A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted March 21-22 included the following question: "[W]hich of the following is most to blame for the fact that these [AIG] bonuses were paid?" The poll offered only the following options as responses: President Barack Obama, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Congress, and AIG management. The poll did not provide President Bush or any members of his administration as a possible response, despite the Bush Treasury Department's provision of billions of dollars to AIG with no requirement that AIG nullify its employee bonus contracts. By not providing Bush as a choice, the USA Today/Gallup poll advanced the falsehood that the Bush administration played no role in the AIG bonus controversy. In an article on the poll's results as well as a blog post on the subject, USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page did not note the poll's omission of the Bush administration in the list of provided responses.

As Media Matters for America has noted, AIG reportedly disclosed that it had entered into agreements to pay these bonuses more than a year ago. 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 specifically considered the AIG bonus contracts in its talks with the company and did not insist on their abrogation as a condition of AIG's receiving bailout money.

From the USA Today/Gallup poll results:

Media Matters has documented numerous examples of the media's disappearance of the Bush administration in their reporting on economic issues, including the controversy over AIG bonuses, which has completely disregarded the effect of the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthy, its deficit spending, and its aggressively hands-off approach toward the market and financial institutions. On a range of issues, the press has left out relevant information about the role of Bush-era policies or suggested that Obama has greater responsibility for policies or events than he does.

From Page's March 23 USA Today article:

Geithner gets low marks for his handling of the AIG bonuses. By 2-1, those surveyed say they are dissatisfied rather than satisfied with what he's done. Congress' rating is a bit worse, and AIG management has a nearly 7-1 negative rating.

Obama, however, fares pretty well. By 54%-39%, those surveyed say they are satisfied with the way he has handled the issue. The president seems likely to be asked about the subject at his news conference tonight in the East Room.

The fact that Americans are much more likely to blame AIG and even Congress rather than Obama is a sign that his “honeymoon” continues, [Darrell] West [director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution] says. “Obama is the teflon president; AIG is not sticking to him.”

From Page's USA Today blog post:

There's a lot of blame to go around when it comes to the $165 million in bonuses paid to executives at AIG, the insurance giant that has gotten $170 billion in federal aid. A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows that Americans hold AIG management itself most responsible.

Nearly half of those surveyed (46%) say AIG management is “most to blame for the fact that these bonuses were paid.” Almost one in five (19%) finger Congress, while 8% blame Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and 7% say President Obama bears responsibility.