Dopo il mancato consenso bipartisan per il piano di salvataggio economico delle banche il primo scoglio politico per Obama potrebbe arrivare sul controverso tema del salvataggio di AIG (American International Group), il colosso delle assicurazione destinato a fallire senza gli aiuti di Stato.
I senatori Repubblicani, smarriti e senza leadership, infastiditi dal piano di rilancio di Obama, (tanto che alcuni governatori Repubblicani sembra stiano rinunciando per orgoglio agli aiuti di Stato), hanno sollevato il caso:
E’ giusto che i manager dell’Aig, che si tiene a galla con i soldi dei contribuenti, distribuisca bonus ai suoi dirigenti?
Il capogruppo del senato democratico propone così una legge per tassare i manager del 90% e ridistribuire così il mal tolto.
Ma il Presidente in questo caso non è d’accordo con la sua maggioranza…
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[…] Now, Congress is responding quickly to the larger public anger surrounding the AIG bonuses by rushing through a big tax increase on executives who received the lavish compensation — legislation with ramifications that members may not have considered fully.
Open-government groups say that, in moving so quickly on the stimulus, the bonus tax and other measures, the Obama administration and House Democrats are breaking commitments to allow the public to see legislation for several days before voting on it.
“Had [the amendment allowing the bonuses] been online for 72 hours, all of that outrage would have been directed at Congress at a time when they could have fixed it,” said Lisa Rosenberg, a government affairs consultant to the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for more transparency in government.
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the California Democrat’s “preference is to move by regular order, except in cases where the circumstances demand that Congress act at an accelerated pace.”
Republican strategists say the uneven response by Congress in the opening months will play into key Senate races in which Democratic incumbents face reelection in 2010, including in Connecticut, Nevada, Illinois, New York, Arkansas and Colorado.
“Democrats will have to answer for their records,” said Amber Wilkerson, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. (Politico.com)