Dodd: Yeah, I Did It

Flip flop on the Hill again -- but this time at least one of 'em admits that yes, he did put in the language that seems to have opened the door for the AIG bonus babies.


Under normal circumstances politicians love getting their mugs on programs such as CNN's Situation Room, but given the last 72 hours in AIG-land the last place Christopher Dodd would have wanted to be was with Wolf Blitzer and company.

Especially after feigning outrage over the AIG bonus plan he helped pave the way for, then deny but now admits to...in a fashion.

My question remains: how do ANY of these guys still have a shred of credibility?

AIG, Loopholes & Defending Dodd

What short straw did Akron/Youngstown area Congressman Tim Ryan draw in doing TV duty defending Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's handpicked language allowing the AIG bonuses?

Ryan was front and center on Fox Business Channel talking about the AIG bonuses which have sparked such widespread outrage, from the White House to your house.

He says Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) is in a position to fix the problem as head of the Senate Banking Committee. Fox's Stuart Varney is quick to point out the very loophole that lawyers say not only allows the bonuses to be paid but stymied plans to stop them came from Dodd -- who ranked #1 in the AIG political contribution hit parade.

The Fox Business Report is likely to get plenty of web hits today thanks to feature posting on the Drudge Report as well -- fodder for the Republicans, who we should point out were also asleep at the switch when President Bush and then-Treasury Secretary Paulson were busy handing out billions in bailout money last fall.

Plenty of finger-pointing and blame all around, yet amid all the positioning, posturing and promoting (including Barney Frank saying he found all of this "disgusting", despite also writing all of these bailout bills) there's still damn little real accountability.