This has been a serious problem for months so it’s still not clear what is going on between Dodd and Obama on who asked for what bailout language. Either way, it doesn’t look good nor does it help the case of the floundering Geithner. Obama is in a deep hole with this problem and does not have the right team to move forward. He can either stay with Timmy or cut his losses now and find a grown up who is more focused on helping the country as a whole instead of remaining friends with Wall Street. As I’ve said before, Obama is making a mistake if he thinks this is not going to drag him down. The entire process including bringing in Geithner and his team has been chaotic and that does not help bring confidence to anyone.

Three in four Americans (76%) want the government to take actions to block or recover the bonuses insurance giant AIG paid its executives after receiving federal bailout funds. The results are based on a one-night Gallup Poll conducted March 17, 2009, after reports that AIG, the recipient of about $170 billion in federal aid, recently paid its executives $165 million in bonuses. AIG contends it had to pay the money because of existing contracts that were in place before the company received bailout funds. On Capitol Hill Wednesday, members of the House Financial Services committee said they were determined to get the money back, demanding from Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy the names of the bonus recipients. Answering questions from lawmakers, Liddy acknowledged that doling out the bonus money was “distasteful.” Reports about the AIG bonuses have dominated the news cycle this week, with lawmakers and journalists chiming in about taxpayer “outrage.” In the Tuesday night Gallup Poll, 59% of Americans said they were personally “outraged” by the bonuses. One in four (26%) said they were “bothered” and just 1 in 10 (11%) said they were not that bothered.