MoreFireworks over AIG Bonuses

WASHINGTON -- The pitched drama over bonuses for bailed-out executives will be revived on Capitol Hill Wednesday as a government watchdog explains how some executives nearly brought down the financial system -- then pocketed millions.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial rescue program, will answer questions about a new report outlining the official missteps that led to massive bonus payments for executives at insurer American International Group Inc.

In a report released Tuesday, Barofsky wrote that the Treasury Department did not understand AIG's byzantine pay structures when it gave the firm billions in aid last fall. The government has committed a total of more than $180 billion to wind down the New York-based insurance and financial services conglomerate, and now owns about 80 percent of the company.

AIG's bonuses sparked a political firestorm earlier this year when it was revealed that the government could not legally stop AIG from paying millions in bonuses even after taking billions in bailout money.

Barofsky's appearance is expected to recall testimony in March by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York when AIG first was bailed out. The Federal Reserve provided AIG's first lifeline.

Geithner said at the time he had not known about nearly $1.75 billion in bonuses, retention payments and deferred compensation that AIG was contractually obligated to pay its workers. Millions went to employees in the unit whose bets helped sink the company.

Barofsky found no evidence that Geithner knew about the payments before March. But he wrote that it was a "failure of communication" for the top executive of the agencies overseeing AIG to be unaware of the payments. - FOX News Story

The Democrats will undoubtedly blame this one on Bush. It happened before Obama was in office. However they better choose their words carefully. It is Obama's top guy over the Treasury that was actually in charge when this all went down and he conveniently didn't know about it?

White House and Dems Try to Merge Multiple Health Bills

WASHINGTON -- Now comes the hard part.

With all five congressional health care bills finally out of committee and with a summer of tempestuous town hall meetings behind them, the White House and top Democrats must merge the different bills into versions that can win a majority in the House and get the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate -- even as the Congressional Budget Office admits it can't confirm whether the legislation will save Americans a dime.

To that end, President Obama is sending his hatchet man, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, to Capitol Hill Wednesday in an effort to close the deal with Democrats who remain divided over the details of the bill.

Emanuel will meet with Senate leaders Wednesday to start merging the Finance Committee bill that was approved Tuesday with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill that was passed earlier this year.

On the other side of the Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants have been at work for weeks trying to blend legislation approved by three House committees. The result is certain to include a government insurance plan, but the details of the "public option" have split the rank and file, and leaders have spent days struggling with the issue.

For now, all eyes are on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has said he wants to complete the wedding quickly and get historic health care overhaul legislation onto the Senate floor by the week of Oct 26.

Others expected to attend Wednesday's meeting are Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, who shepherded the Health Committee bill, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who oversaw the Finance Committee bill. - FOX News Story

Obama Goes to War with FOX News

Calling Fox News "a wing of the Republican Party," the Obama administration on Sunday escalated its war of words against the channel, even as observers questioned the wisdom of a White House war on a news organization.

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," said Anita Dunn, White House communications director, on CNN. "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."

Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente, who likens the channel to a newspaper with separate sections on straight news and commentary, suggested White House officials were intentionally conflating opinion show hosts like Glenn Beck with news reporters like Major Garrett.

"It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming," Clemente said. "It seems self-serving on their part."

In recent weeks, the White House has begun using its government blog to directly attack what it called "Fox lies." David Gergen, who has worked for President Bill Clinton and three Republican presidents, questioned the propriety of the White House declaring war on a news organization.

"It's a very risky strategy. It's not one that I would advocate," Gergen said on CNN. "If you're going to get very personal against the media, you're going to find that the animosities are just going to deepen. And you're going to find that you sort of almost draw viewers and readers to the people you're attacking. You build them up in some ways, you give them stature."

He added: "The press always has the last barrel of ink."

Gergen's sentiments were echoed by Tony Blankley, who once served as press secretary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"Going after a news organization, in my experience, is always a loser," Blankley said on CNN. "They have a big audience. And Fox has an audience of not just conservatives -- they've got liberals and moderates who watch too. They've got Obama supporters who are watching. So it's a temptation for a politician, but it needs to be resisted."

Nia Malika Henderson, White House correspondent for the Politico newspaper, also questioned the White House offensive against Fox. - FOX News Story

Sen. Reid in Trouble for Re-election Bid

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continues to trail the two top Republican candidates vying for his seat in next year's election, a new poll shows.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that former Nevada GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden and former university basketball star Danny Tarkanian both lead the powerful Nevada Democrat in head-to-head matchups for 2010.

The Mason-Dixon Polling & Research survey put Lowden at 49 percent to Reid's 39 percent. It put Tarkanian at 48 percent to Reid's 43 percent.

Reid has persistently trailed his potential GOP rivals in early opinion polls. The latest showed that he's suffering from widespread negative sentiment -- the survey showed 50 percent view him unfavorably, while 38 percent view him favorably.

But the poll consisted of a relatively small sampling size and had a large margin of error. It surveyed 500 voters between Tuesday and Thursday, and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. Reid also has more than a year to turn things around.

The poll showed Nevada voters are largely undecided on who their GOP candidate should be. Among Republicans, 23 percent backed Lowden and 21 percent backed Tarkanian. Seven other candidates polled far below that, and 44 percent of voters were undecided. - FOX News

Obama Administration Blasts Report Showing Reform would Cost Americans More

The White House fired back Monday at the health insurance industry for issuing a study that claims the health care reform bill working its way toward a key vote Tuesday will raise the cost of individual coverage by hundreds of dollars a year.

Linda Douglass, spokeswoman with the Office of Health Reform, said in a statement that the timing of the study, released just hours before the Senate Finance Committee is set to vote on its bill, raises questions about its legitimacy. She joined other Democratic officials in trying to keep the analysis from gaining traction.

"This is a self-serving analysis from the insurance industry, one of the major opponents of health insurance reform," she said. "It comes on the eve of a vote that will reduce the industry's profits. It is hard to take it seriously."

But America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry group that sent its member companies the new study late Sunday, stood by the findings.

Spokesman Robert Zirkelbach rejected the suggestion that the study was timed for maximum impact, saying it responded to changes made to the bill over the last few weeks and was only finalized over the weekend. He said AHIP still supports health care reform, but wants to see additional changes made, either in the Finance Committee or later in the process.

"This data is an important part of the health care reform discussion. American people want to know how these provisions are going to impact the cost of health care coverage," he said.

The accounting firm study projects the legislation would add $1,700 a year to the cost of family coverage in 2013, when most of the major provisions in the bill would be in effect. - FOX News Story

I think that they are mad that this information has made it out to public. Obama's policies always have looked good until you got into the weeds and found out what they mean. This rush for reform will be a major disaster.

Peace Prize not What it Used to Be?

Gee, you'd think a U.S. president who won the Nobel Peace Prize might get rave reviews from his party's activists and polite congrats from top Republicans.

But news of Barack Obama's award Friday drew a rebuke from the Republican Party chairman, ridicule from conservative bloggers, and even gripes from some liberals who think he hasn't done enough to wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Top Democrats congratulated Obama, of course, but critics abounded on the left and right.

"What has President Obama actually accomplished?" said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

"It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights."

There was praise from two Democrats who also have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who won in 2002, called Obama's selection a "bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment."

And former Vice President Al Gore, who won two years ago, said Obama's prize was "extremely well deserved."

"I think that much of what he has accomplished already is going to be far more appreciated in the eyes of history, as it has been by the Nobel committee," Gore said.

And some Republicans had kind words, too. "Under any circumstance an appropriate response is to say congratulations," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

But GOP Rep. Gresham Barrett, who is running for governor of South Carolina, mocked Obama's prize. "I'm not sure what the international community loved best; his waffling on Afghanistan, pulling defense missiles out of Eastern Europe, turning his back on freedom fighters in Honduras, coddling Castro, siding with Palestinians against Israel, or almost getting tough on Iran," Barrett said.

Several commentators challenged the value of the Peace Prize, noting that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat shared it in 1994.

"What's Obama done?" asked Rick Moran in his blog on American Thinker, a strong advocate of Israel. "What peace has he negotiated? ... I suppose an organization that thought Yasser Arafat worthy of the same prize can't be taken seriously anyway. But they are." - FOX News Story

Democrats Hang With Rangel and his Ethics Problems

In his trademark gravelly New York brogue, Charlie Rangel has been known to say: “I’ll be with you ‘til I can’t be with you.”

Now, even some Democrats who have stuck with him through his messy financial problems are beginning to wonder if they can’t stick with him anymore.

The House ethics committee expanded a sprawling investigation into Rangel Thursday, digging into allegations stemming from an August restatement of his personal finances, in which he under reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets. The ethics committee action – which was unanimous — came a day after House Democrats turned back a Republican attempt to force Rangel from his Ways and Means chairmanship while the investigation, now in its second year, is completed.

“There’s growing concern at the piling up here of issues,” said one Democratic lawmaker who asked not to be identified talking about Rangel. “People are willing to give some time to the process, but not an infinite amount of time. There will come a time, if this goes unresolved, when the drip, drip, drip will become a torrent.”

Two Mississippi Democrats, Gene Taylor and Travis Childers, have already bailed on Rangel, voting against him on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday night, Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., who is running for the Senate, chose not to sign a Black Caucus letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in support of Rangel.

Meek told POLITICO that his vote to refer the Rangel matter to the ethics panel was enough of a statement of his position. - Politico Story

Pelosi Fails in Bid for Ethical and Transparent Congress

Pay your taxes or step down.

That's the message House Republicans are sending to Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and subject of a major ethics probe into alleged tax evasion and other violations.

House Republicans on Wednesday tried to pass a resolution to oust Rangel from his chairmanship following the reading of a long and stinging list of alleged wrongdoing. The measure stemmed from a major ethics probe into Rangel's alleged failure to pay his taxes and disclose income on multiple properties -- as much as $1.3 million.

But House Democrats were quick to strike down the measure to remove Rangel, who represents New York's Harlem district, from his post. House Republicans refused to accept defeat of the resolution, and asked for a second recorded vote following the first. The reading of the resolution was interrupted several times, and at one point was challenged by Democrats before being put to a vote.

A representative from Rangel's office on Wednesday blasted the resolution as a "highly partisan effort."

"Let's look at this resolution for what it really is -- a highly partisan effort designed to undermine the important work in Congress on health care reform," the representative, who declined to be named, told FOX News.

"It's also an attempt to circumvent House rules, which provide for a comprehensive, bipartisan ethics committee process for reviewing matters such as these," the Rangel aide said. "The congressman himself initiated the request for the committee to review the issues and the members should let the process work as established by the rules of the House."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the resolution's defeat is "the latest example of Speaker Pelosi breaking her promise to have the most 'open and ethical' Congress in history." - FOX News Story

Democrats Struggle with ACORN Donations

Democratic lawmakers in a handful of states are facing pressure from Republicans to distance themselves from the Service Employees International Union as a result of its ties to ACORN.

Republicans in Kansas, Virginia and Illinois in recent weeks have called on union-backed Democrats to return SEIU campaign contributions, citing the close connection between the union and the community organizing group, whose full name is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

ACORN has been under fire in the past month after secretly recorded videos showed ACORN employees offering advice on evading taxes, setting up brothels and smuggling illegal immigrants. ACORN has called the actions unacceptable and has fired the workers involved.

The Virginia Republican Party urged Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds to return campaign contributions from the SEIU, one of the biggest financial backers of Democratic candidates. Deeds received a total of $200,000 from the SEIU in 2009, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign contributions in the state.

"The close, almost symbiotic, relationship that SEIU and Acorn have call into question the propriety of being so closely involved with this union," said Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Virginia GOP. A spokesman for Deeds couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

Michelle Ringuette, an SEIU spokeswoman, said the union had suspended all organizing work with Acorn, pending a review of the organization. She said Republicans are engaged in a "smear" campaign against the union. - FOX News

More Questions about Obama's Czar's

WASHINGTON — A liberal Democratic senator questioned the roles of Obama administration policy "czars" Tuesday, but the White House denied it is using these officials to evade congressional scrutiny.

Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said Congress needs to know whether some of the czars make policy but have no obligation to submit to congressional questioning.

While the Obama administration is hardly the first to name high-level advisers to handle issues like health care and climate change, Feingold said, "It's not good enough to simply say, 'Well, George Bush did it too.'"

Prior to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that featured academic experts, Feingold released a letter from White House counsel Gregory Craig that defended the officials.

Craig said some presidents have used such special advisers, or czars, to undermine Congress, but "that is simply not the case in the current administration."

Feingold also was critical of the administration for declining to send a witness to the hearing.

"The White House decided not to accept my invitation ... to explain its position on the constitutional issues we will address today," Feingold said, referring to the Senate's role in confirming top officials.

"That's unfortunate. It's also a bit ironic since one of the concerns that has been raised about these officials is that they will thwart congressional oversight of the executive branch."

Craig's letter broke down the roles of 18 officials questioned by members of Congress.

Eight are in federal agencies whose employees testify regularly before Congress. This group includes Richard Holbrooke, the Afghanistan czar and Ron Bloom, the car czar.

Four more are in the National Security Council, individuals who have no independent authority and whose sole function is to advise the president.

Another four are in the president's and vice president's offices and function as senior White House advisers on health, energy and environment, urban affairs and domestic violence. They are Lynn Rosenthal, domestic violence; Carol Browner, energy and environment; Adolfo Carrion Jr., urban affairs and Nancy-Ann DeParle, health.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said the administration has created doubt about its promise of transparency. However, neither Coburn nor Feingold would criticize any specific official.

It's not even clear what constitutes a czar.

"'Czar' is not an official government title of anybody; it is a vernacular of executive branch public administration," said Bradley Patterson, a hearing witness who has served on the White House staff under Republican presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. - FOX News Story