If President Obama and N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo truly cared about the A.I.G. employee bonuses they would’ve tried to block them BEFORE they were paid. Leaders need to be proactive, not reactive!
I am in no way defending the bonuses and think they are blatantly absurd. However, the government was most likely already aware of them long ago. Obama only came out today trying to block them because the media learned of the bonuses and reported on them widely this past weekend.
The Feds knew there was little legally they could do to stop them from being awarded since they were explicitly stated in contracts with those employees. While it may be insane they are legally entitled to the bonuses. Now if they should accept this largesse or not is another matter altogether.
Politicians invariably have three massive, and apparently insurmountable, failings:
1) They tend to overreact to bad news and events and rush bad legislation (i.e. giving the banks billions without any oversight or, for another example, the passing the Patriot Act).
2) They react to events in the news AFTER the fact instead of confronting issues and taking steps to alleviate them before they make headlines.
3) They promise a new ethical and open manner of government, yet once in power ‘blindside’ their supporters and everyone else with ‘business as usual.’
To be completely fair and upfront here … I have never been a supporter of former Pres. George W. Bush and generally vote Democratic. However, Obama was a reluctant vote in that I do not trust him. His very first action as a potential president was to say he would accept the public financing for his campaign. He then turned around and took a boatload of private money instead. Starting your term with a lie does not sit well with me and I do not like the trend I am seeing with him so far.