They’d like everyone to be impressed that they reduced the bonus number by $20 million. Impressed? Senator Grassley is sort of right with his criticism, though for some strange reason he forgot to include Bush and Paulson, who deserve as much or possibly a bit more than Obama. There’s plenty of blame to go around and Congress could include themselves in the blame as well just as voters do.

The American International Group has agreed to cut employee bonuses by $20 million and will distribute about $100 million on Wednesday, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations.

But the reductions may not be enough to appease the company’s critics, who do not accept the company’s argument that it has to honor contracts established before its government bailout.

“A.I.G. has taxpayers over a barrel,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, in a statement on Tuesday night. “The Obama administration has been outmaneuvered. And the closed-door negotiations just add to the skepticism that the taxpayers will ever get the upper hand.”