Liberals and AIG

The liberal blogosphere is attacking the Obama administration’s handling of the AIG fiasco more aggressively than Republicans and conservatives.

Why? Because left-leaning Democrats have disliked President Obama’s relatively centrist bailout approach from the start.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has largely accepted the game plan put in place by the Bush Administration, which includes funneling billions of taxpayer dollars to struggling banks and insurance companies.

Promises of increased oversight haven’t panned out.

Look for pressure to build from the left for a new, more populist approach to cleaning up Wall Street, one that includes a lot more sticks and a lot fewer carrots.

The agenda will likely include more restrictive caps on executive compensation for firms taking bailout funds, the scrapping of ludicrous payment and bonus contracts, restrictions on lobbying, increased transparency, and more government oversight.

Oh…and the left also wants to see more criminal prosecutions.

It seems that this issue is playing for Mr. Obama in roughly the same way that immigration played for former President Bush.

Mr. Bush managed to alienate his political base while angering just about everybody else. Team Obama seems to be stumbling down the same road.

Tags: economy