs.
Keith and Rachel never make things up. Right? Four hours a night. It's OK though because they are so called "Progressives".
They get a pass here.
Hey idiot - read the mission statement for this site. This site monitors CONSERVATIVE mis/disinformation coming from the media. There is no claim to fairness with regards to political affiliation.
Wanna hear about how bad Keith and Rachel are? Go over to Freeper or any of the other right-wing media sites. I'm sure you've not questioned them as to why they are biased toward the right-wing side of things.
no bias no bull....right keep saying that
lol gotta love her "attempt" at no bias and no bull.
I think it's almost a forgone conclusion that any program titled no bias, no bull is gonna have lots of each ;-)
Like the NO SPIN zone...
How about In Cramer We Trust, although that's not the name of the show, only the promo.
Wow, that should give anyone the vapors.
Meanwhile, the Beltway Boys battle the battle of the bulge---=ego, pot bellies, bad money and bad hair...
the Beltway Boys battle the battle of the bulge---=ego, pot bellies, bad money and bad hair...
That statement isn't bogus, nor does it contain bias, bull or biliousness. ;-)
Speaking of bull, the bonus boys botched badly, but bag a bootleg batch of bogus bonuses...
The besmirched bastids and biotches..........;-) Those busters could use a behemoth boot up their bloated behinds.
yeah but his show is funny to watch
campbell brown is probably holding a grudge against nbc for letting meridith viera and not her on the today show
Don't forget who she's married to.
i honestly did not know about that. but it makes alot of sense.
maybe they should take advice from Carville and Matalin
"No bias, no bull?" "No Spin Zone?"
"When your dinner guest starts going on about his honor, start counting your silverware."
I read that in a column by Harriet Van Horne in the (happily) pre-Murdoch NY Post. I wish I could remember whom she was quoting.
i got one better.
"every time someone mentions culture, i reach for my Browning"
name the person who said that quote
Heston?
you would think but no.....it was actually Herman Georing.
Oh my...
i saw that while at the military museum near West Point. written on a card in a display case next to that very Browning. and next to that was his Marshal baton.
Scary stuff...
who is it that has been resistent to limiting executive compensation and bonuses? that would be republicans. who has resisted the idea of taxing these bonuses at a higher rate? that would be republicans. amazing how the media can concentrate on dodd or geithner's every word, but they can't go back and look at the words of republicans on this issue. instead, the republicans are portrayed as the champions of the little guy, when they've been the ones who do not want to limit compensation.
resistant.
you mean like a retroactive tax pushed by spinelss members of Congress to try and squelch the people's outrage with an unconstitutional bill?
it doesn't even have to be retroactive. how about anything paid this year or in the future? and you still haven't disagreed with my initial assessment. who is it that has opposed limits on executive compensation? face it, the republicans are complete and utter phonies on the issue.
I think the Constitution of The United States has somthing to say about the 90% targeted tax punishment. You people do know what the Constitution is, don't you?
OBTW Dodd took money from AIG for his campaign so did Obie. They needed to pay them back.
Please point out where the Constitution mentions anything to do with this targeted tax 'punishment'. As someone who considers himself more familiar with the Constitution than the average American, I don't recall seeing anything that would violate the Constitution with regards to this sort of taxation.
Also, taking money from AIG during the campaign has nothing to do with this:
(1) Campaign contributions given to campaigns are done on an individual basis, not the company as a whole. You're purposefully skewing this, hoping no one will call you on it.
(2) Campaign contributions given before the bailout have no relevance here. There is no quid pro quo, ergo such a claim that Dodd and Obama took money from AIG for the campaign, and that they should pay it back is invalid.
(3) IF Dodd and Obama should be forced to give the money back, why shouldn't the AIG folks be forced to give the bonuses back? Hell, the money AIG received is OUR (read: taxpayer) money. The money AIG employees gave to the campaigns were just that, EMPLOYEE money. Why do you advocate that AIG should keep their money, but Dodd and Obama must give it back? Is it because you're a right-wing shill who hates anything coming out of the White House and Congress?
Too bad, sucker. Your side lost this time. Shut up and let us fix this mess.
Isn't that the some-women-deserve-the-word-b*tch guy? Why does CNN continue to have him on? Anyway the bailout was botched from all sides. Paulson/Bush tried to rush it through with no questions asked. Congress pushed back a little but not enough.
I used to watch Campbell Brown, but CNN is going to the right very quickly. That is to say they just don;t challenge ignorance like this. They let ignorant people rant all day. Thank god for Rick Sanchez and Jack Cafferty or CNN would be a Fox affiliate.
You have your facts wrong here. It was the Democrats who pushed through the TARP bill without oversight. They squashed all objections and suggestions from the Republicans. Bush signed it but The Dems Wrote it. It was a Democrat Political move to get Obie elected. Add some blame to Geithner also, he wrote most of it.
So Geithner wrote the TARP bill, even though he wasn't Treasury Secretary at the time?
How the hell is it that you righties think that Obama or any of his cabinet wrote or took part in any of the financial legislation BEFORE Obama took office. Your idiocy AMAZES me.
That's like saying George Bush started pushing Congress for a declaration of war before he was even sworn in.
Or Obama (as President) could have taken the time to read it before he signed it.
Or the Democrats could have let a few Republicans attend the final Commitee meeting (where things were changed) after the bill came out of the Senate. Republicans were excluded.
Or Obama could have kept his word and allowed 5 days for everyone to read the bill and make comments on it before he signed it.
So many mistakes made in so little time. Haste makes trillions of dollars of waste.
Show us proof that Obama didn't read the bill. You still haven't done so.
Congressional Republicans have excluded Democrats for the last 15 years - and now you're complaining about it happening once (if it even happened?). Please show proof that this happened - and why you're crying warrants any sympathy.
If the Democrats did shut the Republicans out, it's probably due to the fact that your side of the aisle does everything it can to block the President's proposals, at the expense of the prosperity of this nation, only to somehow prove in the end that government or democratic policies don't work. I'm happy to report, moron, that the economy is already beginning to show some promise of an earlier-than-expected turn-around. What have you right-wing slimebags dones to help this situation? Nothing - except for cry like little babies. Oh - and you've gone tanning. Boehner is looking mighty tan lately!
AJ1948, I believe the Republicans are the "ONLY" group that did not "read" the Stimulus Bill as per their "OWN" words. President Obama and the Democrats have "NOT" made that claim, but I could be wrong. Did you hear Pres. Obama or the Democrats say they did "NOT" read the Stimulus Bill like the Republicans?
As for Pres. Obama not giving the House Republicans "four" extra days (I took away a day for voting on the Bill) to read and make comments, oh well let's move on. My concerns is with the Republicans proudly saying 'not enough time to read the Bill' and this is why they did "NOT" vote for the Stimulus Bill. Huh?
Well, another way of looking at it could be that maybe the Republicans did "NOT" work as a Republican Party but as "single" Republican Members and this cause alot of chaos for them resulting in their "NO" votes.
The REAL problem is the inability of talking heads, such as Brown, to state in very clear terms:
"WITH ALL DUE RESPECT SIR, THAT IS A COMPLETE FALSEHOOD!"
But they don't do their homework so they don't know how to respond. Thus they let these lies go out with some implied credibility. Back to Journalism School Brown, if you ever attended at all.